Frequently Asked Questions

At your advantage tennis school, we cater for all ages standards and abilities and welcome those that are new to the game and suggest that you join a beginners group all have a couple of 1 to 1 lesson too give you some basic confidence in the fundamental techniques and movement patterns For more information contact one of the coaching team who will happily advise you.

At our tennis Academy, we do not have any strict dress code you can wear any sports clothing you like we would like players to avoid wearing any inappropriate clothing such as jeans or shoes on court ET Cetera. There is no all-white clothing rule.

Any of the major shoe manufacturers provide effective tennis shoes that will give the relevant amount of grip that is required on the courts, generally speaking, they have a herringbone pattern on the bottom of the shoe which provides more grip especially if the surface is wet and slippery for more advice please contact one of the coaches who can advise you accordingly.

When tennis is being played, players wishing to access an adjoining court by passing behind other players must wait until the point has been played. At this point, you should request to those already playing that you can pass through to the next court. Your Advantage tennis Academy is a friendly environment, so please always respect your fellow tennis players. Juniors under the age of 10 years must not be left unsupervised on the courts unless under the supervision of the coaching team.

Mobile phones can be used on court as we are operating outside and little disturbance is caused, but it if it continually rings it may be better to put it on silent to avoid disturbing other players on adjacent courts.

There are two possible ways to begin your tennis journey. Group lessons are a great way to start developing your strokes and tennis knowledge by practising with other players of a similar standard, to find a group please look at our Adult, Junior or YOUTH coaching programme or check with one of our tennis coaches.

Alternatively, the quickest and by far the best way is through one to one coaching, especially when combined with a weekly group session. This enables you to practice what you've learnt within your one to one coaching sessions with others of a similar standard. For more information about one to one coaching speak to our coaching staff.

Glass bottles and glasses are not allowed on the court; drinks must be in plastic containers or disposable cups. Please throw all rubbish away in the bins provided and leave the court how you would like to find it when you arrive. Do not leave the metal ring pulls from tennis ball cans lying on the court as these can cause an accident; please dispose of them in the bins provided.

You don't need to bring your own tennis racquet with you we have a range of rackets that we can lend you and also advise and sell equipment so that you get the correct weight and grip size appropriate to your standard and ability again advice can be offered by our team of tennis coaches. we have an account with Wilson sporting goods where you can gain a discount accordingly.

The LTA recommend that players start as soon as they can hold a racquet. Our tot's tennis sessions are aimed at 3-4year olds and designed to help these young players develop their Tennis ABC’s (Agility, Balance and Control) and ultimately have FUN! Upon joining our academy, you will receive a free 20-minute assessment to determine which group would be most suitable for your ability.

Either when a child moves up an age range, i.e. Red 5-8year olds or the coach through ongoing assessment throughout the term decides that they would be suitable for the next level of play. Parents are also consulted before any decision is made.

We organise junior holiday courses during all the major school holidays and also the half terms providing a comprehensive programme for all ages standards and abilities. to find out more information please look at our holiday information.

To enter a competition Matchplay or LTA Tournament you need to be registered with the LTA: To get a BTM (British Tennis Membership) number:

1. Go to www.lta.org.uk/members/join
2. Choose a membership option which applies to you (Academy players are free) Juniors under 8 are free and Adults non-academy members £25.
3. Complete the form with all your details.
4. If you’re an academy member skip payment, or pay £25.
5. Obtain your BTM number.

A rating is awarded after obtaining your BTM Number. There are 20 rating bands for junior and adults, you start at the bottom rating 10.2 and progress up to 10.1 then 9.2 and upwards to 1.1 that’s Andy Murray’s rating. For example, If you are a 10.2-9.1 rating you can improve your rating by winning four matches against players of a similar or higher rating in a ratings term (Summer/Winter). Once players get to 8.2 or greater juniors, need to have six qualifying wins with a win/loss ratio of 60% or better to improve their rating. Adults only need three qualifying wins with a win-loss ratio of 60%, always refer to LTA website for amendments to these guidelines.

Yes the Academy does have Wi-Fi coverage supplied from the OMT pavilion building, the access code for which can be obtained on request from any of the coaching team, it is quick and easy to establish and provides a fast and reliable connexion for both parents that wish to work in the local whilst their children are being taught or just the general connectivity by our coaches and players.

By competing in a Grade 5 or higher tournament, Ranking Points are awarded, based on what stage is made and the grade of the tournament.

These ranking points are tallied up over the year, using a maximum of six events except for veterans which are three events. And this goes on a leader board for County, Regional, and National Rankings.  To improve your ranking, you have to play in Grade 5 or above (Fast4's are the common regularly staged one-day tournaments). If you win a match in the competition you gain ranking points, depending on what grade and matches you win, points are allocated accordingly (see LTA Website for details).

When a player competes in a grade 5 tournament or above they are awarded ranking points depending on what round the player reaches. You can enter via the LTA website under competitions using your BTM number for LTA sanctioned events.

Matchplay's are different to tournaments; various formats are used to shorten the matches initially 10.2-9.1 to get more matches played in a shorter space of time to improve your rating such as timed matches, short sets to 4 games, etc. a minimum of 2 matches are played in this format. 

