POP Tennis is the closest complementary Paddle/Racquet sport to regular tennis. In fact, POP IS Tennis, just played on smaller courts with short solid paddles, a lower net, lower compression tennis balls and the same scoring and rules as regular tennis – except players get one underhand serve.
POP Tennis is truly the sport & social activity that everyone at any age and all levels of talent & athleticism can immediately play and enjoy. POP is a rebranding of original, classic Paddle Tennis which dates back to 1898 and was created & developed in Michigan and New York respectively. POP is now being played across the USA and around the world.
POP Tennis is the closest complementary Paddle/Racquet sport to regular tennis. In fact, POP IS Tennis, just played on smaller courts with short solid paddles, a lower net, lower compression tennis balls and the same scoring and rules as regular tennis – except players get one underhand serve. POP can be played anywhere, indoor or outdoor, all year round on all surfaces. You can play both singles and doubles.
POP can either be played on standalone classic 20’x50’ courts(permanent or makeshift) or by utilizing existing 60’ blended lines on tennis courts found at over 2,500 sports facilities across the US. Facilities with space and a budget can build new, dedicated 50’ POP courts. If the resources are not there to build new courts, then we encourage providers to utilize existing 60’ lines. The USTA/TIA recently estimated that there are over 31,000 60’ lined courts around the country so there are plenty of opportunities to easily and quickly onboard POP with this infrastructure. The 60’ lines are sanctioned & certified by the ITF. These courts are found at country clubs, resorts, tennis facilities, gated communities and public parks. Any facility that has these lines can immediately start a POP program doing court rentals, intro clinics, socials, Pro demos, leagues and tourneys. Even if you don’t have those lines, temp lines can easily be put down.
Unlike sports that require prior lessons or a measure of athletic ability, children, young & middle-aged adults, and the older set, can just grab a paddle and a lower pressure tennis ball, and go out and have a fantastic time. This makes POP Tennis a great family activity. Additionally, one of the fun things about POP Tennis, is that everyone has their own, unique playing style – so have a blast, as you find or create yours!
In POP Tennis, since the court is smaller than Tennis and the racquet/paddle is shorter — so that the hitting surface is closer to the hand — and the ball is less lively, it is easier to make square contact more consistently building confidence & enjoyment. In addition, POP is physically less demanding than tennis AND easier to progress. Additionally, the net is lower, and players serve underhand—not overhand, as in Tennis.
The huge benefits for POP Tennis players are that the rallies are generally longer; there is more fun and exciting net play and (net) poaching; there is less court to cover; there are no overhead serves to learn; and as a result, there is far less running and wear and tear on the back, legs, feet, and shoulders.
POP Tennis is also an excellent means for youngsters to learn how to play Tennis. It teaches them how to hit consistent and penetrating groundstrokes, to volley, to move to the ball, to effectively strategize, to improve footwork and to compete. With a less lively ball, smaller court, lower net, and shorter racquet, it is easy for children to quickly attain mastery of their strokes, and thereby, gain empowering feelings of success, accomplishment, and confidence. Strokes, volleys, footwork & strategies are the same as in tennis except POP is an easier version.
In addition, POP Tennis is a wonderful sport for teenagers and adults to play. As Kent Seton, a premier collegiate tennis player and a top open POP Tennis player, astutely observed, “[Compared with Tennis,] You can play [POP Tennis] far better, far longer!” What Kent is essentially saying, is that once Tennis players leave college, begin to age, join the workforce, and play less frequently, their game and skills naturally begin to decline. However, in POP Tennis, you have less court to cover and have no overhand serving to deal with, so it is far easier to maintain your skill level for decades. All of these factors make POP Tennis a fun, and an exciting sport for individuals of ALL ages to play and to enjoy for a lifetime!
“POP Tennis certainly worked for me, I began playing POP Tennis at seven years old; then I transitioned to Tennis at thirteen, and played both POP Tennis and Tennis until I attended college”, says POP Tennis Founder Ken Lindner. “Due to my training in POP Tennis, I immediately became a top-ranked junior tennis champion. I then became the Captain and the #1 singles and doubles player on the Harvard University Varsity Tennis Team and the Eastern Junior Davis Cup Team. During this time, I won a plethora of singles and doubles tournaments. At age 35, I went back to playing POP Tennis exclusively, because I found it to be so fun, exhilarating, and satisfying; and as Kent Seton observed, I could continue to play POP Tennis at a very high level, whereas I was nowhere as good in Tennis, as I had been in college. Because of its unique attributes, POP Tennis can be played at a high level for a lifetime, with less practice, and despite previous player injuries and/or diminished skills. To this day, at age 62, I am still a top POP Tennis open doubles player.”
Additionally, POP Tennis, due to the shorter distance between you and the player(s) on the other side of the net, leads to increased hand speed/quickness, and the development of faster hand/eye coordination. One benefit of this increased speed and quickness is that when you do play Tennis, your reflexes and reaction time will be quicker, so that you will feel as if you have far more time to react to, move toward, and hit the ball. So playing POP Tennis should significantly improve your Tennis game. For a myriad of great reasons, POP Tennis is a fantastically fun and satisfying sport that you can play from ages 5 to 95. And “fantastic,” “fun,” and “satisfying” are pretty cool qualities, right? POP Tennis: Try it and love it, for a lifetime!
Ken (POP Tennis Founder) and Melinda Lindner with contributions by Mitch Kutner, President of International POP Tennis Association
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