15
Membership
All six courts, every hour we are open, booked online up to four weeks ahead. Adults £186 a year, families £360, juniors £64.
Adults £186 a year, family £360, junior £64, off-peak £118.
Llandaff, Cardiff · since 1926
Red clay,
six courts, and a kettle.
A members' tennis club behind the lime trees on Fairwater Road. Three clay courts, three hard, four of them floodlit. Your first Sunday morning is free.
The club
Six ways to play here, from love to game.
30
Adult coaching
Beginners' courses from a standing start, weekly groups by level and one-to-one lessons on clay. Groups from £11 an hour.
Group sessions £11 an hour for members, £14 for visitors.
40
Junior coaching
Red, orange and green ball groups after school and on Saturdays, from age four. £8 a session, with holiday courses each break.
Term-time groups £8 a session for members, paid by the half-term.
Deuce
Leagues and teams
Six teams in the Taff Valley summer and winter leagues, an internal box league and a club ladder, all included in membership.
Included in adult and family membership.
Advantage
Social tennis
Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, partners found for you, new faces introduced. Free for members, and free for a first-time guest.
Free for members.
Game
Court hire
Visitors can hire a court by the hour at £14, with floodlights on a £4 token after dusk. Check the live grid, then ring or ask below.
Visitor court hire £14 an hour.
The clay
Slower, kinder to knees, and better than you would think in Wales.
Courts 1, 2 and 3 are red artificial clay: crushed brick over a porous base, laid so the rain goes through instead of sitting on top. The ball slows and sits up, rallies last longer, and you can slide into a shot. Older members swear by it for their knees and joints, though nobody here is a doctor.
Geraint drags them every morning at seven and he closes them when they are too wet. It is the one rule at this club that nobody argues about.
- Flat-soled shoes on clay, please
- Sweep the lines when you finish: there is a brush on every fence
- Court 3 is the only clay court with floodlights
How we run it
Four things we hold to.
Nobody sits out
On social nights the organiser rotates everyone every twenty minutes. If you came to play, you will play.
You can see what is free
The grid shows every court, every hour, four weeks ahead, including the league's bookings.
The clay is looked after
Courts 1 to 3 are dragged every morning and rested when they are too wet. It is why they play like they do.
No one is too old or too new
Our beginners' course takes people who have never played. Many of them start in their fifties.
- 6courts, three of them clay
- 4courts lit until 10pm
- 1926the year the club opened
- 186pounds a year for an adult
Membership
Pay for the months that are left.
Adult
a year£186
All courts and hours, club nights, league and a vote. £30 joining fee.
Family
a year£360
Two adults and their under-18s at one address. £45 joining fee.
Junior
a year£64
Under 18 on 1 April. Courts until 6pm. No joining fee.
Members
What members say.
I took up tennis at 58 because my knees had retired me from running. The Monday course was six weeks of people being very patient, and I now have a Sunday game that I plan the rest of the week around.
My daughter started on the red balls at five and now drags me out of bed on Saturdays. The coaches know every child's name and no one has ever tried to sell us anything.
Clay in Cardiff sounded like a gimmick. Then I played on it. Sliding into a forehand at my age is unwise, and I recommend it.
Questions before a first visit
Can I just come and try it?
Yes. Come along on a Sunday at 10am or a Wednesday at 6:30pm. The first visit is free, and we lend rackets.
Is it real clay?
It is red artificial clay: crushed brick over a porous base, which plays like clay and drains far better in Welsh weather. Courts 1, 2 and 3 are clay; courts 4, 5 and 6 are hard.
What shoes do I need?
Flat soles, with a herringbone tread if you own a pair. Running shoes with deep lugs tear up the clay, so they go on the hard courts instead.
How much does it cost to join part-way through the year?
Only the months that are left, plus the joining fee. The join page works it out from today.
Can I play in the evening in winter?
Yes, on courts 3 to 6, under floodlights, until 10pm. Lights cost £4 an hour by token. Courts 1 and 2 have no lights and close at dusk.
Do you do anything for children?
Groups from age four, after school and on Saturdays, with DBS-checked coaches and a named welfare officer.
Come and hit a ball before you pay for anything.
A free guest session on any Sunday morning or Wednesday club night. Borrow a racket from the pavilion, meet whoever is on the next court, and decide over a cup of tea.