Spec Tennis is an accelerant to the learning process. The environment is more favorable with the smaller court, slower ball, and less powerful paddle. Players can have quicker success with every skill, which keeps them on a constant path of improvement, rather than hitting a plateau like so many do in tennis.

Yes, 100%. Your spouse will be able to pick it up quicker than regular tennis and you won’t have to take smaller swings in order to give him/her a ball that they can make back in the court.

The ‘practice’ problem. In tennis, it’s very hard to ‘’practice” outside of organized classes and lessons because it’s too difficult for most players to control the ball with their peers. Spec Tennis gives players a platform to even be able to practice at home in a small space and with players who aren’t as skilled as them. The more instances where we can get a junior to pick up a paddle or racquet, the better the player they’ll become. When they actually ‘want’ to practice, its on their own terms and this is how they fall in love with the sport.

There is not much of an adjustment, just a few shots (if anything) when a player switches from an 18 inch Spec Tennis paddle to a larger tennis racquet.

R.O.G.Y has the stigma of being ‘kids’ tennis and for that reason, most kids, parents, and a lot of coaches don’t like it and rush through the system. Spec Tennis does not have this label, because it is a sport too (in addition to it being a pathway), both adults and kids play it using the same equipment and court size.

It works for all levels. Beginning tennis players will benefit from improving their biomechanics, footwork and basic tactics, while advanced tennis players can improve their advanced tactics & pattern play.

You will be playing something that still feels like tennis. You don’t have to change your strategy or strokes, just play how you’re used to playing in tennis. You will hit more total balls, have longer rallies, and have a larger pool of players to play with.

You can fit 4x more players on each tennis court. This means every player can be playing at once with no one waiting in line. Players can learn every skill needed for tennis, but in a more favorable environment where they pick up each skill even without individual attention from the coach. The best players can mix in with the lower levels ones since Spec Tennis is a neutralizer. Players are actually able to practice at home or outside of organized team practice, which is hard to do in tennis.

Spec Tennis paddles & balls, which can be purchased by clicking the “Shop” button. A portable net is optional

There’s not typically enough space to play tennis at home in the street or driveway. It’s also very hard to control the ball for most players. Spec Tennis gives player the control that’s needed to have fun, and they’re still able to take full swings and keep the ball in, even if they’re not playing on a regulation size Spec Tennis court.

With programs like the one you see at your tennis club, players rush through the different training balls (Red, Orange, Green, and Yellow) very quickly, while also changing racquet and court sizes, because many see it as a race to start playing with the yellow ball on a full-size tennis court. Unfortunately levels are often measured based on what ball a player is using. This leads players to skip many of the crucial skills such as control that they need to become a good tennis player. There is no pressure in Spec Tennis for players to ‘graduate’ from it. They don’t view it as ‘just kids tennis, and it’s fun for adults to play.

Spec Tennis can dramatically improve your tennis game. The paddle is less powerful than a tennis racquet, yet a similar weight. This promotes better biomechanics, forcing players to turn their shoulders and use their legs in order to generate power. Spec Tennis helps players develop control (which many players lack in tennis). Any new shot or tactic you want to learn in tennis can be learned first in the more favorable environment that Spec creates, and then directly translated to tennis.

Absolutely, 100%! One of the biggest challenges in tennis is most players can’t practice effectively outside of their lessons & clinics, which means improvement is slow. As an example, if a player learns an overhead in a lesson and then doesn’t practice their overhead before the next lesson, they will not improve fast. Many tennis skills are too difficult to successfully practice with a player of similar level outside of a lesson or clinic. Spec Tennis makes it possible to practice even the most advanced skills. Players who take tennis lessons, but then practice with Spec Tennis see their improvement skyrocket.

It’s hard to hit winners the same way you can in tennis; your opponent is able to cover the smaller court better. This naturally promotes creativity and point development and being able to play from all areas of the court. Players see the need to be able to close out points from the net, and also hit with a variety of spins in order to get their opponent out of rhythm.

By training in a smaller space, it increases precision & tactical awareness. Players are able to execute advanced patterns that they might not yet be able to do in tennis. This builds confidence and gets players feeling that no skill in the sport is out of reach.

It’s a ton of fun. Those ‘pro-like’ points that happen maybe once per match in tennis happen about once per game in Spec Tennis. Plus, even advanced players can improve some area of their game and Spec is the vehicle to do that.

No problem. Spec Tennis can be played on any tennis court, gym floor or hard surface including parking lots, driveways, blacktop basketball courts. On a tennis court you can play in the service boxes & use plastic line markers or painter’s tape to modify the court size. Or, you can set up portable nets, and fit up to 4 Spec Tennis courts on 1 tennis court.

It’s easy to control the ball which makes mixing levels work well. Players at higher levels don’t feel like they have to modify their strokes in order to play with someone at a lower level.

Spec Tennis is a lot easier to learn, so you’ll be able to rally early on and be able to enjoy the experience every time you step on the court. You don’t have to invest the time and money in private lessons to get to a level where you can play with your peers.

More balls are hit per minute than in regular tennis. After a rally ends, the balls stay in a more confined space, so the next point starts quickly.

