Outdoor tennis programmes

Outdoor tennis clubs are opening spring programmes built around park sessions, beginner courses and Cardio Tennis classes that mix drills with music. (lta.org.uk) In London, Hackney Tennis has adult sessions on its ClubSpark listings at Clissold Park and Hackney Downs Park, with formats ranging from beginner classes to drop-in social play and cardio sessions. Its Clissold Park listings show adult social tennis at £9.78 a session and coaching classes at £13.77 a session, alongside park-based courses for different levels. (clubspark.lta.org.uk, clubspark.lta.org.uk) Hackney Tennis is also listing new April activity at Clissold Park, including free adult disability tennis beginning Wednesday, April 15, 2026, and Easter adult camps that ran April 7-10. A separate Clissold Park course page describes Cardio Tennis as a “high energy group fitness session” that combines music, tennis and cardiovascular exercise. (lta.org.uk, clubspark.lta.org.uk, clubspark.lta.org.uk) At Riverside Tennis Club in Bedford, the club says it has more than 600 members and runs Cardio Tennis three times a week: Monday and Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. and Saturday at 7:00 a.m. Its coaching page says the one-hour sessions run in term time and are aimed at adults who want a workout on court. (clubspark.lta.org.uk, clubspark.lta.org.uk) The format is being pushed as a fitness class as much as a racket lesson. The Lawn Tennis Association says Cardio Tennis is a group session that combines tennis drills with music to raise heart rate, while Riverside tells players they can work at their own pace and that the sessions are “done to music.” (lta.org.uk, clubspark.lta.org.uk) That fits a wider effort to move tennis into public parks and lower-cost entry points. The Lawn Tennis Association says Barclays Free Park Tennis offers free one-hour weekend sessions at 10:00 a.m., and Barclays said in April 2024 that a five-year partnership with the governing body aimed to get 150,000 more people playing regularly in parks across Great Britain. (lta.org.uk, home.barclays) The pitch is broader than traditional club coaching. ClubSpark listings across local providers describe cardio sessions as open to beginners through advanced players, and Active Dorset says the format does not require existing tennis skill because the goal is sustained movement on court. (clubspark.lta.org.uk, activedorset.org) The result is a spring schedule that treats the tennis court like both a sports venue and a group exercise studio. For clubs and park operators, April is the point when outdoor courts, lighter evenings and entry-level programming start to line up. (clubspark.lta.org.uk, clubspark.lta.org.uk)