Group tennis lessons for adults?
My wife has recently gotten into tennis and she is wondering where are some good places in the east bay that offer group tennis clinics/lessons for adults. She is a beginner and would love to meet other players who are also beginners. Group lessons have worked well for her in the past so I think she would prefer the social aspect of that vs private lessons. We're in south berkeley but generally speaking most places in the east bay would work.
Jul 30, 2025
Parent Replies
I take lessons with Coach Mac at the Berkeley rose garden. A few girlfriends and I started a year ago and we all love it. His classes are usually Sundays at 12 or 1.
Check out the Lifelong Tennis Academy (https://www.lifelongtennisacademy.com/). They offer adult group classes for complete beginners up through advanced. I just started the complete beginner class and it was great! It's a 4-week class. You actually register through the City of Berkeley Parks and Rec and I think most classes are held at James Kenney Park in northwest Berkeley, or Live Oak Park in northeast Berkeley.
Hi! An under the radar gem of an adult tennis class is Sundays at from 4:30-6pm at Ocean View Park in Albany. $16/class. The teacher, Rob Shafer, is a USPTA-certified teaching pro who played for the U of Michigan decades ago, and is retired from his other profession as a public school music teacher. Rob is a super senior who still plays matches almost every weekend under the auspices of the USTA. He is kind enough to hit and practice with me (I'm a 4.0 and play in USTA leagues sometimes), providing free instruction as he LOVES to teach.
Rob started teaching 1 kids' class and 1 adults' class a few years ago. I've attended the adult class as his informal helper, and my young adult daughter took a class with him when she lived in the area- she isn't athletic and I was amazed at how quickly she progressed in one hour. Rob has really studied tennis technique and pedgogy as a labor of love over many years, and I know (from taking lessons over the years with various pros) that he has special approaches to teaching tennis that are really effective. He's very kind and patient. His Sunday class is mostly adult beginners of various ages.
My casual observation is that a lot of classes for beginners and for adults are light on technical instruction, and (too) heavy on the teacher simply feeding balls and students cycling through, flailing at the balls with little guidance on how to improve. To be fair, much of the learning for a beginner is judging where the ball will be and putting oneself in the right spot to execute a sound stroke, but still...that's an expensive and inefficient way to learn tennis.
He can be reached at (510) 963-9080 and his website is https://www.keyroutemusic.com/tennis-classes.html
I had a great experience doing group tennis lessons with New Frontier Tennis. Coach Mac is excellent. I signed up through the city of Berkeley recreation department (which also offers other adult tennis classes). (I stopped taking lessons for reasons unrelated to the class/coach. The coaching was fantastic and the classes were well organized.)
Aztec Tennis Clinic! Takes place at the Hopkins street courts near Monterey market. I have done both private lessons with their coaches, and the adult intermediate tennis clinics, but they have them for beginners too. They are drop in so you don’t need to book in advance, but you can buy a six class pack and use it over time.