4 min read
If you’re looking for an example Universal Tennis club success, look no further than Texas powerhouse TNT Tennis & Pickleball. Last year, TNT ran the largest match play event in the Dallas-Forth Worth area with over 500 junior and adult players in attendance.
What is their recipe for success? A good mentor/mentee relationship, a strong connection to the community, a lot of hard work, and some help from Universal Tennis.
Kelly Langdon started TNT Tennis & Pickleball in 2009. As a seasoned tennis pro, