May is National Tennis Month. We are excited to release the first of four episodes dedicated to it called “How to Get Your Friends to Start Playing Tennis”.
According to Peter Francesconi, Editor at Racquet Sports Industry magazine and Owner/President of Ace Media Group LLC, “National Tennis Month has been a labor of love for many of us for a long time, and it’s great to see the traction and support it’s been receiving.” Read more about #NationalTennisMonth here.
How to Encourage Friends to Start Playing
We love to play tennis and there are many ways we can encourage friends to start playing. You can do something as easy as tell your friends to google “tennis near me” or “tennis lessons near me”. The “near me” search feature on google is great. The user will get an aggregated list of local tennis options.
Erin started playing because her husband bought her five lessons as a present. After she connected with a tennis pro and used those five lessons, she bought five more. From there, it just kept going until she felt comfortable enough to start taking group clinics.
It’s not necessary to pay for lessons to get started. To get your friends to start playing tennis, tell them they just need a racquet and the desire to play. Carolyn’s friend started playing by going outside on her lunch hour and hitting against a wall. Soon, she can find a tennis court and a group of friends to play with.
Post About Tennis on Social Media
If you post about playing tennis on social media, it might encourage someone to pick up the sport too! There are not a lot of sports that can be played competitively as adults, but anyone can start playing tennis at any point in their lives. Age isn’t a factor with tennis! You can be 5 years old or 105 years old and can play!
No Need for Fancy Equipment
Fancy equipment isn’t necessary to start playing tennis. A player can find used racquets for a low cost at Goodwill or Play It Again Sports. There are no rules about what needs to be worn to play tennis either – people can wear the clothes they already have in their closet.
Contact a Local Community Tennis Association
One of the best resources to point friends towards who want to start playing tennis is to their local “community tennis association (CTA)”. There are CTAs all over the country and there are programs like “Try Tennis”. Malik and Adna, a teaching tennis pro, and his wife, were on a previous episode and told us all about the program. Adna not only feel in love with tennis, she and Malik fell in love and ended up getting married. What a success story for trying tennis!
In addition to CTAs, people can contact their Parks and Rec departments, YMCAs, or other community centers.
Recruit One Friend to Start Playing Tennis
If each person that is already playing tennis can find one friend to start playing, we would double our sport. Can you imagine the positive mental health effects that could have on a community? That’s why we are encouraging all tennis players to get your friends to start playing tennis. In fact, USTA has coined a great phrase during National Tennis Month — LET’S TENNIS!