What to expect from joining a club?

Wiztardo

Wiztardo

New User
Hello all!

I am generally new to the sport. I am 30 years old and started playing on and off quite a bit about 3 years ago. The one thing I am finding difficult with this sport is, I could want to play upwards of 5 times a week... But I am not really sure how to go about actually doing that considering it requires another body to play with. My play has been very hot and cold because I only have about 3 other people who will play tennis and they aren't very serious about it.

This brings me to my question- now that it is getting cold where I am (and even without the cold), I want to play more tennis. I have a club very close to me. But, when reviewing the benefits of the club, I am personally not seeing a whole lot that would sway me to join. There is a yearly membership fee of about 325 bucks, and that just gives me a minor discount on all the things I can do without a membership, like lessons, drill sessions, court time, etc. One of the only real reasons to join as it appears to me, is to be eligible to play in USTA matches.

So what is the real benefit of joining a club? What benefits do you get out of your club? Should I look to play USTA if I simply want to play more tennis.
 
I would suggest looking at schedules for clinics/drills that the club may offer. You might meet some like-minded/similar ability players that way.

If you did clinics 2 times per week and maybe 1 lesson per week with a Pro, your game can improve and you might meet others that want to play more/improve as well.
 
Wiztardo said:
One of the only real reasons to join as it appears to me, is to be eligible to play in USTA matches.

So what is the real benefit of joining a club? What benefits do you get out of your club? Should I look to play USTA if I simply want to play more tennis?
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I was in the same position years ago. I was looking for something to take the place of some team sports that had dried up for me so I turned to tennis. I didn't know anyone who played ... yet. The advantage for me was that the club had a men's league where you could play on a ladder system with other members and it allowed me to get my foot in the door and meet people. Many of these people played other nights of the week, so pretty soon we were getting 3 courts on Tuesday and Thursday nights where we would all just play and have fun outside of the normal club league Sunday night. In the summer, we would meet up at city parks and play as well so it ended up being a great thing for me, especially with the ability to play year-round.

The benefit for me was to become a part of a nice pool of players with no shortage of playing opportunities. I don't want to hit with the same person all of the time so there are enough people for a good variety of matches. My club always arranges to have enough people to play on designated nights so as long as I tell them I want to play with the "group," I am in. Sometimes they will call me when I hadn't planned on playing just to fill in a spot. There are always opportunities.
 
I would also confirm typical court availability so you can identify if you can book courts. A local club has a similar fee structure. However, they offer so many clinics/classes that one cannot book a court unless it is before 7AM and after 10PM weekdays and forget about weekends. One has to book court time on a fixed prepaid schedule for the entire year or it is impossible to get a court. That may not mater for you if you only planning on doing classes but if you also want to play I would check on how easy it is grab a court ad hoc.

To me another important thing is the vibe or feel a club has.

Does the club have a nice family friendly fun environment or is it snooty?

Do they have a lot of mixers, tennis parties, etc. or do they just have USTA teams?

From a pro perspective are the adult classes fun and the pros engaged in making it fun or are they human tennis ball machines feeding balls?

If you have kids how is their junior program/instruction?

Those are the kinds of things I would look for.
 
Every club is different. If you go for group drills, ask members what they like and dislike about the club. You’ll start to see some common themes after a while and then you can decide how it fits in with what you are looking for.
 
If you want to play a bunch of tennis, you will probably benefit both financially and socially by joining a club of some description.

Whether the club closest to you is going to be the best club for you is a different matter. Every club is different. If you want to play high level league, you don’t want to join a club where everything revolves around the tea and scones at Thursday morning’s Ladies’ Social.
 
My wife and I joined a club 5 years ago and it was the best thing we've done in many years. We originally did it so I could have a place to play when the weather got bad. I also did it as a retirement gift to my wife so she had a place to go in the daytime and play with other women while I was still working.

At first we went to mixers and leagues and started meeting other folks there. Found some similar skilled people and started to play a lot more outside of leagues and planned events. Now i have set men's doubles groups on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. I play mixed with my wife on wednesdays. She plays ladies doubles once or twice a day. And we also do social events at the club like pub night, trivia night, holiday dinners, etc.

