How to Get Into Tennis After Watching Wimbledon
Every year Wimbledon does the same thing. The coverage starts, the strawberries appear, everyone gets inspired, and then by mid-July it’s all quietly forgotten until the following June. We’ve been a tennis family in a low-key way for years – me and Mr H used to play as a couple, now it’s more of a family thing whenever there are courts nearby – so we never quite lose the bug. But this year we’ve actually got tickets for opening day at Wimbledon, Court 2, and it’s got us thinking about it properly again.
If you’re one of the many people who watches Wimbledon every year and thinks “I really should try that” – here’s actually how to do it.
Finding Somewhere to Play
This is easier than most people think. Your local leisure centre almost certainly has courts, and they’re usually much cheaper to book than you’d expect – often just a few pounds an hour. Most will also hire out rackets if you don’t have your own, so there’s genuinely no barrier to just turning up and trying it. Beyond that, the LTA has a court finder on their website where you can search by postcode and find every club and public court near you. If you’re in Surrey, you might also like my guide to the best tennis courts in Surrey for kids and families, which includes some great local options for beginners. A lot of clubs also run beginner sessions specifically for adults, which are brilliant because everyone is equally clueless and it takes the pressure completely off.
We’ve always just used leisure centre courts as a family and booked them on a whim – it works perfectly well and you don’t need to commit to anything.
What You Actually Need
Not much, honestly. A racket and some balls, and that’s genuinely it to start with. If you’re hiring rackets at a leisure centre you don’t even need those. Clothing-wise, you want something you can move in comfortably – most people just wear whatever they’d wear to the gym. If you do get into it and start playing regularly, it’s worth investing in a proper pair of tennis shoes because court shoes are designed to support the sideways movement you do in tennis in a way normal trainers aren’t, and you will feel the difference. For tennis clothing specifically, again you don’t need anything fancy to start – but proper sports kit that moves with you makes it more enjoyable once you’re playing regularly.
Improving Your Game
Group lessons are a brilliant starting point if you’ve never played before or haven’t picked up a racket in years. Most clubs and leisure centres offer them at reasonable prices, and you’ll learn far more in a few structured sessions than you would from just knocking balls around on your own. The LTA also has a coaching finder so you can search for qualified coaches near you, which is handy if you want to go straight into one-to-one lessons – these are obviously a bigger investment but you improve much faster and a good coach will work around your schedule.
If you’ve already got the basics and want to push on, lots of clubs run improvers’ sessions and internal club competitions, which are a great low-stakes way to play against different people and actually develop your game. Social tennis nights are worth looking into too – you turn up, get matched with other players, and play a few sets without having to organise anything yourself. We’ve been meaning to do this for ages and Wimbledon has finally given us the push.
The Wimbledon Effect
Every year without fail, the week Wimbledon starts, courts near us get booked up solid. If you’ve been thinking about trying it, do it now – book a court this week, hire a racket if you need to, take a friend. You don’t need to be good. You just need to turn up.
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