Do you think tennis is a ' posh ' sport?

But… once you get into the realms of competing with private lessons, travel to tournaments etc it’s a different level of expense. It seems like the kids who are really good at 8/9 have spent an absolute fortune to get to the point of even county selection

Well that's the case for any type of sport or activity, even non posh ones like football. But people don't have to be 'good' or compete for the sport/activity to be worthwhile. It can simply be done for fun, social aspect or being active etc.

Kind of. I mean, not in and of itself, a public court at the park is free or cheap and a racquet and balls cost little. It's also possible to play (not saying amazingly well) with zero prior knowledge or coaching. It's funny that something so simple has developed all.sorts of status and accoutrements that cost a fortune and belie its very simplicity- expensive lessons, a spiffing white uniform, shoes that cost a bomb.

most parks do not have outdoor tennis courts. I have never seen any outside London.l

please do not say you are representing the entire country outside of London? That’s a completely ridiculous comment. I grew up in a village in Lincolnshire that had 3 tennis courts. There are plenty of very affordable clubs that offer cheap play and kids classes that are no more expensive than dancing classes or other hobby classes. What holds people back is the notion that you have to have lots of money to play ( which you don’t) or “ it’s not for the likes of us”.

It depends on the level. My daughters do tennis once a week and it’s not mega expensive. The group classes are pretty accessible and the entry level racquets are much cheaper than all the ballet stuff we’ve had to buy.

But… once you get into the realms of competing with private lessons, travel to tournaments etc it’s a different level of expense. It seems like the kids who are really good at 8/9 have spent an absolute fortune to get to the point of even county selection.

I live in another large city in England and most of the public parks have tennis courts.

Judging by the number of dogs I see with tennis balls in the mouths, I would say not.

(Unless the manufacturers of said balls have organised a racket as some sort of promotional aid - could happen 🤔)

Just googled. Nearest is over 20 miles away in a posh village. I live in a City. They do not run at all there.

No. But I live somewhere where tennis is very popular. There are public tennis courts that can be rented at no charge, and you don't need to spend a lot of money on a racket or balls.

@Bjorkdidit most parks do not have outdoor tennis courts. I have never seen any outside London.

It's one of those strange things that's cheap and accessible but somehow is seen as posh/aspirational/not something that poorer people are able to do.

Most council parks have outdoor tennis courts. The condition might not be great, but they're fine to knock a ball about on. In my city at least, all these parks are in areas that, if listed, would look like a MN top 10 of places to avoid when looking for somewhere to live.

Like Park Run. There was a long thread a while ago about how inaccessible Park Run was to the working classes, with the usual MN whataboutery about how we couldn't possibly go for a run around a park that was on our doorstep.

Also to add the amenities in London are not representative of those available to people in the rest of the country.

Only when it’s played at home.

When I was a child there was a free tennis court in the local park. A very working class area in the North East. We knocked a threadbare tennis ball about with a couple of old second hand rackets that my DF got for us. We were not playing tennis though. We didn’t know the rules or get any coaching. The late great Paul O’Grady was once asked about the difference between the working classes and the middle classes. He said being working class just meant not experiencing at a meaningful level the things that the middle classes take for granted for example swimming, tennis, rugby, etc etc. He included music lessons and things such as skiing in that view I think. This then leads to a lack of ability in these areas for the working classes. I agree with him the possible exception being football.

No. There were free courts near me growing up and you just had to book them. Then price of a racket and balls
Just checked and the courts near me here in SW London are still free!

Expensive? It can be.,, but often isn't

Our local (council) courts cost £20 per person per year. There's 4 courts, you can book them for free on an app

Lessons in a group are £7 pp

Rackets are cheap. You can find them second hand too very easily. You can come in shorts, a t shirt and any old trainers

Tub of tennis balls is £5

All quite accessible really IMO

A smarter local club I go to is £60 per year and runs free mix-ins three times a week, where anyone of any level can just turn up and play. It's very popular.

If you want private coaching that is expensive but still cheaper than , for example, a PT

In my experience it has been a very accessible sport to get into at an older age

It's especially noticeable in football. I'm always amazed by the eloquence and intelligence of non-English players. Often, they speak better English than our own players do (many of whom can barely form a coherent sentence).

I've got a theory that we're so relentlessly crap at sport because of the class system. In most countries (I assume) people just play the sport that appeals to them. In the UK, on the other hand, they generally play the sport of their class. If you're working-class you play football, and if you're middle-class you play rugby, tennis or cricket. OK, that's a crude generalization, but it's not far wrong, let's be honest. So for every sport the pool of talent is much smaller than it should be.

It's especially noticeable in football. I'm always amazed by the eloquence and intelligence of non-English players. Often, they speak better English than our own players do (many of whom can barely form a coherent sentence). Just look at the non-English pundits they get in during a tournament. Jesus, they speak, dress, and act in a far superior way to the grinning, yobbish Brits. I remember one year the BBC had a Dutch pundit in the studio and he made a reference to Greek Mythology!! Most of the British pundits couldn't even point to Greece on a map.

The class system really holds this country back. I'm always so impressed by the way the French and Spanish and Scandinavians (actually, most continental Europeans) manage to be so classy without having a class system. I remember a documentary on the Falklands war in which one of the (very posh) commanding officers said (of another commanding officer) "we'd been at the same school, so we found it easy to talk to one another." I mean wtf🙄. There you have the crippling British class system in a nutshell.

The LTA run this and have been for years.

https://www.lta.org.uk/play/parents-area/start/

£29.99 gets you:

• Six top-class tennis sessions with specially trained coaches
• A tennis racket and set of balls
• A branded t-shirt

Do there tend to be any courts in local parks other than in posh areas though?

Yes! We have plenty in my borough and I know loads in Hackney, Haringey and Edmonton and Enfield too. More than in the posher areas when I think about it - I guess they play in clubs.

It is until it’s not.
Watch King Richard.

I've played tennis tournaments and there's never an umpire until the finals, and you pick up your own balls!

Good lord. I wouldn't entertain such a question.

Indeed.

Though reading some of the other comments I wonder this may be something that Scots see as a posh sport but the English don't (so the opposite of golf).

Certainly growing up not far from Dunblane (the closest tennis courts to my childhood home would have been the ones in Bridge of Allan that're visible from the main street), I definitely saw it as a posh sport, but maybe that's just due to it's relative unpopularity (pre-Murray) here.

Do there tend to be any courts in local parks other than in posh areas though?

I've just had a quick search on google maps for "tennis courts" around where I live and where I grew up - in both cases, the tennis courts are all in the posh areas.

Yep. Andy Murray - Dunblane - tennis. Posh.