So the biggest advantage is the social advantage of meeting tennis people.

Of course our club is a more fancy schmancy club with initiation fees and monthly dues, so it's different from what you are talking about. I'd love to pay $325 a year. We pay that every month.
 
Attend the free taster sessions before joining to see what the general playing standard of other members is like, don't get sucked in by discounted offers etc...
 
I really appreciate everyone's input.

I think I will go ahead and sign up for a few of the classes and clinics and maybe even do a private or group lesson to get a feel for the place. One more question- when signing up for these classes, they list different times for different level players. Will they score me or should I know what level player I am before signing up for anything? Based off a quick google search, I think I could peg myself.

Also, how does that score work if I were to play USTA? Can people "cheat" the system by declaring themselves a lower score than they are? Similarly in motocross, an A or B rider will sometimes sandbag down to a C race just to win... Which doesn't do anyone any favors including themselves.
 
Wiztardo said:
I really appreciate everyone's input.

I think I will go ahead and sign up for a few of the classes and clinics and maybe even do a private or group lesson to get a feel for the place. One more question- when signing up for these classes, they list different times for different level players. Will they score me or should I know what level player I am before signing up for anything? Based off a quick google search, I think I could peg myself.

Also, how does that score work if I were to play USTA? Can people "cheat" the system by declaring themselves a lower score than they are? Similarly in motocross, an A or B rider will sometimes sandbag down to a C race just to win... Which doesn't do anyone any favors including themselves.
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we don't have officially computer rankings in Canada for player level, so most people just self rate based on NTRP descriptions and it usually works out just fine that way. If you are reasonably honest in self assessment you will fit in just fine. There will always be a few jack offs that massively underestimate themselves to get easy wins but that corrects pretty quickly with the computer and often leads to disqualifications if you are overly dominant.
 
Depending on where you live, there may be good “public” options, or there may not be. And that may be true for 12 months of the year, or for only 6.

The main reason to join a club is to avoid having to play tennis with people who think $325/yr is too much to spend. :)

But if you’re focused on the value proposition, I hope you’ll find that the value of good tennis friends and opportunities far exceeds $325.
 
Around here there are good public and private/club options. However, the public options are only available half the year due to weather. Many people are club members but only visit the club during indoor season. The other reason that people join a club is for nice facilities. If you want to play on clay here, a club is your only option.
 
Many clubs have gyms, swimming pools, sauna/steam room, restaurant/bar etc. which also add to the reasons for joining them. For many people, it then becomes their main social hangout outside of work. If you have children, some clubs like mine offer childcare services free of charge also so that members can go play tennis while their children are taken care of - popular service to attract younger players.
 
I joined a club and was surprised to learn that when I played league, we had to pay extra for lunch for our opponents. When we played other teams that didn't have a formal club, they would treat us to cheese and crackers when we supplied a nice lunch. There were also monthly minimums to order at the club restaurant which wasn't very good. The ladies had all the teams lined up and you had to sub or play line 4 unless you were friends with the captain who was 100 years old. Old people took all the morning courts so you couldn't get on until 10 because they all had standing reservations. Men get the courts on Saturday so you have to wait then as well. The club pro was not a nice woman and should have been replaced years ago. I paid a year in advance and wished I hadn't. I think go month to month if that is an option to make sure you like it. $325 is 1/4 of what I paid for my membership. I haven't joined a club since and I can play every day if I want but I'm in SoCal where tennis life is so good.
 
LOBALOT said:
I would also confirm typical court availability so you can identify if you can book courts. A local club has a similar fee structure. However, they offer so many clinics/classes that one cannot book a court unless it is before 7AM and after 10PM weekdays and forget about weekends. One has to book court time on a fixed prepaid schedule for the entire year or it is impossible to get a court. That may not mater for you if you only planning on doing classes but if you also want to play I would check on how easy it is grab a court ad hoc.

To me another important thing is the vibe or feel a club has.

