League Recommendations

[a10best]

I played just local tournaments in California. I played "A "division or 5.0 (20 yrs ago).
I made the "A" division finals but lost mostly in 1st round of 5.0's. Usually it was a close tiebreaker match.
Today, my serve and lateral footwork have lost some speed but my BH has gotten better (go figure). After seeing some 4.5 league match highlights online, I think I'd comfortably fit in there.
Are club 4.5 leagues the same level as USTA 4.5 levels?
what are the demands (practice schedule, matches per week)

 

[WildVolley]

I played just local tournaments in California. I played "A "division or 5.0 (20 yrs ago).
I made the "A" division finals but lost mostly in 1st round of 5.0's. Usually it was a close tiebreaker match.
Today, my serve and lateral footwork have lost some speed but my BH has gotten better (go figure). After seeing some 4.5 league match highlights online, I think I'd comfortably fit in there.
Are club 4.5 leagues the same level as USTA 4.5 levels?
what are the demands (practice schedule, matches per week)

Can't say in your particular area. I can tell you that teams vary greatly in terms of practice schedules.

The USTA men's 4.0 league I'm playing in Southern California normally plays matches once a week on the weekend. We are a team organized from public courts, which we are able to rent for home match dates. Most of our opponents are club teams.

Our captain organized the team by asking players he knew about his level. So we have players from a pretty wide area. When he started a few years ago, it was a mixture of computer and self-rates, but now it is all comprised of computer rated players. But even some of the club teams will recruit players from outside the club to fill out their rosters.

We try to practice once a week, but it isn't a big deal if you can't make it. We assume the other players are practicing on their own. We won our 4.0 doubles league (don't know the official names) this winter but got eliminated at the county level tournament. The team that beat us in the tournament had regular practices and a good coach who developed guys without great technical skills into really solid doubles teams.

TL;DR. If you can play and get along with other people, a captain will probably make you an offer to play for his team.