FACILITIES - Courts + Management

Management is Just Like the Game of Tennis, Consistency is Key

Any employee who views their employer favorably will often use the words “consistent” or “reliable.” Not only employees, but members also appreciate having a manager who performs their job without unpleasant surprises. When an employee gets up in the morning and heads off to work, or when a member comes to their club, they feel much more secure knowing that the character of that facility is overseen by a manager who provides a day-to-day comfortable, consistent, and reliable atmosphere.

Consistency in management is more than just having the same working hours, dressing the same way, or behaving the same way; it deals mostly with the manner in which decisions are made. Does the manager treat every member the same way? Does the manager interact with employees the same way?

This is important because the nature of this industry creates long-term relationships between a manager and their employees and members. Many clubs have members who go back 40 or 50 years. The same could be said about the employees. Employee tenure is notoriously very long in the club industry, possibly because they can also enjoy the use of the facility. With these long-term relationships, there is a day-to-day challenge of being consistent with the rules of the club and being sensitive to these long-term relationships. It then becomes incumbent on a manager to make everyone feel that they are special and deserve a thoughtful review of any situation.

In many other industries, the decisions are based on rules that are written down in black and white, but in the club industry, managers are often forced to make subjective decisions. The very nature of having to make subjective decisions challenges a manager's ability to be consistent in their approach to operations.

It starts with having an approach that has a common thread. The first common thread would be to apply common sense and fairness to everyone. There’s a vast difference between preferential treatment and making an exception based on fairness and common sense. If a manager provides a service or an opportunity to someone simply because they favor them, they can count on having that decision come back to haunt them. Making an exception for a member or employee because it is the right thing to do will be easy to defend someday. Of course, there are legal boundaries that must be taken into account, and creating a new precedent is another consideration, but in the final analysis, a manager must be able to say it was the right thing to do.

As there is most often no road map for a manager to follow, a good idea is to write down the issues you have had to address and your decisions. This can become your personal manager’s manual that will help in developing a consistent response to many challenges that you will face. To get you started with this, here is a sample list of challenging questions that often come up. Remember, there are really no perfect or correct answers; much like a tennis player, it’s the practicing that makes for the best decision when competing.

A lifetime member has recently downgraded from a family membership to a single membership, but has overlooked the fact that his children will return each summer and want to use the facility. Your rules prohibit members from doing this. What do you do?

A. Acknowledge that, because he has been a long-time member, you will provide him with a house guest pass that can be used for all three months instead of the normal one-month limit.

B. Inform him that he can temporarily revert to a family membership and pay the corresponding fees for that membership through the summer.

C. Reverse his downgrade and have him return to a family membership.

Your neighbor calls you and asks if he could get a membership. He informs you that, due to his job requiring travel, he missed the sales package you offered last month, but he hopes you could extend that discount to him.

A. You allow him to get the sales package and inform your staff that you made the exception because he was out of town, and he couldn’t capitalize on the sales package.

B. You tell him just to wait for the next sales package.

C. You sell him the membership at the current rate, but provide discounts in other areas to compensate for the increased price.

A new member calls and informs you that he has suddenly been transferred to another state by his company. He has only been a member for three months and has asked if he could get a refund for his initiation fee. Your policy is to give refunds up to one month after they join.

A. You inform him of your policy and help him find a new club where he is moving to.

B. You tell him that you will be glad to keep his membership frozen so that if someday he returns, he will not have to pay the initiation fee again.  

C. You prorate a refund based on a year’s usage.

One of your members’ children has just turned 25 years of age and is no longer part of the family membership per your contractual agreement with your members. This member rarely uses the club, but his only child has been using it regularly.

A. You use the opportunity to create a new membership for what appears to be a growing trend in your market of young adults having to live at home due to today's economic factors.

B. You offer a job opportunity at the facility, which in turn will allow usage.

C. You extend usage to this person because they are still living at home and have yet to find employment that could support the cost of a membership.

A long-time employee has just informed you that they require a long vacation to recharge their batteries. They have two weeks' vacation coming to them, but they would like to extend their leave to six weeks. You could fill their job in their absence, and it would be better for operational continuity to hire a new person.

A. Because they have been such a great employee, you will hire someone temporarily until they return.

B. You will need to hire someone to learn their job and take over in their absence, but you will hire them back and allow them to create a new position.

C. You provide them with a leave of absence and fill those work time-slots with your current staff.

Your standard policy is to review your employees twice a year and, at that time, assess whether a pay raise is appropriate. You have a couple of employees who work seasonally but perform their job exceptionally well. Giving them raises may be seen as unfair by others who work an entire year.

A. You give them a pay raise and hope that this is seen by others as a reward for any employee who does their job well.

B. You give them a bonus at the end of their seasonal work period to encourage them to return.

C. You give them a raise that will go into effect the next time they come to work for you.

Your policy is not to hire any of your members’ children. This policy is there so that if at any time you need to dismiss this employee, you will not have to deal with anyone but this employee. One of the owners informs you that his child will be home for the summer and would love to work at the facility.

A. You hire them and make it clear to everyone that they are working under the same rules and requirements as any employee.