Does the club have a nice family friendly fun environment or is it snooty?

Do they have a lot of mixers, tennis parties, etc. or do they just have USTA teams?

From a pro perspective are the adult classes fun and the pros engaged in making it fun or are they human tennis ball machines feeding balls?

If you have kids how is their junior program/instruction?

Those are the kinds of things I would look for.
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That sounds a nightmare club, coaches at any club I've belonged to are restricted to one or two of say six courts and its easy to get a two hour booking to play singles. No way I'd join a club like that.
 
toby55555 said:
That sounds a nightmare club, coaches at any club I've belonged to are restricted to one or two of say six courts and its easy to get a two hour booking to play singles. No way I'd join a club like that.
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Yes it is too busy with not enough courts. Between private and group lessons that is where the pros make their money and the club takes the court fee off the top so they are happy that their courts are always full. It is a symbiotic relationship. From a member perspective it was not great which points to club leadership perspective on membership.
 
LOBALOT said:
Yes it is too busy with not enough courts. Between private and group lessons that is where the pros make their money and the club takes the court fee off the top so they are happy that their courts are always full. It is a symbiotic relationship. From a member perspective it was not great which points to club leadership perspective on membership.
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Find a club run by a committee of volunteer members with an annual AGM where all members have a vote. No way coaches would ever get the run of the club like that.
 
It’s like anything else - there will be clubs that are below-average, average and above-average in terms of member satisfaction. Do your due diligence before you join.
 
LOBALOT said:
I would also confirm typical court availability so you can identify if you can book courts. A local club has a similar fee structure. However, they offer so many clinics/classes that one cannot book a court unless it is before 7AM and after 10PM weekdays and forget about weekends. One has to book court time on a fixed prepaid schedule for the entire year or it is impossible to get a court. That may not mater for you if you only planning on doing classes but if you also want to play I would check on how easy it is grab a court ad hoc.

To me another important thing is the vibe or feel a club has.

Does the club have a nice family friendly fun environment or is it snooty?

Do they have a lot of mixers, tennis parties, etc. or do they just have USTA teams?

From a pro perspective are the adult classes fun and the pros engaged in making it fun or are they human tennis ball machines feeding balls?

If you have kids how is their junior program/instruction?

Those are the kinds of things I would look for.
Click to expand...
All great things to look for. I agree with your assessment. I also make sure the place is CLEAN! Are the locker rooms cleaned?- how often? Are the showers clean and are they actually working. ( I had one club that had 6-8 showers and only three had nozzles that allowed enough water to come out of them. The others water just trickled out of the nozzles the lines were so clogged up with lime and old.) Some locker rooms are NASTY and are cleaned well enough to forgo needing to worry about putting your bare foot on the carpet. Are the courts clean as well- as welll as the access areas to and from the courts. There are places that only focus on what you actually see when you first walk inside the door- the reception area. I always take a tour at least twice before deciding to join or not.
I think the people going there makes a difference in if you stay at a club or not. I belonged to a club for many years that the members were not very friendly and were very cliquish within their own little " groups". We would have mixed doubles drop ins and free club times during certain odd holidays. They barely spoke to anyone that wasn't in their little group. I finally joined another club where the members are a lot more friendly.
 
I wouldn't expect much from a "club" that only charges $325 initiation--sounds more like "community" courts where they give u a key and you're on your own. How many courts? Any amenities?--pool, snack bar?--porta-potty? Is it only open seasonally, half the year?
 
mctennis said:
I think the people going there makes a difference in if you stay at a club or not. I belonged to a club for many years that the members were not very friendly and were very cliquish within their own little " groups". We would have mixed doubles drop ins and free club times during certain odd holidays. They barely spoke to anyone that wasn't in their little group. I finally joined another club where the members are a lot more friendly.
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Yah, this kind of club sucks--the members are selfish and usually suck at tennis, have bad eye-sight and cheat a lot. It's a reflection of management's greed--they just take your money and treat members like cattle. The pros are there only to take your money for lessons and don't get involved with the members. Main attraction is the bar if they have one--might as well play at a public tennis center for free.
 
Wiztardo said:
Hello all!

I am generally new to the sport. I am 30 years old and started playing on and off quite a bit about 3 years ago. The one thing I am finding difficult with this sport is, I could want to play upwards of 5 times a week... But I am not really sure how to go about actually doing that considering it requires another body to play with. My play has been very hot and cold because I only have about 3 other people who will play tennis and they aren't very serious about it.

This brings me to my question- now that it is getting cold where I am (and even without the cold), I want to play more tennis. I have a club very close to me. But, when reviewing the benefits of the club, I am personally not seeing a whole lot that would sway me to join. There is a yearly membership fee of about 325 bucks, and that just gives me a minor discount on all the things I can do without a membership, like lessons, drill sessions, court time, etc. One of the only real reasons to join as it appears to me, is to be eligible to play in USTA matches.

So what is the real benefit of joining a club? What benefits do you get out of your club? Should I look to play USTA if I simply want to play more tennis.
Click to expand...
You join a club for all the reasons you state. Basically you join to meet other people who like tennis. Be patient. It takes a while to find the people who you want to play with and who want to play with you. The pro should be organizing activities you can sign up for.

It can get expensive. Here in New England tennis is indoor like 9 months a year. Most places charge you a monthly fee plus an hourly court rate. That said I’m currently out of a club due to COVID concerns and I’m jealous. So enjoy it!
 
tennis tom said:
I wouldn't expect much from a "club" that only charges $325 initiation--sounds more like "community" courts where they give u a key and you're on your own. How many courts? Any amenities?--pool, snack bar?--porta-potty? Is it only open seasonally, half the year?
Click to expand...
Each club is different. I used to belong to a neighborhood club like you describe. It was $500 a year with no court fees and everyone there was super friendly and just loved tennis. It was bare bones but almost like the tennis version of field of dreams. It literally started as someone’s backyard courts.
 
tennis tom said:
Yah, this kind of club sucks--the members are selfish and usually suck at tennis, have bad eye-sight and cheat a lot. It's a reflection of management's greed--they just take your money and treat members like cattle. The pros are there only to take your money for lessons and don't get involved with the members. Main attraction is the bar if they have one--might as well play at a public tennis center for free.
Click to expand...
True about the pros. Some pros do not even acknowledge you if you are not on the court taking a lesson with them. They make it a chore to even have a normal conversation with them. The in house bar$ are the thing$ that club$ like to add to their " $ervice$". One place I had been a member had a huge bar area and that the thing they expected the members to use right after they hosted a " mixed doubles" event. They placed the free food ( chips and pretzels- salty to make you even more thirsty) right in front of the bar and offered nothing to drink besides what was at the bar, all COD.
The people at the public courts were more hospitable than the people at the club. I switched after about a year there. It never changed. I still hear complaints from people about that club.
 
WestboroChe said:
Each club is different. I used to belong to a neighborhood club like you describe. It was $500 a year with no court fees and everyone there was super friendly and just loved tennis. It was bare bones but almost like the tennis version of field of dreams. It literally started as someone’s backyard courts.
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Sometimes those are the best places to belong to. We have one that was started just like that. A small shack for the court equipment for whomever wanted to play. They have 6 courts. It is tucked in between a couple of neighborhoods and you would drive right past it if you did not know it was there. They charge a little a year to belong. No court fee, just a yearly fee. People are friendly and always helpful when you go to play. It is too far away from me now to belong but some people have been "members" for 20+ years.
 
I prefer a place that you have to be a member. It at least has someone checking someone at the front desk. Just coming in and paying without being a member may , I say may, let unwanted people in to do some theft.
I was a semi- loose club like that. All they required is payment. There was some theft of items in the locker area, pro teaching items, and also in the parking lot. Especially in the winter months. One pro had his racquets stolen out of his car when he was inside for a club meeting. Sad to see things like that happen. They strengthened up their policies and that seemed to have helped. They still had car break ins until they added video cameras on 24/7. I think once the thieves figured out the pattern of people coming and going in the club they started picking on the cars even more. It actually happened at some other local clubs as well. I think these thieves either told their thieving buddies about the cars being available or the thieves started looking at other clubs to pick on.
 
toby55555 said:
Find a club run by a committee of volunteer members with an annual AGM where all members have a vote. No way coaches would ever get the run of the club like that.
Click to expand...

I am sorry if I left you to believe I am a member of this club. I am of course not for this very reason.
 
mctennis said:
Sometimes those are the best places to belong to. We have one that was started just like that. A small shack for the court equipment for whomever wanted to play. They have 6 courts. It is tucked in between a couple of neighborhoods and you would drive right past it if you did not know it was there. They charge a little a year to belong. No court fee, just a yearly fee. People are friendly and always helpful when you go to play. It is too far away from me now to belong but some people have been "members" for 20+ years.
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Yeah I was lucky to just move to the town where this club just happened to be. Very similar to what you describe. Unfortunately we since moved to a different town. There’s a few of those old neighborhood clubs scattered around MA and probably CT too but given how short the outdoor season is it really has to be a second club membership if you’re serious about tennis. Especially since they usually have no lessons or other activities. Or for many of the people at my old club it was because they could only play on clay due to injuries and such.

The club in my new town is a “fancy” indoor club with gym and pool. It’s in dire need of a facelift but for tennis it’s perfectly functional. They have six indoor courts and six outdoor courts that they bubble wrap. Pre COVID they had like 7 pros working there and the parking lot was a revolving door of teens coming and going with babolat bags. Probably not quite so busy these days but still there.
 
I just had my first experience last night at a drill session of the club in a 3.0-3.5 group. It was a ton of fun. I will definitely be signing up regularly each week and continue to get a good idea of what the club is all about. From what I can tell, it definitely appears to be tennis focused and no tight cliques (at least in this group of about 12 folks). The instructors were helpful and kept it fun. Playing indoor during the cold is indescribably awesome. I was worried about getting my moneys worth for an hour and a half of play time, but it was pretty much non stop hitting for the hour and a half.

One thing I noticed that I didn't consider could be the case... Doubles seemed to be the main attraction. I am assuming it's because we had 12 people across 3 courts... You sort of have to run doubles drills for everyone to get court time. But the little bit I spoke with others, they didn't seem to play singles hardly at all. I can definitely understand the older folks not playing singles but the group was almost all 30-45 year olds who were more than capable of singles play. I don't have a whole lot of interest in doubles, so that was really the only bummer to me. BUT- I definitely recognize I need to be acquiring skills that doubles players have even for singles play. So I am still very happy to be put outside my comfort zone playing in doubles.
 
Wiztardo said:
I just had my first experience last night at a drill session of the club in a 3.0-3.5 group. It was a ton of fun. I will definitely be signing up regularly each week and continue to get a good idea of what the club is all about. From what I can tell, it definitely appears to be tennis focused and no tight cliques (at least in this group of about 12 folks). The instructors were helpful and kept it fun. Playing indoor during the cold is indescribably awesome. I was worried about getting my moneys worth for an hour and a half of play time, but it was pretty much non stop hitting for the hour and a half.

One thing I noticed that I didn't consider could be the case... Doubles seemed to be the main attraction. I am assuming it's because we had 12 people across 3 courts... You sort of have to run doubles drills for everyone to get court time. But the little bit I spoke with others, they didn't seem to play singles hardly at all. I can definitely understand the older folks not playing singles but the group was almost all 30-45 year olds who were more than capable of singles play. I don't have a whole lot of interest in doubles, so that was really the only bummer to me. BUT- I definitely recognize I need to be acquiring skills that doubles players have even for singles play. So I am still very happy to be put outside my comfort zone playing in doubles.
Click to expand...
Being able to play in rain and winter is the best. I would go crazy not having a rec sport in winter.

Doubles is the main attraction for the social aspect and the ability for the club to make more money per court. At my club, each individual pays for court time at $11 per 90 minutes. I didn't have much interest in doubles at first either but it grows on you out of necessity since not many are interested in singles. Just my opinion.
 
