Tennis growing, competition declining?

J011yroger

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
I've noticed that though courts are full, programs and clinics are packed, and plenty of people are taking lessons fewer and fewer people want organized competition.

Adult tournaments had long been in decline as leagues became more popular but now country club leagues as well as usta leagues are dropping off and juniors don't even want to play tournaments.

The adults just want to practice or play with their friends, and the kids just want to play on their high school team or practice and play with their friends.

Is it Covid where competition was canceled and people didn't miss it?

Is it UTR where people don't want every match to affect their magical number?

Are organizing bodies doing a poor job?

J
 
J011yroger said:
I've noticed that though courts are full, programs and clinics are packed, and plenty of people are taking lessons fewer and fewer people want organized competition.

Adult tournaments had long been in decline as leagues became more popular but now country club leagues as well as usta leagues are dropping off and juniors don't even want to play tournaments.

The adults just want to practice or play with their friends, and the kids just want to play on their high school team or practice and play with their friends.

Is it Covid where competition was canceled and people didn't miss it?

Is it UTR where people don't want every match to affect their magical number?

Are organizing bodies doing a poor job?

J
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Assuming your observations are accurate (which I am not in a position to know), I'll bet the cause is based in generational psychological differences, not externalities like pandemics.
 
It's booming in Dallas, but I never knew how good it was there until I moved away. I just glanced, yeah, this weekend and in the next weeks are plenty of UTR competitions. And new tennis academies have sprung in the area in the past 5 years. $$$$$. Atlanta is probably doing great, but it's dying in the south otherwise, especially tournaments.
 
FuzzyYellowBalls said:
It's booming in Dallas, but I never knew how good it was there until I moved away. I just glanced, yeah, this weekend and in the next weeks are plenty of UTR competitions. And new tennis academies have sprung in the area in the past 5 years. $$$$$. Atlanta is probably doing great, but it's dying in the south otherwise, especially tournaments.
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Agreed, tournaments are effectively dead in the south.
 
I can tell you in our district there used to be 1-3 Junior USTA tournaments per weekend. Now there are 2 Junior USTA tournaments a month if that.

USTA adult tournaments are non-existent and even before there were 1-2 a year and they were bolted on to a smaller junior event.

USTA League participation is also down.

I don't think it is UTR and "the number" for juniors as they need to play to move it up and it won't go up if they just sit.

For Junior USTA tournaments I don't think they are promoted enough by the USTA and I don't think high school tennis coaches push their kids to compete in them like they should. I know when my son started showing an interest in tennis I called the local USTA office and they suggested "single-day showdowns" and other "tennis is fun" type of events and never suggested tournaments. The only reason we got started is a pal at work knew my son was playing a lot and his daughter played tournaments and he kept telling us we should do it so we eventually signed up. I blame that on the USTA and outreach at least in our area. You never see them going to schools and pushing the sport.

For adults and USTA teams as a captain of 3 (and soon to be 4 teams) a summer our local USTA makes the whole process absolutely no fun. They are complete %@$%$#@ in our local office. When people call for info on teams and play or with questions they are flip and rude.

Why would someone put up with that vs. social play?

I ask myself the same question year after year as a captain and I am just too stupid to stop.
 
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Unfortunately in my local area, the public facilities are inundated by teams by a certain tennis organization that's really bitchy about who they let on their teams.

This makes it such that other teams can't be formed due to space. And I'd rather not join a sports club, personally. So people like me are left high and dry in some divisions.

Edit: The more irksome thing about this group is that they "promote interest and participation", and "foster support", but in reality they turn people away.
 
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In my case, the fact that almost everyone I know works from home with a flexible work schedule means that it has become much easier to set up competitive social matches every day. In the last three years, many players have become regulars at playing social tennis on specific days and so, there is a regular rotation of singles and doubles matches on my weekly calendar. I also think that many players have stepped up to organize regular social matches and so players have more opportunities to play at our club.

I initially stopped playing USTA leagues in 2020 because of the pandemic, but have not joined back since because I’m getting all the competition I need at my club without missing USTA leagues. I wonder if there are others like me with a full tennis schedule facilitated by so many people working remotely with a flexible schedule.
 
