Former Club Tennis Player AMA

[rastapasta]

I used to play club tennis for a Big 10 school during college and was a 1-2 star recruit throughout my time in high school. Closer towards graduation, I was deciding between playing for some D3 schools or focus more on school, but continue through a club program.

This post is not here to stroke my (non-existent) ego, but thought it might be interesting for those who (or has a kid) are going through a similar decision.

 

[TennisFan97]

I used to play club tennis for a Big 10 school during college and was a 1-2 star recruit throughout my time in high school. Closer towards graduation, I was deciding between playing for some D3 schools or focus more on school, but continue through a club program.

This post is not here to stroke my (non-existent) ego, but thought it might be interesting for those who (or has a kid) are going through a similar decision.

I am curious what the UTR level of the Big Ten club players. Do you have a "coach" that organizes practices and sets up matches or is run by a team captain? How often do you practice and do players regularly attend practice?

 

[nyta2]

from having watched, hit with and spoken to a few club players at columbia back in the day… regarding the levels, it seemed to range from utr7-11.x (eg ntrp4.0-5.5), where the team players were utr12+ (ntrp6.0+)

what’s the level of a club team at a big 10?

 

[rastapasta]

I am curious what the UTR level of the Big Ten club players. Do you have a "coach" that organizes practices and sets up matches or is run by a team captain? How often do you practice and do players regularly attend practice?

The Big Ten schools have such large student sizes so may vary per school for how they handle. For mine, we had and A, B, and C team (A and B were competitive travel teams) that each comprised of ~30 players. For the A team, looking around 7-10 UTR (1-3 star level recruits) and 5-7 UTR (0-1 star level recruits) for the B.

The club was student-run and had it's own e-board of a president, VP, secretary, treasurer, and social chairs. I operated as secretary my junior year and VP my senior year so can tell more about the that experience too. Definitely a lot of work, but also very rewarding

The A team practiced 3 times a week, the B team 2 times, and the C once a week. We didn't get to practice at the varsity team facilities and had to go to some indoor courts more on the outskirts of campus during off peak times so this was pretty much the max that we could do.

As for attendance, was really dependent on the year. Some players inevitably drop off when joining sororities/fraternities. My freshman year, almost everyone dropped off due to poor leadership lol. My next three years were much better with most players showing up to at least 1 practice a week. The success of the club attendance is very dependent on the quality of leadership and the culture they establish early on

 

[rastapasta]

from having watched, hit with and spoken to a few club players at columbia back in the day… regarding the levels, it seemed to range from utr7-11.x (eg ntrp4.0-5.5), where the team players were utr12+ (ntrp6.0+)

what’s the level of a club team at a big 10?

Roughly the same. For disclosure, I went to Ohio State and we had a few 3 star guys and a few 3-4 star girls on the team which usually represented at the larger stakes tournaments. The general level of the Big 10 was competitive with schools like Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin being the toughest for us to go up against

 

[TennisFan97]

The Big Ten schools have such large student sizes so may vary per school for how they handle. For mine, we had and A, B, and C team (A and B were competitive travel teams) that each comprised of ~30 players. For the A team, looking around 7-10 UTR (1-3 star level recruits) and 5-7 UTR (0-1 star level recruits) for the B.

The club was student-run and had it's own e-board of a president, VP, secretary, treasurer, and social chairs. I operated as secretary my junior year and VP my senior year so can tell more about the that experience too. Definitely a lot of work, but also very rewarding

The A team practiced 3 times a week, the B team 2 times, and the C once a week. We didn't get to practice at the varsity team facilities and had to go to some indoor courts more on the outskirts of campus during off peak times so this was pretty much the max that we could do.

As for attendance, was really dependent on the year. Some players inevitably drop off when joining sororities/fraternities. My freshman year, almost everyone dropped off due to poor leadership lol. My next three years were much better with most players showing up to at least 1 practice a week. The success of the club attendance is very dependent on the quality of leadership and the culture they establish early on

Thank you, this is very helpful. Sounds like it would be a fun experience given the right situation.

 

[rastapasta]

Thank you, this is very helpful. Sounds like it would be a fun experience given the right situation.

Definitely a fun, rewarding experience that I would do over again if I could. From being so focused on tennis in high school, it was good to have a more laidback atmosphere and focus on other aspects in life while still being able to keep it up with a lot of great players. My experience with club has carried over to my present day life in different ways

 

[Tennis_Slapper23]

Did you ever think it wasn’t competitive enough? I know alot of juniors can get caught up in the ranking and utr. For someone who may be in your situation did you ever regret leaving behind the competitiveness of high level tennis.

 

[Larry Duff]

Early 2000s at Indiana they had a German club team player who had no interest in playing varsity but hit with and beat varsity players.

 

[rastapasta]

Did you ever think it wasn’t competitive enough? I know alot of juniors can get caught up in the ranking and utr. For someone who may be in your situation did you ever regret leaving behind the competitiveness of high level tennis.

So I felt the quality of players was really solid and the players on my team provided deeper training partners than what I had back when I was a junior. The main differences were that training sessions were less focused, I didn't play as many sets or tournaments as I did as I had in juniors/high school, and the actual matches themselves had an abbreviated format (i.e. one set with a shortened tiebreaker at 5-5). Overall, my level did deteriorate a bit compared to my more focused state back in the juniors.

I sometimes like to entertain the thought of what it would have been like to opt for the college tennis route, but not a decision I regret given the opportunities to grow in other areas

 

[bobleenov1963]

Roughly the same. For disclosure, I went to Ohio State and we had a few 3 star guys and a few 3-4 star girls on the team which usually represented at the larger stakes tournaments. The general level of the Big 10 was competitive with schools like Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin being the toughest for us to go up against

Welcome fellow Buckeyes.

What Ohio State should do is to reduce Ty Tucker's salary and use that money to support OSU club tennis, LOL.... OSU is a good university but not so much with the weather for my taste when I was there.

 

[rastapasta]

Welcome fellow Buckeyes.

What Ohio State should do is to reduce Ty Tucker's salary and use that money to support OSU club tennis, LOL.... OSU is a good university but not so much with the weather for my taste when I was there.

Hello!

Don't get me started on our relationship with Ty Tucker and the varsity team haha. I think they destroyed JO West, the indoor facility we practiced at, after I left so I'm not sure how they do things now

 

[Golden_state_of_mind]

How much did you like to scout opponents and know the skinny before you played them? Or did you just play your game.