B. You inform the owner that your policy of not hiring members’ children is extended to all owners as well, because, in essence, they will have the same issues as members.

C. You disregard policy and hire them just like you would anyone else; it’s business as usual.

These questions clearly illustrate how often the answers are not just black and white. This means being consistent as a manager may require some interpretation of the rules and the ability to make those interpretations with consistency. The ability to balance these responses so that you are both fair and responsive to your members and your staff will be constantly tested. At the end of each day, you hopefully have shown that your dedication to your job has been reflected in your effort to be fair and consistent in your decisions. Again, not much difference to how we want to play our best tennis…being consistent, from that we usually are successful, the only difference is that we get a paycheck instead of a trophy.

In 1976, he took over as head professional/tennis director at the Mt. Tam Racquet Club in Larkspur, California, and added the title and responsibilities of general manager in 1982. After 48 years, he retired to work exclusively in helping others in the industry. 

In 2010, he was awarded “Manager of the Year” for the USPTA NorCal Division and the “Manager of the Year” at the USPTA World Conference. Rod has written several books, including “Down Your Alley” in 1993, “Playing Into the Sunset” in 2013, and most recently, “250 Ways to Play Tennis.”

He also produced the “Facility Manager’s Manual” and the “Business Handbook for Tennis Pros,” which is distributed by the TIA.

Well Courts

Here are two keys to maximizing wellness on amenity courts: reduce stress on bodies and keep players cooler. Before addressing these, prioritize making all courts clean and safe. It’s easy to keep courts clean with consistent maintenance systems. Then a facility can evoke good feelings, so people want to play. Cracks, bumps, and dimensions can affect safety. Most hard courts have cracks, and usually these are just cosmetic. When cracks have a high edge or are about an inch wide, there are safety issues. The size, number, and location of any bumps can provide concerns too. Courts with major structural cracks and numerous bumps should be reconstructed by a certified court builder. In recent years, many tennis courts have been converted to pickleball or added blended lines. The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA) determines safe dimensions for courts. Per ASBA, you need at least 30’ x 60’ for a recreational pickleball court, and 34’ x 64’ is recommended for competition. Hence, a tennis court pad must be at least 120’ long for 2 recreational pickleball courts end to end. When measured on the ground, many tennis courts are not that long, so be careful about simply converting existing courts to pickleball or adding blended lines. Also, remedy slick spots on hard courts due to standing water and high lines on soft courts from insufficient material, for these can be hazardous.  

For a well court, choose a surface that reduces stress on the body. Examples are soft courts, like clay or Har-Tru (metabasalt rock), and cushioned hard courts, which have layers of rubber. In the United States, most soft courts are not actual clay, but Har-Tru. On these courts, you can adjust the firmness and speed with water and compaction. Most of the best hard courts are asphalt or concrete with cushion surfacing. There are different types of rubber and ways manufacturers provide cushion. The bottom line is that all these surfaces reduce stress on joints, so people are more comfortable while playing and can spend more time on court. While children and young adults can play on any type of surface, middle-aged and older adults truly need soft or cushioned surfaces for continual play throughout the week. Before building courts, learn about right usage and long-term maintenance, then match the surface to your desired demographics. For example, with limited space and for all ages, an activity court on a hard surface can be used for tennis, pickleball, and/or basketball.

Install shade structures to keep players cooler. Examples are partial shade structures by fencing and canopies on the courts. Most canopies are about twice as long as wide, and on soft courts, these are best with a slightly bigger pad underneath. More covered courts are being built, which can be done by canvas or permanent structures. Note, shade structures and covered courts do not have to be over the entire pad, and this is a way to keep costs down. The goal is to get players out of the direct sunlight at least sometimes. While indoor courts are best, these are quite expensive. 

Another way to keep players cooler is with strategically planted trees, particularly on the east and west sides of courts, that provide shade. Depending on your location, consult an arborist forthe best trees to plant, and keep these and bushes away from fence lines. Roots are intrusive and damage court pads. Unfortunately, this is often seen in courts that are only a few years old. Root barriers can mitigate damage from proximal landscaping harming courts.

Some surfaces can keep players cooler, too. The previously mentioned Har-Tru courts are about 10-15 degrees cooler than asphalt, which absorbs and then radiates heat.  Also, install LED lights so people can enjoy playing in cooler evening hours. With lights, make sure the poles are in safe locations and compare photometrics for the best configuration.

Keep your courts clean and safe, then install soft surfaces and shade structures. When you do, your courts will serve all ages and wellness!

The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Court Maintenance in the Pickleball Boom

Pickleball’s growing popularity has caused facility operators to reassess their facility utilization quicker than their business systems can adjust to. Courts that were designed to accommodate moderate tennis activity are now almost constantly used for pickleball, from morning open play to night leagues. Though the revenue streams are ramping up, facility habits have not changed yet.

This incongruity has established a quiet profitability problem. The courts remain functional; they are full, but their performance worsens because their upkeep does not adequately match the pickleball facility’s consumption patterns.

Let’s uncover how this rapid facility consumption by pickleball has impacted the maintenance patterns of these courts.

