League Tennis: Do you have the nerve to play?
League tennis is THE perfect excuse to wear cute matchy-matchy outfits (if you’re into that sorta thing 😉)and get adult players out on court. If you’re a newer player, experienced, young or old, the more players the game has, the more opportunities you have. League tennis gives you a reason to play more tennis. Period. There’s zero excuse around age because it’s offered to over 18, over 40 and over 55. It gives you a reason to improve and put your tennis lessons to work. To play with more confidence, get invited to more socials, or travel with your teammates. And if competition was something you did in your youth, now you have a whole new reason to compete. League tennis gives you an opportunity to test your tennis chops - for real.
League tennis enjoyed by adults around the world offers competitive singles and doubles play for the 18 & over, 40 and over and 55 and over players. The format is best of 3 sets with a tiebreaker if needed. It gives adults at every level a reason to play more tennis, meet more players outside their local community and improve their tennis game via friendly competition.
Pro Tip:
Adult tennis camps by playing level & destination for Summer 2023 click here.
Junior tennis camps Summer 2023 check here.
Put your tennis lessons to work
When you have skin in the game because you’re playing matches regularly, you’ll take your tennis lessons more seriously. The money you spend is a real investment. You’ll do better picking your tennis coach, staying focused and want to go deeper in the game. You’ll put your tennis grips to task since you’ll need them for doubles. You can’t volley well if you’re not in the right grip!
The tennis drills you learn will have real value. You’ll watch professional matches on TV differently. And you’ll learn the court’s geography better so you can play high & low percentage shots to your advantage.
When you have real skin in the game, the game changes. YOUR game naturally changes for the better. I always use the last hour of my adult tennis holidays as a “friendly” match or point play, because playing points makes sense of the drills you do in practice. You’ll better understand where you should be on court and why. Matches help pin point the right shots to make at the right time. When it’s the moment to raise hell on the ball or pull back because you’re off balance or out of position. Tennis in Mallorca happens on the red clay. Sometimes I think that added based on the surface gives you more confidence to make the right decisionsa at the right time to get yourself into position, well.
Playing matches helps you understand where the opportunities are to change the momentum, what a shift in momentum feels like for good or bad and how to maneuver it back to your favor. If you play enough matches your mental game & emotional management starts to trickle into other areas of your life for the better. Even if you’re playing just for fun. (So far a 👍 for league play, no?)
League Tennis: Play more tennis & meet more players
If you find you really like tennis, you’re going to want to play it more. League tennis gives you the opportunity to travel & make deeper friendships. You quickly realize what a broad & dynamic community the tennis world really is. You’ll automatically gain more amigos on your own team. Then you’ll connect with even more players as you branch out to other clubs. As your team advances in the season so do the travel opportunities and adventures. And You quickly realize, no one quite understands you like your tennis friends.🥰
A league team consists of singles & doubles players. But as you venture outside the comfort zone of your home club you’ll start experiencing other variances of play at your NTRP level. What your club refers to as a 3.0 player may feel different outside your county. Different again outside your state. Certainly different abroad.
Yea, it’s cool to be one of the better players at your club. But it can be curious & inspiring to feel the level of play outside your neighborhood & how it radically calls out your own strengths & weaknesses. You’re only as good as your local people. The more matches you play the better you get and that’s how you’ll advance. That is, until YOU decide what team level you enjoy playing at and what you’re committed to time wise.
Adult League Tennis: A rollercoaster of fun😁💃
The Real Housewives has nothing on Ladies Team.
Let’s not forget, you’re in it to have fun. Not every part of your development & match play will be a laugh a minute. That’s for sure. There’ll be a splatter of shitty days on court🤬. Days you want to throw in the towel & give up. We all meet our maker known as the tennis slump. So does Federer, Serena and any pro player you adore. You’ll lose your passion now & then. But when it’s not fun anymore? You’ll stop playing. No recreational adult player expects to turn pro. Even if they act like it🙄. League tennis is for enjoyment, camaraderie & the challenge!
Take advantage of the fun people, boujee events, outfits and gear. League tennis will have you practicing, partnering, traveling, celebrating & mourning together like any sport team. You’ll make life long friends (a couple of enemies) through the tears, drama and fantastic wins!
🙍🏻♂️ It takes Nerve to Play🙍🏻♀️
Some of us are naturally competitive. Others, not so much. When I played junior & college tennis, I was mental most of the time. As I get older, again, not so much. But I’ve always been a late bloomer. And I’m still a slow starter in matches. Meaning I come back from behind.
Most adults won’t even think of playing league tennis unless a coach points you in that direction. And if he/she/they do point it out to you… follow their direction. Because they’re a very good coach who’s looking out for you & likely sees potential in you. Good coaches are hard to come by. You’ll learn that quickly too.
Tennis is a mental game as much as it is physical. And I don’t have to tell you that at the highest levels of the Pro tour it’s the mental game that tips the scales. The only way to move through this is to play more matches.