The disappearance of leagues and organized tournaments bodes well for society. Social psychologists tell us that an important part of the value of play, especially for children and adolescents, is their organizing it on their own rather than having them plugged into structured play arranged by someone else. Helps them learn executive function skills, cooperation, organization skills, conflict resolution, the list goes on. Leagues are considered stifling to the development of these skills.
 
There is currently a resurgence of teams in my area. I think people are finally comfortable playing league tennis again and/or miss it. Some new captains are joining the scene where the old teams have left off. Last year there were only 3 9.0 teams, now there are 4 9.0 teams. There is also 1 additional 8.0 team making 5 total.

This is only for the mid-Atlantic area.
I personally have found that USTA league is mainly run by the captains, not the players. If more people were willing to captain, then the league would grow more. There are plenty of players who want or willing to play if asked. But no one wants to do the thankless job of actually herding/captaining these players. I am sure if I was willing to put in the work, I could captain another 2-3 8.0 teams (I know there are enough players).
 
I think there's lots of people who would enjoy competitive tournaments. Unfortunately, in tennis-dense areas, brackets fill up quickly and court-time is scarce, and in tennis-sparse areas, the only tournaments that exist are too far a drive to make it worth it.
 
I just checked, one of my neighboring regions already has 12 7.0 mixed teams formed for the next season!
 
socallefty said:
In my case, the fact that almost everyone I know works from home with a flexible work schedule means that it has become much easier to set up competitive social matches every day. In the last three years, many players have become regulars at playing social tennis on specific days and so, there is a regular rotation of singles and doubles matches on my weekly calendar. I also think that many players have stepped up to organize regular social matches and so players have more opportunities to play at our club.

I initially stopped playing USTA leagues in 2020 because of the pandemic, but have not joined back since because I’m getting all the competition I need at my club without missing USTA leagues. I wonder if there are others like me with a full tennis schedule facilitated by so many people working remotely with a flexible schedule.
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Thats our situation here but the problem is .....ppl work durinf the day :(
 
Tournaments are so rigid and take so much time and there’s not much money on the line. I dunno I don’t think there would be many participants in the 22+. Of course under 22 where there is a shot to go professional there will be tournaments to potentially go pro….
But at the ripe working age of 35 with 1 kid and another 1 in tow I would rather stick with usta and social tennis sessions.
 
I’m surprised at kids not wanting to play tournaments anymore. I think it’s great if tennis is growing even if the competitive part isn’t; but it does make me wonder if junior tennis will just be made up of $$$ academy kids in 10 years. Nothing wrong with that per se but you’re likely missing out on a lot of talent if it becomes segmented more than it is now.
 
I'm not currently in a USTA area, but I have observed the following at one of the clubs I play at:

During the pandemic when a lot of things were closed or had restrictions, tennis was one of the sports that stayed open and a lot of beginners or people who had only dabbled in tennis started playing tennis. They usually joined group, social tennis workouts or just hit with their friends.

At the same time, I have noticed tournament participation seem to decline a bit -- especially amongst adult women, which barely had any participants at all in the last tournament.

Padel Tennis has also become very popular as it is more social and much easier to learn to play than tennis.
 
I may be an outlier. I am a junkie who loves it all, but live in a very rural area.

Adult Tournaments offer a very limited menu of ability to play matches for the better part of $100.00...

Gotta be a USTA member? Ouch, couple hundred more dollars for basically the privilege of paying top dollar to enter a small tournament.... usually on outdoor public courts.

Swag? A $3 Tshirt that is 90% sponsor names.....

No backdraw.....

round robin? - nah, win or go home in 90 minutes.....

Party ? nah.

The only way many tournaments are a decent experience for your tennis dollar is if you make the finals.

Offer free or reduced cost filming,
include a free or cheap warm up\practice session with local pro,
make your swag a hat or anything other than yet another Gildan TShirt,
Have a speed gun out there and do a few freebies and then have a top gun serve competition.
music at the venue (yeah, I know it annoys some people, but whatever)

make.it.fun.
 
ktx said:
I’m surprised at kids not wanting to play tournaments anymore. I think it’s great if tennis is growing even if the competitive part isn’t; but it does make me wonder if junior tennis will just be made up of $$$ academy kids in 10 years. Nothing wrong with that per se but you’re likely missing out on a lot of talent if it becomes segmented more than it is now.
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Tennis is already a rich persons sport… and the future stars will be all from rich backgrounds to.
 
Around my area, USTA leagues are growing and remain strong. It’s a lot of fun, lots of people playing, and almost always friendly-competitive. There is plenty of de and/interest in a competitive league at a pre-scheduled time one match per week.

However, tournaments just do not fit well into the lives of busy professionals. Almost no one can put aside an entire weekend for themselves or their kids to devote solely to playing 4-5 tennis matches, even when the tournament goes according to schedule (much less if there are weather issues). Not to mention, for many adults, the marginal returns on your 2nd or 3rd match in one day is low, and it becomes hard on your body and not really that fun.
 
I have 2 different groups of about 12-20 different guys I play with at two different tennis centers. And another 2 groups that call me when they need a 4th (or 8th).

Every once in a while I'll join a flex league ...then remember why it's more fun just to play with the guys I actually enjoy playing with.

I totally understand why folks just play with people they like.
It's like golf: millions play every week; few play tournaments.

Most of us play for fun and exercise ...without the drama.
 
Connor35 said:
I have 2 different groups of about 12-20 different guys I play with at two different tennis centers. And another 2 groups that call me when they need a 4th (or 8th).

Every once in a while I'll join a flex league ...then remember why it's more fun just to play with the guys I actually enjoy playing with.

I totally understand why folks just play with people they like.
It's like golf: millions play every week; few play tournaments.

Most of us play for fun and exercise ...without the drama.
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nothing sours tennis more then playing against people with questionable line calls…

playing with a set of people that are on the same level and honest is the way I prefer enjoying my tennis experience
 
Pickleball is growing very fast. It is a similar, yet different game than tennis. The smaller court appeals to lots of people.
 
Here are some of the problems with USTA and league tennis as I see them:

1- I can't spend the whole Saturday, let alone the whole weekend, playing USTA league tennis. 99.999% of the time, the tournament takes place outside and they rarely start on time. You normally play two matches on Saturday and two matches on Sunday. Sometimes, you have to play the final on Monday, if you make it that far. Even more delay if the rain is in the forecast.

2- A lot of the L3 and L4 tournaments in the DMV area are held in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, Charlottesville, etc.. which is at least 2+ hours drive from Northern Virginia. Do I need to subject myself to spend the whole weekend in the hotel for tennis tournaments?

3- What do I get out of winning tournaments? Is it going to make me any richer? Is my life going to be better by winning USTA tournaments? The answer is obviously no. Therefore, why waste my weekend traveling hours away for tennis tournaments?

My purpose of playing tennis and/or golf is to hangout with friends and colleagues. We make the matches fun by wagering on matches, the maximum limit is $100. I have a group of 25 people that I meet up every three weeks to play competitive tennis. We know each other well and fortunately everyone is also doing well financially so there is no need to cheat one another on bad line calls for a measly $100. In the summer, we usually start at 6am in the morning, play tennis off and on, have baggel/coffee during break, and finish around 11:30am. After that, all of us head out for lunch, have a few drinks, and talk about families and other fun stuff. We do that every three weeks. The money we collect from wagering, we use that money to hire two 12+ UTR to come out on and hit with all of us between 7am and 11:30am. We usually pay them $250 each for four hours of work. We've been doing this for a while now that they are also part of the group but we still pay them.

On weekends where we don't meet, I normally play golf from 7am to 11am with a group of 20 people that I am also a part of. We play 18 holes, talk to my golf partners about what is going on during the week, work, etc... After we're done with golf, the whole crew go out for lunch , have a beer and talk about families, etc...

Playing tournaments once or twice a year is OK but not regularly, it is just a waste of time, IMO.
 
Here is an example of tennis not growing and tennis competition is also DECLINING. I took this picture at my nearby public park a few days ago. The weather was 40 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind of 1MPH. There are five tennis courts and four PB courts. As you can see in the picture, all the PB courts are being used while the tennis courts are EMPTIED:

https://imgur.com/a/kQY6Eo2

That explains why
 
Jst21121 said:
nothing sours tennis more then playing against people with questionable line calls…

playing with a set of people that are on the same level and honest is the way I prefer enjoying my tennis experience
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Honest question. If you are not worried about winning, amateur rating titles, or being competitive, then why are you put off by bad line calls?
 