Just 'cause I love bragging about my "club" I figure I would put in my comments.
My club is a public facility run by a private company as part of a larger city park.
22 courts plus a nice stadium court. All hard courts, all outdoor.
There is a membership if one chooses to do so ... right around $300 annually gets you 10% off all private lessons, 3 complimentary group clinics, 3 stringings, 50% club league fees,
Or don't do the membership and just walk in and pay full price.
Fully manned front desk and controlled entrance/exits guarantees that no one is on the courts that isn't supposed to be or hasn't paid.
Court time is $7/hour per person ($5 if you are over 50 and $0 if you are a member)
Clinics are $15 for 90 minutes and roughly 6 clinics are offered per day 7 days a week.
Staff of roughly 12 certified pros ... more than a few with ATP points

This is tennis only. No frills.

It is my happy place
 
OnTheLine said:
This is tennis only. No frills.

It is my happy place
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That sounds like a really nice place with great prices. That's the benefit of being tennis only so the club doesn't have to charge more to pay for amenities that you don't care about. Simplicity can be nice.
 
I have playing about 5 days week for the pass 5 months at a public pay to play facility. I did the month and it's roughly $136 per month. I thought about joining a club to expand my circle of players, play club tournaments or jumping a doubles round robin without call a bunch a guys to see if they can play. But the nearest private club is 30 minutes away and where I play now is 6 minutes from my home.
 
I think they said something about leagues and hitting partners, but they had me at "ball machine."
 
How big is the tennis community where you league?

I'm lucky to live in FL but play as much as I want without a club.

Basically I'm on a text list for a group that plays every MWF morning, a different group that plays every MWF evening, and a group that plays Saturday and Sunday mornings (and oftentimes Wednesday nights).

Each of the three is just a What's App group, they post "who's in" and if you replay. Each kinda has it's own leader / feel. But between the three there are lots of people to arrange matches with.

Also if I just want to play on a random Tuesday, you can post and say "anyone want to meet Tuesday evening for singles" and you can usually find someone.
 
Connor35 said:
How big is the tennis community where you league?
Click to expand...
That's a key factor. Where I live it would be hard to find people to play with if I wasn't with a club. At least with a club, you can meet a lot of people to develop your player pool. I like having the club manage the organization of our Tuesday/Thursday night group. I just have to show up and play. We always draw cards to get paired up, i.e. black aces play red aces, etc. I can also play year-round being in a snowy state.
 
Suck it up and pay the pro for weekly lessons for 6 months.. after you've hung around a lot and demonstrated your commitment to paying his bills ask him to hook you up with other interested people who need singles play. After a year you'll have a phone full of people to call. Don't pass on matches against teenagers. They kick your ass and force you to double down on getting better.
 
Ive joined quite a few clubs. Best thing to do initially is the social mix in and you will then get invited to play with members of your level. The better you are the more this tends to happen. Also have a chat with the head coach as he can point you in the right direction. Hopefully, you'll get added to the unofficial member's WhatsApp groups and then you will have cracked it.
 
Jono123 said:
Hopefully, you'll get added to the unofficial member's WhatsApp groups and then you will have cracked it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree ... add caveat though ... unless you are a self-centered, flakey jerk

Once on that group ...

if you post up show up.
Be on time.
Unless something catastrophic happens (like someone dies) do not cancel without at least 24 hour notice.
Bring good new can of balls.
 
LOBALOT said:
I would also confirm typical court availability so you can identify if you can book courts. A local club has a similar fee structure. However, they offer so many clinics/classes that one cannot book a court unless it is before 7AM and after 10PM weekdays and forget about weekends. One has to book court time on a fixed prepaid schedule for the entire year or it is impossible to get a court. That may not mater for you if you only planning on doing classes but if you also want to play I would check on how easy it is grab a court ad hoc.
Click to expand...
This is the question I asked and then didn’t join any of the clubs. It’s impossible to get court time.

Which in my case turned out to be a blessing because it forces me to focus on running and resistance training in the winter and put the racquets in the closet
 
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