tennis facilities in northern New Jersey?

[highsierra]

Not sure where to post this but since this is the most popular forum I'll just post it here. I travel to northern New Jersey (North Bergen County) from time to time and wonder if there are tennis facilities there with ball machines that can be rented on site on a per-use basis? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[tennisnj]

I'm an instructor @ a club in Northern Bergen County & have been @ a few others from time to time. Asking my connections @ most of the clubs, we're not aware of any that rent out ball machines, b/c most of the instructors are freelance--i.e. the clubs don't own ball machines persay but the instructors do...Most do allow you to bring your own, but only if you already have the court time reserved (aka, a semi-member). No indoor clubs in Northern NJ are 'private' persay. They all have 'members' but all that entitles you to is basically the right to buy court time & use the minimal facilities while you're there. I could give you the names of clubs in my area if you're interested in just calling or going to them...There are 'better' clubs, unfortunately the one I teach @ isn't top of the line, more 'middle of the road.'

 

[highsierra]

Thanks tennisnj. I was hoping the public facilities would be pretty good given Nothern Bergen County being such an affluent community. Guess I'm pretty lucky where I am. The municipal tennis center here has ball machines for use ($10/hour) on site. I didn't realize it's not that common.

Maybe next time I'm in NJ I'll drive around and see how things work there. Since I don't go there often enough so it's hard to find someone to play with on a regular basis.

 

[tennisnj]

Actually the outdoor 'public' tennis center in Bergen County is the biggest crook/crock of them all. It's a public county park & you have to pay to play & even hit off the wall!!! The 'director' & I use that term loosely, sits in his chair from 9a-dark swatting flies, making sure no one gets on the courts or wall (which is a good walk from the courts) w/o registering & paying. They have 12 courts there, which unless you're part of his adult leagues (another joke), or take lessons from his cronies, you can't get on. He used to run adult tournaments (like the County Open), but from my connections, found out they weren't profitable enough for him, so he eliminated them in favor of an occasional junior tournament.
Tennis really isn't that important in the grand scheme of athletics in Bergen County, @ the HS level, yes, of course, in the affluent towns, & even the 'middle class' towns are getting some of the largest turnouts they've had since the 70's, but in terms of 'local' weekenders & kids playing on their own time on public courts? It's almost non-existant. Many of the outdoor clubs (country clubs that have separate tennis memberships) are begging for members.