Bambooman said:
For me it's the dishonesty of the other person. You can not care really about a legit defeat but watching a game evaporate with bad line calls is not enjoyable.
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Blantant cheating is one thing, but simply a bad call here and there shouldn’t matter unless you are playing for something.
 
Anecdotally, I haven't played a tourney since even before COVID, and it was much less participation then compared to years before. Leagues seem about level in terms of participants, but more conglomerated, like many times we don't see enough 40+ teams sign up so everyone is in the 18+ leagues.
 
There are a couple of factors at play, I think. The first is a general lack of free time. 30 years ago most families were single income, the housewife took care of all the domestic duties whilst the father was at work and evenings were family time. Weekends were free for recreation, which frequently meant dad spending his Saturday playing sport and boozing it up with his mates down the rugby/cricket/tennis/golf club.

These days everyone is flat out midweek just keeping their head above water, and weekends are jealously guarded for recovering and snatching some family time. Last weekend was our club championships - I made the QFs, which meant I spent the better part of my weekend sitting around the clubhouse for 4 matches. A stack of stuff didn’t get done as a consequence so this weekend I’ve been really busy. Was it worth it? Not sure.

Second factor is that organised competition just doesn't fit in nicely with the new lifestyle flexibility that most people have come to expect post-COVID. I went from working a normal 9-5 to being 80% remote (and having a large degree of control over the last 20%). Frequently I work from alternative locations for days or even weeks at a time - my mother-in-law had an operation the other month, and I spent a week working out of her spare bedroom interstate.

Committing to regular league matches takes away a lot of that flexibility. I don’t want to be tied into being at home every Thursday night for the next 10 weeks to play tennis. I want to duck out for a hit (or a swim, or a walk) today at the drop of a hat because the sun’s out and I don’t have any meetings - but next week I might be busy or away and don’t want to have the hassle of cancelling on someone.

I like organised matches but not as much as I like my freedom
 
I think plenty of people would love to play leagues, but no one wants to captain. Being a captain is a major PIA, having to deal with getting all the guys, scheduling matches, dealing with weather, dealing with egos on the team, etc. I already work full-time, why would I want to tack on another part-time job on top of it? I'd rather hit and play social matches at my leisure.

Another perspective too is that playing in a league makes it harder to improve at tennis unless you already have all of the fundamentals. It forces players to focus on "winning" instead of "improving", which is why you see so many bunters at 3.5 and 4.0 with waiter tray serves. Many of these people could improve so much if they took a year off of the leagues and focused on improving their form and putting competition to the side a bit. This is a strategy used on many junior players - take a break from tournaments, and just work on the glaring weakness for a few months then return back to competition better and more confident
 
liam the shark said:
I think plenty of people would love to play leagues, but no one wants to captain. Being a captain is a major PIA, having to deal with getting all the guys, scheduling matches, dealing with weather, dealing with egos on the team, etc. I already work full-time, why would I want to tack on another part-time job on top of it? I'd rather hit and play social matches at my leisure.

Another perspective too is that playing in a league makes it harder to improve at tennis unless you already have all of the fundamentals. It forces players to focus on "winning" instead of "improving", which is why you see so many bunters at 3.5 and 4.0 with waiter tray serves. Many of these people could improve so much if they took a year off of the leagues and focused on improving their form and putting competition to the side a bit. This is a strategy used on many junior players - take a break from tournaments, and just work on the glaring weakness for a few months then return back to competition better and more confident
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Agree with captaining being a PIA and I’m glad someone else does it.