Pickleball Stress Patterns are Structurally Different

The pickleball game involves focused movement in smaller areas with more repetitions, placing unique stress on pickleball courts. Traffic patterns are compressed into predictable zones as compared to tennis, where movement is distributed across the full baseline and service box.

This concentration causes accelerated surface fatigue of pickleball courts, particularly where acrylic texture and color systems are used. Loss of grit occurs unevenly, and microcracking frequently begins beneath the visible surface layer.

The facilities that rely solely on appearance-based evaluations often intervene too late, further shortening the effective lifespan of the court surface.

The Real Cost Center is not Resurfacing

Oftentimes, the financial effect of resurfacing is overestimated, while the cumulative effect of having a worn-out court is underestimated. The longer the courts are not consistent, the more time court personnel spend dealing with complaints from players and juggling court allocations.

This situation is exacerbated by the constant rise in the replacement rate for balls while the cleaning cycles become shorter due to increased dusting and paint deterioration.

Such diverse expenditures on pickleball courts are often spread across multiple departments, and they rarely feature in a single budget item. Eventually, it ends up costing facility owners more than the active upkeep, still providing a suboptimal gaming experience for the users.

Deferred Maintenance Reduces Revenue Efficiency

What makes matters worse is that the courts rarely underperform in a way that necessitates immediate closure. Rather, they become progressively avoided based on the court maintenance backlog relative to the intensity of court usage.

Moreover, the prime-time demand concentrates on a small number of the most preferred courts, leaving marginal courts underutilized because of their inconsistency in playing quality. Thus, there is a huge disparity that causes scheduling congestion, which in turn slows down league development and restricts sporting activities.

This affects the revenue per court hour, which declines despite the continued high demand for the court facility. What the court owners fail to realise here is that this gap in capacity constraints arises not due to the lack of the number of courts but due to the inefficient usage of existing courts, which is owed to the players selecting only specific courts to play on (because of inefficient court maintenance).

Risk Exposure Grows Faster than Operators Expect

Pickleball involves a considerably wider age group of players and many of these players tend to be less forgiving of a surface that is a little irregular in texture. A subtle loss of texture or a change in surface height that would not be noticeable on initial observation often becomes a slipping and falling hazard in a game.

Another risk factor prominent here is insurance considerations. Paperwork is extremely important from an insurance standpoint. A facility that does not have records of past inspection and lacks a defined threshold for repair work can leave owners open to claims that are difficult to contest.

Conversion has Long Term Consequences

The quick transformation of tennis courts into pickleball facilities due to pickleball’s popularity addressed both short-term and long-term facility demands but resulted in long-term maintenance difficulties for the court owners.

The tennis base and pickleball playing space behave differently when crowded. Also, a tennis court's drainage and coating deteriorate in a different manner when subjected to pickleball utilization.

The maintenance program that does not take this discrepancy into consideration can experience deterioration abruptly rather than wear out steadily. Also, a condition that appears seemingly limited to the surface can be the systemic reaction to incompatible usage patterns.

Why Most Maintenance Programs Fail at Scale

As facilities add more courts or locations, the informal maintenance processes stop working. Inconsistency replaces accountability and decisions begin to reflect habit rather than actual court usage.

The areas where this breakdown typically occurs are:

• Visual inspections vary by staff member and shift.

• Repair decisions lack standardized thresholds.

• Budgets follow prior year spending instead of considering current court usage.

• Court maintenance becomes reactive rather than being performance-driven.

High-performing operators thus replace task-focused routines with usage-based court maintenance systems that protect court value at scale.

What High-Performing Pickleball Facilities Do Differently

The best facilities manage their courts as revenue-generating assets. Instead of relying solely on converting courts to bring in more players, their maintenance budgets are proportionate to their usage. Programming is intentionally rotated so as to evenly distribute wear and tear.

Moreover, the high-stress areas get scheduled attention rather than waiting for complete court resurfacing cycles. These operators also align their maintenance planning with the booking strategy to ensure that the surface condition supports rather than undermines the revenue goals.

Maintenance as a Strategic Advantage in a Crowded Market

When markets reach saturation, consumers get more particular. Courts providing a reliable bounce, good traction, and a pro-level finish keep franchises loyal and fetch a premium rate despite the availability of other options in the vicinity.

The quality of the court becomes more or less a silent differentiator that helps in maintaining the credibility of the brand and membership retention in the long run.

Closing Perspective: The Boom Will Mature, Your Courts Should Too

Pickleball growth will stabilize, and when it does, facilities will compete on efficiency, reputation, and asset condition - rather than raw demand. Courts built and maintained for short-term volume will struggle, while the courts that are managed as long-term performance assets will continue to generate value.

The lack of maintenance today is not just a technical oversight; it's a strategic decision with long-term consequences. The operators who understand this now are the ones thriving when the boom becomes the baseline.

Through Pine State Courts, Greg oversees design and installation of high-performance athletic courts for tennis, basketball, pickleball, and multi-sport use. Known for his technical expertise and reliable project management, he ensures projects meet industry standards, withstand harsh New England climates, and foster long-term client partnerships. https://pinestatecourts.com/