Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide brief answers to many common questions about booking tennis.
Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide brief answers to many common questions about booking tennis.
There are two possible ways to begin your tennis journey. Group lessons are a great way to start developing your strokes and tennis knowledge by practising with other players of a similar standard, to find a group please look at our coaching programme or check with one of our tennis coaches.
Alternatively, the quickest and by far the best way is through one to one coaching, especially when combined with a weekly group session. This enables you to practice what you've learnt within your one to one coaching sessions with others of a similar standard. For more information about one to one coaching speak to our coaching staff.
The LTA recommend that players start as soon as they can hold a racquet. The Avenue Tots Tennis sessions are aimed at 3-4year olds and designed to help these young players develop their Tennis ABC’s (Agility, Balance and Control) and ultimately have FUN! Upon joining Avenue Tennis, you will receive a free 20-minute assessment to determine which group would suit your ability.
Avenue Tennis coaching programme runs holiday camps during Easter, Summer and Christmas for all ages and abilities; please ask our coaching team for further details.
Either when a child moves up an age range, i.e. Red 5-8year olds or the coach through ongoing assessment throughout the term decides that they would be suitable for the next level of play. Parents are consulted before any decision is made.
To enter a competition Matchplay or LTA Tournament you need to be registered with the LTA: To get a BTM (British Tennis Membership) number:
A rating is awarded after obtaining your BTM Number. There are 20 rating bands for junior and adults, you start at the bottom rating 10.2 and progress up to 10.1 then 9.2 and upwards to 1.1 that’s Andy Murray’s rating. For example, If you are a 10.2-9.1 rating you can improve your rating by winning four matches against players of a similar or higher rating in a ratings term (Summer/Winter). Once players get to 8.2 or greater juniors, need to have six qualifying wins with a win/loss ratio of 60% or better to improve their rating. Adults only need three qualifying wins with a win-loss ratio of 60%, always refer to LTA website for amendments to these guidelines.
By competing in a Grade 5 or higher tournament, Ranking Points are awarded, based on what stage is made and the grade of the tournament.
These ranking points are tallied up over the year, using a maximum of six events except for veterans which are three events. And this goes on a leader board for County, Regional, and National Rankings. To improve your ranking, you have to play in Grade 5 or above (Fast4's are the common regularly staged one-day tournaments). If you win a match in the competition you gain ranking points, depending on what grade and matches you win, points are allocated accordingly (see LTA Website for details).
When a player competes in a grade 5 tournament or above they are awarded ranking points depending on what round the player reaches. You can enter via the LTA website under competitions using your BTM number for LTA sanctioned events.
Matchplay's are different to tournaments; various formats are used to shorten the matches initially 10.2-9.1 to get more matches played in a shorter space of time to improve your rating such as timed matches, short sets to 4 games, etc. a minimum of 2 matches are played in this format.
When you get to 8.2 and above, matches are usually full sets unless specified by an organiser. For Mini Tennis Red, Orange Tiebreaks to 7 or 10pts are used and short sets for green ball matches.
Our membership packages include everything you need to make fitness part of your life