New to tennis? A few tips for your 1st lesson

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You may get hot and thirsty, bring enough water for an hour of (potentially) intense exercise.

Have you been injured before? Please tell me, not because I am nosey but would like to ensure we don't aggravate it or cause a reoccurrence.

Please wear trainers suitable for sport, you don't need tennis shoes for your 1st lesson but if playing regularly they will help your stability.  Playing often with running shoes will wear them out very quickly.

Bring a cap and/or sunglasses if you have them. The sun can be bright in summer and low in winter, help your comfort and protect your eyes. 

And don't forget sun cream in summer.

Wear clothing suitable for the season and sport, we are outdoors with limited shelter, so prepare for heat, cold, rain or whatever the British weather brings. 

Long coats are not great for tennis and don't wear all black in summer.

Shorts, trousers or dresses should have pockets, or some means of holding a spare ball, I nag my groups about pockets so much that Sarah Bailey wrote an article in the Telegraph about it.

Don't rush to buy a racket before your 1st lesson, I can loan you one, we can then talk about suitable options. If you do really want to buy a racket 1st, please avoid oversize models (bigger than 100 square inches, however hard the shop salesperson tries to sell you a "beginners racket"), make sure you have the correct grip size and its a suitable weight too. These rackets are good for beginners and cheap: Dunlop Tristorm Elite 270 (I have no affiliation to Dunlop), you can pick one up for less than £50, maybe as cheap as £30 if you are lucky. 

Make sure children have been to the toilet before lessons, the only toilets are public park loos, and are not always open. 

I will supply balls for your lesson, if you are a beginner and playing with friends, consider low compression green balls, instead of regular balls, you will get more success.

Parents: ignore your child's requests to go up a ball colour, in general a lower ball colour will bring them more success.

Under 8s: Red

Aged 9: Orange

Aged 10: Green

11 upwards: Yellow

Beginners will often play down a ball colour.

If you want to watch your son or daughter's lesson please try to do it from an inconspicuous location, eyes often go to mum or dad rather than the ball.