Tennis for cities
A business is born with a need, usually from a problem people have. If you live in New York City during the winter, you have a problem getting a tennis court. Not to mention, you also have a problem getting a hitting partner. Also, if you want to book a lesson or a paid hit, you will soon have a financial problem because the tennis prices in New York City are unrealistically high.
So, after moving to Manhattan from Queens, I looked for other options to play this winter and stumbled upon Court 16. Immediately after my first session, I thought of two things. First, this is really addicting, and second, I wish I thought of this business. The concept is quite simple, it’s a ball machine in a wall set on a smaller version of a tennis court. They have group classes with instructors that run the session like a SoulCycle or Orangetheory session.
Usually, I am not a big fan of group classes because you depend on the players in the class to be at the same level as you, but at Court 16, it doesn’t matter because all your reps are being fed from the ball machine. If you’re stuck in a class with a couple of 2.5 housewives and are looking to gear up for Wimbledon, it doesn’t matter because you can make the workout whatever you wish based on your intensity, and the ball will always return.
They also have a private ball machine room, which I have decided to dedicate most of my tennis time to this winter. What makes the whole concept interesting to me is that they took an existing product like tennis and remixed it. Sometimes, we forget that all of the games and traditions we hold as a society are man-made. Tennis is a traditional sport, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be altered to fit the needs of an evolving society.
Court 16 is tennis for a generation that wants to socialize more, loves living in dense cities, and needs a little extra spark to get excited about things. It makes it easy to get a good workout while learning a new sport that can become your new passion. Even if you don’t love tennis, anyone can pick up a racket and bang the ball around at Court 16 while getting a good sweat. As someone who has never loved cardio much by itself, I know I’d prefer that direction.
If you play tennis, you know the most challenging part is starting. Getting good enough to play a match could take weeks or even months, and the road to any real success is much longer than that. Pickleball took a storm in the States because people don’t have the time to invest hours, cash, and brain cells in learning a new sport, so they take an easier path. A path that allows them to participate quickly. We live in a results-driven world, and instant gratification is the name of the game. Court 16 may have solved that problem without diminishing the integrity of tennis itself.
USTA invested in the concept, and Babolat is involved as a partner because they both see its stickiness. It’s fun and easy to try, and it does an excellent job of getting people started on what could be a lifelong journey of health, wellness, and love.
The tennis problem is the start. If you can hand someone a forehand and a backhand, the world will play more tennis. If I could buy a wicked second serve kick with cash, I would happily pay a premium, but the price for tennis improvement is hours, not dollars.
If you can make things that are hard for people easier and more digestible from the beginning, they will be more likely to progress through the trenches of progress.