I played with Baltimore tennis patrons several years ago and was very excited to find a new group of people to play tennis with and who didn't put me down because I was at that time a beginner. However after I signed up someone called me and asked me to be the captain and I thought that was an honor so I said yes. that was actually the worst thing I could've said! not only did I have to recruit all my team members but they had to pay a certain amount of money to reserve a court for six weeks whereas it was actually encouraged that I come up with $800 and they pay me back. That was horrifying! I do not have $800 at any time in my life in my checking account so paying for complete strangers was not going to happen. That I had to collect money from them before we could get the court reserved was a sham. I did but it was a long process and I never want to have to go through that again. Once I played my season with Baltimore Tennis patron I left and found some county run leagues that I could join and I had a wonderful time and I'm still playing with them. I think you need to be honest upfront and let people sign up know that they will either have to pay for the whole team or collect the money before they accept the players on their team. read more

I had the worst experience with Baltimore Tennis Patrons. I attended the Towson High School camp this fall, actually only for 1 session. First, the instructor arrived ill-prepared. Rushing from his car to the court because it was already 6:30. Four out of the six players there hadn't ever played tennis and instead of teaching them the proper grip or swing technique he just jumped right in to having us do a few running exercises (no stretching). We then worked through a series of hitting shots from the baseline, net, mid-court and for whatever reason he decided to teach us how to slice. The whole lesson was horrible and improper tennis. I haven't played tennis in 10 years, which is why I signed up for the beginner/advanced beginner course. The instructor explained to everyone that as it's a group class, we must all play at the level of the highest person. And yet, I wasn't playing at my highest level. It was just awful. Some of the campers were even asking me to clarify the shots and grip positions. At one point, the instructor had me toss out balls for others to hit so he could do his job. Not once did he give me any direction. So, I called the company to issue a refund. Left 4 voicemails before I finally got a call back. Except, the returned call wasn't addressed to me. So, over a week after the 1 class I attended I finally spoke to Lynn Morell (who informed me on the phone she was a top 12 in the world player and has never had any complaints about her business....umm has she not seen the message below (I sure wish I had)). She said her brother is dying and has a lot going on in her personal life and has been as accommodating as she can be under the circumstances. I was issued a partial refund - which amounts to a little more than half the cost of the 4 session class despite my only attending one. She told me I "should have faked an illness and left the class to have gotten the full refund." If I were you, I'd just skip the class entirely. Not worth the hassle. read more

Outstanding organization. The ease of dealing with the administrator who was available and helpful should be noted. The cost of the group instruction was very fair and affordable. The instructor of our advanced beginner tennis group which met at a very convenient location was everything one could hope for in a teacher for adults. Passionate about tennis, an excellent player, exceedingly encouraging and he knew how to help people of different ages and different levels of experience. He knew everyone's name within minutes of meeting all of us and by the end of our first class, our group who had been strangers, acknowledged and encouraged each other , which is a direct reflection of what we personally experienced with him. In a short period of time, we were playing games, having been instructed in forehand , backhand , serving, and coming to net, doubles positioning and strategy. Instruction, focus , safety and the delight/ fun derived from playing tennis were other components that our instructor shared with us. Warming up exercises to help us with moving on the court were part of each lesson. It was very hot when we played and our instructor was vigilant about out taking breaks every 20 minutes to drink liquids to stay hydrated. What was particularly gratifying was that everyone progressed during the 6 week session. Many of us commented that this tennis instruction was the highlight of our summer! Just started the autumn program offered for adults. New instructor. New group. Could not be happier! NLR 9/15/2016 read more

I don't have experience with Baltimore Tennis Patrons' spring classes, but I have tried their junior fall/winter indoor tennis league. I found the experience to be very helpful, even my coach at school noticed a big improvement, a "400%" improvement. Granted, I wasn't very good to begin with. I was placed in the blue league which consisted of middle schoolers and some elementary schoolers. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for them, there were two other guys in the same grade as me. They were undeniably better than me, at least in the start. The structure of practice was well planned and efficient. We would take at least ten minutes doing some dynamic stretching after our five laps around the court. I'm glad to see that they put a good emphasis on warming up and stretching since without the two, injuries are more prone to occur. After we were done warming up, we would split up into three groups. With three coaches, every student got the attention and help they needed. The coaches were kind and knew what they were talking about. They made practice very enjoyable. Though I'm not a big fan of the way games are set up, the matches were still enjoyable. Instead of having one constant partner, you would change your partner after every game. Overall, I had a great experience with Baltimore Tennis Patrons. I would recommend trying out the indoor league. read more

We had a ridiculously bad experience with a Baltimore Tennis Patrons class this past spring. The class was supposed to meet 6 times, once a week, at tennis courts near a library. Session one: the coach quit 45 minutes into the 75 minute class. Quit as in: Said he couldn't handle the range in ages (10 kids, ages 5-11) and dismissed everyone, never to return. Session two: We arrived but no coach ever showed up. It turned out later that this new coach called everyone at 5:00, for a 5:30 class, to say she had a sore throat and couldn't teach that day. (We'd left for the lesson before she called us). Session three: this new coach showed up for, and stayed the entire time. However, at no time did the class consist of kids hitting the ball across a net. Instead, she led them in extremely infantile drills of how to hold the racket, how to dart toward a dropped ball, etc. To put this in perspective, my kids have taken Beginner Tennis lessons with two separate schools/ instructors before this, and the lessons have always included actually hitting tennis balls across a tennis net. And the class size by this point had winnowed own to just 8, 9, and 11 year olds. After this class, three sessions in to a six week course, I called and asked for a refund. I spoke to someone at BTP who was already familiar with the facts like: the first coach quitting mid-way through the class. She took my polite but firm request, and I never heard back, and I never got a refund. A friend in the same class actually showed up for the next three sessions, and they had a new and much better coach for them. But really, who wants to go through all of that? read more