Radyr Lawn Tennis Club are growing participation through tennis and pickleball
• 3 MINUTE READ
Radyr Lawn Tennis Club (LTC) was a 10-court club but in reality, only 7 courts were used regularly as they were floodlit and had the preferred artificial surfaces.
2 courts were laid to tarmac and were used infrequently, with 1 court dormant for most of the year with exception to mini tennis coaching due to a slope and being tarmac.
It was therefore quite an easy decision for the club to re-purpose this court for pickleball in autumn 2023.
Initially, the club painted lines for 2 pickleball courts (one on each side of the tennis net) on top of the existing tennis court lines and opened up a new membership category of ‘Pickleball only’ from Spring 2024, whilst at the same time incorporating pickleball into the regular tennis membership.
Along with providing some pickleball paddles, balls and moveable nets, the total cost was around £1,000. The club advertised the pickleball membership through social media, ran taster sessions during special open days, and allowed free trials to anybody interested. During the winter period, pickleball continued indoor at a local leisure centre to keep as many members as possible.
To date, the club have found that they’ve attracted a new type of member, someone who would not normally consider coming to a tennis club, with some of the new pickleball members having progressed their membership to now include tennis.
In year 1 Radyr LTC attracted around 50 new members, and the court investment was fully repaid within the first 6 months.
Following this initial success the club decided to make the court pickleball specific, removing the multi-line approach and colouring the courts to highlight the various aspects of play (aka ‘the kitchen’). They also added fixed nets to give it a more professional feel.
The coaching team is now offering coaching courses for pickleball and plan to hold an Open Pickleball tournament to run alongside regular tennis tournaments. The club are targeting circa 100 pickleball members as the season unfolds and most of these are likely to be people who would not normally get involved in a tennis environment.
Radyr LTC has seen a lot of success, with no issues to competing requirements between tennis and pickleball members. Additionally, with an aging population, more tennis players are moving towards the end of their playing career and are looking at pickleball as a means of continuing to play, feel a part of a club community and continue to be active, and importantly spend social time with people they’ve often known for years.
The introduction of Pickleball has proved to be a very positive experience for Radyr LTC and offers a cost-effective alternative racquet sport to our offering without any impact on tennis. Pickleball is complementing existing and growing tennis activity and adding more members to enhance social events, revenue and atmosphere at the club.