Yes the court is bigger but that also means rallies are shorter and more winners are hit. Players can cover the smaller court better which means retrieving more balls and running for a higher number of shots per rally.

You can play it on any hard surface and it’s easy to control the ball even in a small space. Play on any pickleball court, tennis court, indoors gym floor, parking lot or driveway. Even without a net, you can have fun rallies.

Start by filling out an application here

You can earn money from selling paddles to your players as well as running events, tournaments, and leagues.

There is a $150 initial fee.

You’ll receive 4 Spec Tennis paddles, balls, and marketing materials.

It works well both ways. Sometimes you may want to work on a specific technique or strategy during a tennis clinic and it’s nice to have the option of switching to Spec Tennis to create a more favorable environment for the players. Other times, you may offer a standalone Spec Tennis clinic to attract new players to your program, fit more players per court, or as a themed clinic.

Player retention is not automatic. Having high demand for lessons now doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Continuing education is very important. The best coaches are constantly looking to increase their knowledge and deliver their message better. Those who see Spec Tennis as a very practical training tool and an opportunity to develop players faster will thrive as coaches.

If this is the case, then you have a great opportunity in front of you. Being the first one to offer something new, can create a lot of referrals & buzz in your community. You’ll be a category creator, and will be able to create a new revenue stream. Plus you’re players will reach a higher level and probably have more fun than most in their tennis journey.

This is also great because it means that it will be easy to create interclub programming such as leagues, camps, and events. You may have the opportunity to chat with other coaches to find out best practices when structuring your Spec Tennis program.

Coaches may qualify for the Coaches Starter Pack which includes paddles, balls, and other resources. Click to Contact Us to see if you qualify.

Spec Tennis provides a bridge into your tennis program. More players are willing to try it and player retention is greater because they have success more often. Players are more likely/willing to take recurring lessons & clinics in Spec Tennis than with other alternative racquet sports. This is because everything directly translates to tennis & the long-term goal for many is to become good tennis players.

Option 1: Run a social club event where Spec Tennis is played instead of tennis. Please reach out to Nate@SpecTennis.com to learn about event types that work the best and also to discuss getting demo paddles for the event.
Option 2: Purchase 4 paddles and have one of your tennis pros offer Spec Tennis as a class (i.e. 4-week Intro To Tennis Class). Also reach out to Nate@SpecTennis.com to see if you qualify for the Coach’s Starter Pack.

No additional courts need to be constructed or modified. If your club has pickleball courts, perfect, but if not Spec Tennis can be played in the service boxes on tennis courts or temporary courts can be quickly set up. The paddles & balls are the only real cost to get started playing, compared to the $1000s you could spend building courts for other alternative racquet sports.

Very little. It sounds like you’re playing tennis. Much less noise than pickleball, and even pop tennis.

Please reach out to Nate@SpecTennis.com if you’d like to inquire about getting wholesale pricing on a starter pack for your facility.

The S1 Lite has a smaller headsize, a 4 ¼” grip and is 18” long. The Explorer has a larger headsize, a smaller grip (4 ⅛”), a longer handle and is 18.5” long. The S1 Lite is the preferred for paddle for more serious players, whereas the Explorer is a great choice for entry level players. Both paddles work great for both juniors and adults.

Juniors use the same paddles as adults. This is by design. First, by using a heavier paddle (between 10 and 10.4 ounces), players use better biomechanics and can’t ‘slap’ at the ball the way they can with light tennis racquets (especially junior ones). It gives players more control and less power, which is the successful environment that players need to really accel and enjoy the sport. Second, most juniors want to do what the adults are doing, they don’t want to be playing ‘kids’ tennis. For juniors, the Explorer paddle is recommended, simply because it has the smaller 4 ⅛” grip size.

It does not apply, play from anywhere in the court with no restrictions. The only exception is the serve must land past the pickleball kitchen if you’re playing on a pickleball court.

In competitive play, there are 4 “Service” marks that are located 4 feet behind the corners of the court. One foot must be on the mark when serving. When serving a new game, the server starts the game by standing with 1 foot on the service mark behind the right corner, and must serve the ball crosscourt using an underhand serve (from a bounce or out of the hand). On the following point, the server then serves from the left side of the court, with 1 foot on the left corner service mark.

In recreational play, you can estimate how far back you need to stand on the serve. Or you can create 4 service marks using blue painter’s tape, chalk or plastic line markers. Why is there the ‘service’ mark rule? By serving from 4 feet behind the corner of the court, it makes it harder to serve & volley as the server is able to get as close to the net by the time they have to play their first volley. It also forces players to recover after serving (especially in singles)

It must land crosscourt (diagonal). If you’re playing on a pickleball court, it must land crosscourt and past the ‘pickleball kitchen’ (which is the white horizontal line that is close to the net). If you’re playing on any other court such as a tennis court or you’ve lined your own court, then the serve just has to land crosscourt.

You continue to play. There are no “lets’ on the serve in Spec Tennis.

The receiver gets to choose which side the server must serve to.

You only swap sides of the court after each set (not like tennis where you swap after every odd-numbered game)

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