Tennis News You Can Use
The USTA recently announced that they have retained Michele Krause, to help grow Cardio Tennis® in the United States. Krause is exactly the right person to hire for that initiative as she is the founder of the Cardio Tennis program. In her new association with the USTA, Krause and her consulting company will lead efforts in the development of a national Cardio Tennis strategy for promotion, education, training, and implementation. This is very good news.
The following observation was made in “Pickleball vs Tennis: Cultural Perspectives” on this site in February:
I consistently run across pickleball players who were first exposed to the sport in the gym at their municipal recreation center. In essence, pickleball is attracting people who are pre-disposed to exercise in congregate settings by engaging with them in those venues.
Excerpt from Pickleball vs Tennis: Cultural Perspectives, Teresa Merklin, Fiend at Court Blog, February 19, 2021.
In short, what is desperately needed by the USTA, is an engagement model to attract new tennis players to the sport that works in a recreation center setting. Cardio Tennis is the perfect fit for that and Krause is exactly the person who can capitalize on that opportunity.
Another way tennis could attract new players to the sport is through a tennis functional training oriented CrossFit class taught in tennis venues. Tennis CrossFit would be a great way to attract non-tennis players into a tennis facility where they could be exposed to tennis programming and meet people within the tennis community. In essence, Tennis CrossFit would be a great mixer for tennis and fitness enthusiasts. Krause would be well suited to pursue that idea as well.
In an interview that was originally published on the Tennis.com podcast, USTA CEO Michael Dowse shared observations that may have been an indication that the USTA was already considering using Cardio Tennis as an engagement avenue.
[Michael Dowse] was asked directly if it is harder to attract players to tennis or to retain them in the sport. His answer was extremely insightful. First and foremost, the learning curve to play tennis is steep. In addition, there is an inactivity epidemic in the United States. It is a pretty big leap to transition someone directly off the couch into tennis. People need to be active first.
Summary of Michael Dowse Interview on Tennis.Com Podcast, Teresa Merklin, Fiend at Court Blog, April 12, 2021.
In other words, when developing new tennis players, it is easier for someone who is already active and fit. Transitioning a couch potato directly to a tennis court is very challenging.
It is super exciting to see the USTA engage exactly the right person for creating a long term strategic model for growing Cardio Tennis. It could be a very effective mechanism to move tennis “outside the box” of tennis facilities. Tennis desperately needs to engage with prospective players who may never walk into a tennis center on their own initiative. Cardio Tennis could be the way.
- USTA Brings Aboard MLK Consulting to Help Grow Cardio Tennis, Racquet Sports Industry Magazine, May 12, 2021.