Disagree (maybe) on the winning vs improving. Many guys at 3.5 and 4.0 are not looking to improve necessarily, and constant improvement is not really the goal. They like learning to win at that level, and that makes the game fun for them. And I do not blame them for it. Basically, many of us learned tennis as a kid and then took time off and came back to the sport as an adult. These are the types that will settle in at 4.5 eventually after consistent improvement over a few years. However, for someone who picked up tennis as adult for the first time, 3.5 or 4.0 is a very high level to achieve, and learning to win those matches is a pretty good accomplishment.
 
liam the shark said:
Another perspective too is that playing in a league makes it harder to improve at tennis unless you already have all of the fundamentals.
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no - being excessively focused on winning makes it harder to improve at tennis

of course there are certain things you need to work on outside of matchplay, but beyond making time for those things I don't think taking time away from matches is any help whatsoever

matches under the belt is a huge metric for improving
 
Moveforwardalways said:
UTR logs every match and updates your rating. This is psychologically stressful for many people, many of whom already feel uncomfortable and awkward on the tennis court. They do not want the judgement, and they do not want their “grades” posted on a public website for all to see.
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The only reason I would play in a tournament is to see if I can improve my rating. Otherwise why bother? You likely won’t be paired with people at your level as well as just playing people you know. Also there is quite a bit of downtime that is wasted.

the problem is tennis does not have a decent rating system. If it did I think you would see more people playing in tournaments to try to improve their rating.
 
Moon Shooter said:
The only reason I would play in a tournament is to see if I can improve my rating. Otherwise why bother?
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for the challenge and social aspects? Our club's Open Championship is the premier event of the year, 64-draw singles and 32-draw doubles. Those who qualify have a rare opportunity to play against the best members of the club (including pros), and how deep you make it determines bragging rights for the rest of the year.
 
Cashman said:
for the challenge and social aspects? Our club's Open Championship is the premier event of the year, 64-draw singles and 32-draw doubles. Those who qualify have a rare opportunity to play against the best members of the club (including pros), and how deep you make it determines bragging rights for the rest of the year.
Click to expand...

I played in a charity doubles tournament and it was fun to see some of the best players in our area compete in the advanced bracket and meet other tennis players. We had food trucks etc. I am not sure anyone would do this if it wasn’t for the charitable spirit of the competition. Pros from different clubs competing etc.

It wasn’t a utr event or usta event so ratings didn’t play a role. I agree that a pro that had their best tennis in the past and does tennis for a living probably isn’t so interested in a rating as amateurs like me that are trying improve.
 
I think for most people around me usta is simply too expensive for what you get. If it were less expensive or free (usta could run adult rec tennis for free given the huge amounts they make from being the official tennis organization in the us). I think many more people would be in it and we wouldn’t have to travel so far for matches. Instead there are few people that want to donate to usta above and beyond the court fees and then that means yqou have to travel even further for matches.
 
Is USTA that expensive? An annual membership is less than $5 per month. And league fees are like $20 for 10 matches, or about $2 per match. What kind of services do you expect from them for this kind of money? What else do you pay less than $5 per month for that is a better value?
 
Yeah, I'm totally out of touch with reality, is USTA too expensive, are people who play tennis also having a hard time finding food to eat for lunch? If spending $200 a month on tennis is too much for a lot of people, then I understand, but I also don't live around anyone in that situation. How common is that?
 
Moveforwardalways said:
Is USTA that expensive? An annual membership is less than $5 per month. And league fees are like $20 for 10 matches, or about $2 per match. What kind of services do you expect from them for this kind of money? What else do you pay less than $5 per month for that is a better value?
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No, it is not too expensive. You also don't have to play every league, just stick to the longer (spring for us) rated season.
 
FuzzyYellowBalls said:
Yeah, I'm totally out of touch with reality, is USTA too expensive, are people who play tennis also having a hard time finding food to eat for lunch? If spending $200 a month on tennis is too much for a lot of people, then I understand, but I also don't live around anyone in that situation. How common is that?
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If you are paying $200 per month, you are more than likely a member of an athletic club or private club.
 
I play doubles twice weekly and do group drills and coaching Saturdays. I really want to play singles tournaments but they're hard to find.
 
FuzzyYellowBalls said:
Or strings, shoes (yeah 1 month is about how long they last, play 5-6 days a week), grips, balls, whiskey, pre match tacos, cocaine. Clubs are about $60,000 to join, $1,000-3,000 per month.
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LOL. The one I belonged too in your town wasn't that bad. I actually belonged to two. One in the city and one north of town, which also had golf.
 
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