San Antonio (Northwest)

[sushi]

Hello,

I'm a totally new to the game and am looking for a good tennis instructor/clinic/something! in the San Antonio area, preferably NW or close to it.. Needs to be decently affordable please :mrgreen: ..

Any tips/advice?

 

[oldguysrule]

Welcome to tennis. You will find it is a great sport for a lifetime of fun. The best place to get information for your area is your local tennis association. Here is the link for the San Antonio Tennis Association (SATA).

http://www.satennis.com/

The McFarlin Tennis Center on San Pedro is the best public facility if you are looking for instruction and leagues. However, there are several other places that are reasonable to join that might fit your needs. Blossom TC, Thousand Oaks, or Green Tree TC might be near you.

If I were you, I would start with McFarlin. They have lots of programs for beginners and are really nice folks. You can often just show up and find someone looking for a hitting partner. Good Luck.

 

[sushi]

thanks for the info.. I will take a look most definitely..

 

[jhm36]

Hi Sushi,

I'd recommend going to a tennis shop in the area as well and asking them for some help. But a real tennis shop, not a sporting goods store. Look up Geraghty Tennis or First Serve Tennis and give them a visit. Both are going to be relatively close to you in NW San Antonio.

You new to San Antonio as well? Getting to McFarlin from NW, depending on what time of the day you're leaving, could be a pretty slow bumper-to-bumper drive. You certainly know that already if you've been here a while. Mapquest has no idea how slow Bandera and the 410 and 10 are at rush hour. 23 minutes from my house in NW? HA! Now that's funny.

Thousand Oaks and Greentree cost about 60-70 dollars a month to join with a yearly contract. Maybe a little less or a little more. It's been a few months since I checked. There seem to be more clinics at those clubs for females than males, so depending on your gender you'll be happy or sad to hear about that. I'm not a member of either club, so please double-check with a phone call or visit. Things may have changed since I looked into them.

Lot of emphasis in this town on league/team/tournament play. Be ready to answer the most popular question in town: what's your rating. People will be interested in seeing if you can fit into their teams/clubs. Your NTRP rating will be one of the first things you'll be asked about when meeting tennis people. You know about that skill rating system? Worth looking into if not. Just google ntrp.

Keep us posted on how things are working out.

 

[sushi]

Ahh thanks for the info too.. Yes, I'm new to the area, and unfortunately I'm probably rated a -7.0, if there is such a low score LOL.

Well, I'm a male, so I hope the clinics have changed a bit..

Would you know of any private type instructors that dont cost an arm?

 

[theartoftennis]

If you want a nice private clinic, try checking out Green Tree. Great coaches with fairly small clinics. Around $15 for a 2-hour clinic.They're also hosting a Turkey Tournament next month, you may want to check out. It's tons of fun.

 

[jhm36]

Yeah, I'm new to the area, too. Greentree was the best of the places I looked it, but it didn't quite suit what I was looking for and it's straight down Bandera from me, which is a super slow road at times.

What you really need is a partner! Hopefully someone a little better that nevertheless has a good time on the court with you. At any rate, drag anyone out on the courts with you that you can find. Heck, lie about your rating if you have to! Show up for the local 4.0 team and tell them you'll looking for a spot.

Seriously, good luck finding a partner if you don't have one already. It can be difficult here since there is so much emphasis on competitive play and the fact that there aren't very many public courts for people to gather and meet new folks. Most of the tennis courts in my section of NW are private and belong to home owner associations. My local courts are locked and you need a key to get on them. I couldn't tell you where a nearby public court is because I've never even seen one.

If you see some folks playing tennis in your area, just go up and say hello and ask them some questions. Being persistent is the key. Kind of tough for some people, but it's been the best way for me to find people to hit around with.

I don't know of any teachers. Sorry, can't help you there. Lot of great info on this site, though. Private teachers can be expensive, and in my limited experience it's the clubs that offer the best rates on instruction, which are frequently free for club members, though there is that pesky monthly fee thing to worry about.

Tennis is a great sport, the best I've ever played, but it's also the hardest I've ever played. Don't give up if it gets frustrating. It's clearly a life-long activity and the rewards of playing it beat any other sport I've tried.

You got any background in other sports? Probably helps to have been good at something else before taking up tennis as an adult. Man, I have seen some beginners seriously struggle on the courts next to me. Don't know how some of them stick with it. That's a where having a partner with a positive attitude helps. You two can work it out together.

What made you want to take up tennis? Know anyone who plays?

Keep us posted. I'm interested on hearing what your experiences as another new person in town are. I'll help if I can.

 

[theartoftennis]

Actually nice to see other people in San Antonio on these forums.

I'm in search of a hitting partner, as well.

Well, the courts that the schools play on are always open to public. I live in the Northside, the football stadium being called Gustafson Stadium, and the tennis courts named after Annemarie.

 

[jhm36]

I've been by the large high school athletic areas a couple of times and they were absolutely filled with kids and I never went back. Didn't see a single adult on the courts. Was that uncommon?

Had any luck meeting people to hit around with there? Seriously not my kind of place though. I learned how to play tennis mainly at an indoor club with netting seperating each court. Strange feeling looking at those six or more court all in one block with nothing at all between them. Were there even any benchs on those courts to sit on if you wanted to take a break? I forget.

Not being able to find a partner when I moved here I ended up paying a tennis tutor prolite ball machine and have been loving it. One of the best things that ever happened to my game. Finally getting some serious volley practice, among other things. Not to be under-estimated.

 

[sushi]

Thanks for the tips guys... One of my friends is getting me interested in the game so I figure I give it a go. He's been playing a long time so I need some serious learning just so I can keep up..

We're gonna try to see what Greentree got and maybe find out what the Thousand Oaks Club is all about. If its $$$ then perhaps we'll have to reconsider. The draw to TO is the indoor courts I guess.. If its a rainy winter I may not have a chance to play otherwise!

 

[jhm36]

Hi Sushi,

Not to rain on your parade, but I imagine those few indoor courts that Thousand Oaks has will be very hard to reserve the times you'll be looking for. And they almost certainly will be frequently reserved for team/league/tournament play or clinics, especially in bad weather. You'll also have to fight against the regulars who more than likely have the inside track to reserving those things. I know that's how it was at my old indoor club. Ha. Same old guys and doubles teams ALWAYS got the court time they wanted. Curious how it worked out that way.

Just guessing from my previous experience. Could to wrong about Thousand Oaks.

True story. When I went to take a tour of Thousand Oaks the indoor courts were locked and I wanted to take a look at them so I went back to the front desk to ask why they were locked and could someone unlock them for me. Dude at the desk said that he didn't know why they were locked but it's possible later in the day there was going to be some team play on them and that no they couldn't unlock them because he was the only person there at the time and he couldn't leave the desk or even give me a key to unlock them myself. Whoa. Talk about service and putting out an effort to sign up new members. Nice sale technique.

They were just starting to upgrade the place, so maybe things have changed since then. Let us know what you find out. Maybe things have gotten better.

Good luck.

 

[theartoftennis]

The indoor courts at TOTC are great! But yes, it is very hard to get an open court on them. TOTC is probably the most crowded place in San Antonio. Reservations, reservations, and more reservations. They're also mostly full throughout the year, because they're big on Team Tennis, so there's always a few teams out there, no matter the month.

McFarlin is also a great Tennis Center. They just redid their courts, and it's very spectator friendly.

 

[jhm36]

Thanks for the info on TOTC. And your right, I found McFarlin to be very spectator friendly. Impressive place. Longest backboard I've ever seen. I'm guessing that must be one of the best facilities in the state.