Sure there’s breathing exercises, meditation, visualization & a players own personal superstitious proclivities they call on for help. Everyone has them - nerves. Each player has a different tolerance level. Even if you’re not alone out there and you play doubles, you’ll still have nerves. Nerves you’re letting your partner, your Captain, your team & YOURSELF, down. Forget all that - get out and practice sure, but play matches on repeat. That’ll help to normalize your nerves. But the nerves will never go away completely. It’s just part of the experience.
And OWN your body language when you walk out on court. Walk out there sure of yourself. Show em’ your NO FEAR game. You can be friendly, empathetic and social AFTER the match. Especially at that final point when win or lose, you MUST go to that net and shake hands like a champion.
This bears repeating …
Regardless what’s happening in the world, or what antics the other team’s throwing, be a true sport on court. If you lose, NO EXCUSES. Come back next time and show em’ who you are today. The better player. 😉
Who Should Play League Tennis?
With over 300,000 players playing league tennis, YOU should play if you’re at all competitive! If you’re in the USA and are at least a 2.5 NTRP. Any adult with time to practice & travel to play matches should play league tennis. Anyone looking to meet more tennis players should join a league. Someone who's hungry for the game (and you know who you are👀) should play league tennis.
Many of the ladies & gents who’ve played tennis before, come back to the game after having kids. Former college players who miss the action will find league tennis at some point. If you’re over 18, 40 or 55 there’s an age category for you! Leaving you very little reason not to play.😛
League tennis typically lasts 8 - 9 weeks and does cost money. Think about it, you’ll need strategy sessions with a coach & court time to play your matches. In the USA a USTA membership costs $44 for the year. If you’re considering hiring a private coach to take develop your game find out what to look for here.
To play league tennis you have to join the USTA. Team costs $22 per team you play. Then each match costs around $25.
The UTR has flex leagues you can find here.
Popular tennis countries like; Canada, the UK, Ireland, & Australia have formal league play.
If you live in Canada, click here to find the closest league play.
The UK? Click here.
Australian players click here.
How do matches work?
If you play an in-house league at your local club (which is a good start) you’ll likely play based on time. The club might structure a round-robin format and play an 8 game pro-set.
League tennis where you travel to other clubs & play outside of your own will have a common format of best out of 3 sets with a 10 pt. tie breaker if needed.
How do you get rated to play?
In the USA you can rate yourself using the NTRP system. Have a look at the teams that play so you can measure yourself against them. Or ask your teaching pro to give you a fair and honest rating.
Let’s use the USTA rating system as an example. League tennis starts at a 2.5 level and goes to the 5.0 team player. To give you an idea, a 2.5 player is like an advanced beginner. A 5.0 player will be the highest level recreational player and likely played D1 college tennis. That strong of a level can also be felt at the 4.5 level of play.
Very Important: Who’s the Captain?
I used to coach ladies team practices for Captains in the USA. The whole team vibe & end goal is based on how your Captain runs their team.
This part’s a real live & learn thing. If your Captain is good enough to know & tell you from the very beginning how she/he/they is going to play everybody then great! There’s no surprises. So, maybe the captain is playing for fun and gives everybody 2 matches. OR the Captain tells you they’re playing to win. And they intend to play their best people up front - most of the time. OR that you may not always play with the same doubles partner. And singles players? Well, you’ll always get push back for not being a great doubles player. LOL. There’ll always be positives & negatives with league play. But as long as you know up front … no excuses.
Well ya know, she’s a singles player🙄??
One of the all-stars I coached for a couple years made it to Nationals on a 3.5 & 4.0 team. An incredible feeling and experience for a player. BUT, there’s always drama & tears because the people who aren’t as good, probably won’t get enough matches. Even though the Captain likely told them from the start how they plan to run the season. Or a team loses with a partner they’re use to winning with and that can get a little ugly too😬.
At the 4.5 level it feels different because the level is high.
Very few want to Captain at the higher levels because it’s a lot of work. And sometimes you go travel further out than you’d like to travel to play weekly matches. But, there’s fewer teams at the higher levels. You’ll find the same people Captain over & over again and have all the best players. Because it’s their job to get all the best players from anywhere & everywhere they can find them.
So if you go from playing a top court at the 4.0 level and then enter a 4.5 team & immediately drop down to the lowest court. You may not get the amount of matches you had before. Remember, 4.5 players are D1 & D2 college players who you’ll meet across the net. It’s not always fun to play less matches while getting your ass handed to you by a girl or guy out there for fun and nothing to prove.
So pay attention to how the different playing levels & psychology within each feeeels, as you pass through them {3.0 - 4.0 - 4.5}.
They’re like their own nichey sub-cultures to me. It’s VERY interesting. You’ll naturally figure out where your preference lies in those 3 levels and either find your way there OR back there. At the end of the day, you want a great game with people ya like, & it’s a good vibe.
You’ll determine how high you wanna reach for in league. You’ll either decide to continue with lessons to keep advancing, or maybe drop down a level and play more for the enjoyment, friends and still have great matches.
Point is you can use league tennis for decades of tennis benefits. When the chase is no longer worth the effort … you’ll have a pool of players you’ve made, to enjoy great tennis and good times.
At the end of the day, you’re in charge.
And what about you? Have you thought about playing league tennis?
With love from Mallorca~