Do you think tennis is a ' posh ' sport?

[sinklineandhook]

When you hear someone saying they play tennis, do you assume they're a bit well off / posh ? Whatever you want to call it.

As a kid we had almost no public tennis courts, so it wasn’t a popular sport. Football was really cheap in comparison. A couple of jumpers for goals and a ball is all you need for footy, which is why it’s so widely played…

No. I come from a really working class area and we had tennis courts at school and were taught to play in PE lessons. Lots of us played in the local tennis club (which hired the school courts in an evening).

The council also has tennis courts in the park which are really cheap to hire for a couple of hours. I played a lot when younger and so have my kids. A racket doesn't cost much. Sports Direct has them for less than £30 often.

It's not something I would ever see as 'posh' to be honest.

I should add it's a brilliant sport. Our club has people in their 80s playing - keeping active and being sociable and presumably saving the NHS money. I am in love with tennis!

Oh I agree with this: it's a great sport. Brilliant to watch the highly skilled professionals but also great fun for anyone to play.

Yes. If it weren't, you'd have state secondary schools with tennis courts and not just the local private school. (I acknowledge there are exceptions here and there).

Any sport that requires specialist facilities unlikely to be provided by the state is a posh sport. Swimming isn't (leisure centre pools) and obviously things that can share a mixed use grass pitch (football, rugby, field hockey, whatever).

If you need to join a club with a dress code (tennis and golf) it's not for the plebs.

Yes but it doesn't need to be.

It is because:
-court hire is expensive, even local authority, compared to using a playing field for free
-they dont teach it at most state schools so requires private lessons or club
-theres a social networking attached to it. They don't have Pimm's, linen dresses, strawberries and aristocrats at the Euros do they...

When they have a private court in their back garden, yes.

Otherwise, not at all. Around here, you can find free or ridiculously cheap courts in local parks and local sports clubs.

I suppose anyone can kick a football and play anywhere, while people probably benefit from lesson to learn to play tennis, which might make it sound "posher" for some.

I think it was more posh 50 years ago, but having said that, my father was the son of a coal miner & played.
Our local club is £100/year and is not for profit, run by volunteers. It's very middle class (definitely not a posh club) but we live in a very middle class area.

Yes

We happen to live near (community) tennis courts and for some reason it elevates the neighbourhood

How many under privileged kids do you know who have tennis lessons?

Yes posh.
People keep talking about a knockaround in the local park being cheap, but that is very different from playing on a proper well maintained court.

And I do not know any parks in poorer areas that have tennis courts you can use. Not one.

No.

We are using a different definition of posh. I see middle class as posh.

Only if you're talking tennis clubs and trying to reach a high level.

I used to play tennis a lot as a child, we'd go down to the courts and pay barely anything for an hour or so. I wanted to be in the school tennis team so I practiced for ages against the garage wall until I got in it. But top level I think is elitist.

Generally middle class, very much so. Not posh as such. My dh plays and is a club member and he is definitely one of few from working class backgrounds.

Yes
It doesn’t have to be, there are very very cheap courts in parks around us. But typically it’s middle classes that play tennis.

It is now. Back in the olden days my sink comprehensive taught it.

Not posh but you need a lot of money to play, even at low levels.

There are no public access tennis courts near us and the nearest LTA kids tennis scheme is about 100 miles away. Great if you have money to get there and stay over night in a hotel etc.

I heard a lot of waffle on the TV the other day during the Queens Club Championships from some executive or other talking about getting more people involved in tennis, more kids etc, and to be honest it's the same old crap I heard when I was a kid 30+ years ago. Nothings changed. Nothing will change. Unless you have money you can pretty much forget playing and forget making a career from it.

No. It used to be, and English tournaments still have plenty of class markers but it’s literally a game where anyone can make it to the top. Not posh.

A few upper middle class people being snotty does not make a sport

As an example, there are 14 park tennis facilities managed by one company across Croydon.

Including free hire, here's ONE example pic included, so people can't say I am making it up.

Tennis is not posh, even in "posh" Croydon.

Presumably these courts are in middle class areas?

Not in our town. We have council courts in the park and it costs £45 a year for a family ticket, to use them.

We also have a tennis club on the other side of town, and that's not 'smart' either.

@theowlwhisperer everything is different in London. Kids even get free travel. Outside London our parks have a football pitch and a playground. I have never seen a tennis court in a local park never mind a free one.