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.

Don’t. You’ll get Guardian journalists sniffing around soon. Next thing you’ll see multiple articles and opinion pieces on how tennis is elitist and clubs should be forced to give away free memberships or be closed down.

I have. I have seen kids learning to ride their bike on tennis courts because no one was using them, I am not sure I would recommend it 😂 but in some areas there are plenty, not just London

@theowlwhisperer where?

No, I grew up proper working class and me and my friend used to play tennis at the local courts,

in the village I live in we have public courts, very cheap sport, just a racket and some balls. So no, for me not posh.

Some of these comments have made me chuckle. We are a very normal family but both of my kids grew up playing tennis. Both played for the county and in national championships. DS spends his holidays coaching now at our local club to earn a bit of money for uni.
Lessons aren't cheap but group sessions are very affordable.
I'm quite chuffed to be thought of as 'posh'.😂
https://www.lta.org.uk/play/parents-area/start/
Great value for any parents who's kids fancy having a go.

No, but in a city. Very diverse income wise like most cities.

It wasn't posh. My state school taught it. We have 8 courts, 4 people to a court made 32 people- a class.
Each year had two classes. Two PE lessons a week - we swapped around, athletics and tennis in the summer. Hockey and basketball in the winter. 🙂

What’s a middle class area?

@mummyuptheriver I am in a City. There are posh areas and poorer areas.

@Sillystrumpet Oh come on now!

How many under privalged kids get any additional sports lessons. It’s a contradiction in terms. Under privalged don’t really get anything,

@Sillystrumpet In my area the Football Association run incredibly cheap football summer schools. They also run one off coaching days that are free, I think these may be partially for talent spotting.
The tennis association has never run anything. I do not even know where they would run it. A private club somewhere?

Yep. Andy Murray - Dunblane - tennis. Posh.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Type your postcode in to find the nearest club/courts running it. You won't have to be a member of the club.

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.

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).

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

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!