When you get to 8.2 and above, matches are usually full sets unless specified by an organiser. For Mini Tennis Red, Orange Tiebreaks to 7 or 10pts are used and short sets for green ball matches.

If you or your children would like to take your tennis more seriously, maybe they have aspirations to become a professional tennis player, please discuss this with our team of coaches who can advise you accordingly on the best route.  We will always endeavour as a team to try and get our players to the very best level that they can achieve, whether that be as a casual player, as a future coach or potential professional.

It's important that your children bring along the correct equipment, shoes and clothing apparel and also drinks that they will consume during the lesson and for older children mobile phone to contact their parents if required.

The charges for adult lessons as with our junior lessons are priced at a competitive rate.

At the Academy, we don't currently enter any of the County leagues as this would consume a lot of court space but we can provide lots of different competitive tennis within our programme For more information please speak to one of our coaching team who can advise accordingly.

All our coaching team are LTA qualified but to clarify there are five different levels of coach Qualifications within the LTA coach development programme. We are very fortunate at our Academy to have coaches at every level to accommodate all ages standards and abilities. We also have a history of 30 years of coach development and endeavour to grow and develop internally our own coaches supporting them to get through the various different levels that are required.

All our coaches working within the Academy have to be DBS checked as part of our LTA accreditation and also our venue approval process. This is crucial for us to ensure that we provide maximum support and welfare for all our players and students, and also confidence for our parents and guardians that everybody is looked after appropriately.

All our coaches to be LTA accredited need to have a one-day first aid certificate which highlights the fact they have been through one day of training which takes place on a 3 yearly basis.

All our coaches are LTA Accredited or Accredited plus, there are two forms of accreditation, this forms a crucial part of their pre-employment process with us to make sure that they have all the required insurance coverage etc that you would expect as professional tennis coaches.

All our coaches have to partake in 15 hours of CPD on an annual basis which equates to around 3 days of job-specific training to give more insight and learning in the development of their coaching skills and delivery.

Currently, we do not have a membership option at the Academy we just offer a coaching programme which people can enrol on either within groups, holiday camps, events, tournaments or lessons this provides a much more flexible approach than having to join a club.

At Your Advantage Tennis Academy, we organise an annual schedule of different social activities in line with big sporting events and other activities such as Wimbledon, Valentine's Day, Easter etc.

At your advantage tennis Academy, we host a range of tournaments throughout the year for all ages standards and abilities some of these are internal tournaments for our players some of them are external tournaments which allow players to come in from outside which gives our competitors access to high-level tennis without having to travel.

Throughout the year we organise a whole programme of special events some of which are held within the school environment others are external, the full programme of which can be found on our events section on the website Such as clay pigeon shooting, walking clubs, and others.

The main criteria for choosing a coach that is going to work with you effectively to grow and develop your game or that of your children is to ensure that they have the right attitude, approach and also have the experience required to get you to the level you want to achieve, with a history of achieving such results.

No, you don't need to be a member of the LTA to play tennis at our Academy, but there are significant benefits for joining up which you may choose to do so please look at the LTA website For more information but we welcome all our players.

LTA youth caters for children aged between 4 and 12-years-old can get stuck into the world of tennis with this exciting new programme from the LTA.  Featuring shorter courts, nets, rackets and soft, low-bouncing balls, LTA YOUTH Tennis provides the perfect fun, exciting and dynamic introduction to tennis for young children.

We like to think our programme is very comprehensive and inclusive and we welcome anybody to join any of our sessions depending on playing standard and ability but all are welcome we have something on offer for everybody.

We currently don't offer paddle tennis but it's something that the school are looking to develop if you would like to learn to play paddle please discuss this with one of the coaches who can advise you as to where the nearest venue is and provide you with more information accordingly.

Yes, we expect at least 24 hours notice of cancellation of individual lessons otherwise the full fee and court fee will be charged accordingly obviously lessons cancelled at short notice create gaps for the coaches and leave courts vacant we appreciate your consideration in this matter - Many thanks.

We offer indoor coaching for our young players in the Sports Hall at our Academy where we have four badminton courts for LTA YOUTH mini tennis aimed players under 8 years old. We also offer tennis coaching at the David Lloyd Club in Northwood which has full indoor courts, if you are a member or you are a guest of a member, please note that the relevant individual lesson and court fee will be applicable, please ask the coach For more information if appropriate.

Yes there are various options to join the LTA with different membership types to find out more information please go to https://www.lta.org.uk/member

There are significant membership benefits to joining the LTA one of the key ones is that it gives you access to the Wimbledon ballot draw please look online for the other specific benefits.

For players aiming to achieve high-performance level we have a programme for you and can advise accordingly please speak to one of the coaching team who can give you some guidance in terms of what may be the most effective route and the support, we can provide.

Your advantage tennis Academy is a fully LTA accredited venue and as such has certain stipulations, regulations and requirements that we must conform & adhere to in terms of strict policies and procedures, and our overall operational standards, so you and your family can rest assured that we are delivering a programme and an environment which is conducive to the health & safety, well being and effective coaching for all our players, clients and their guests.

Your Advantage Tennis Academy is based at Merchant Taylors’ school in Northwood and very fortunate to be provided access to the OMT clubhouse building which provides toilet, changing and shower facilities in addition to a fantastic bar area which we utilise for various events & functions.