Can we improve the sport — where ‘love’ means nothing?
After years of hardcore dedication, why do so many players give up playing the game they love?
There was a period when I was playing up to 24 hours of tennis a week. Yes! A whole day each week set aside for the beautiful game, and I couldn’t think of anything better! But, now I’m lucky to play once a week, and unfortunately, this trend from ‘active’ to ‘inactive’ is common if not the ‘norm’. But WHY?
I’ve asked many tennis players why they don’t play tennis anymore.
The standard responses were, “I realised I wasn’t going to make it pro” or “I started university or work”.
The response I am yet to hear is “because I don’t like the game anymore”.
It’s clear the players still love the game and majority want to get back into it. But HOW?
We need to find a way to retain players after they leave school, or when they are faced with the fork in the road to either:
- risk it all to become pro; or
- quit the game for another career (uni or work)
A ‘simple’ solution, is to improve the social aspect of the game.
Due to the individual nature of tennis, it is challenging to create the community and social feel. Players are acclimatised to playing their match, ‘winning or losing’ and moving on. But, to continue playing the game you love, you have to ENJOY it.
Essentially, we need to make tennis a ‘social outing’ and change the perception of individual competition for the social player.
For me, a Sunday afternoon game followed by a BBQ and a few drinks at the club would be the perfect way to end the weekend and start the week ahead.
Everyone would benefit by playing the game they love. Players would remain involved in the sport, new people would be introduced to the game, and most importantly the tennis world would continue to thrive!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you left tennis and ways you think we can build a successful tennis community.
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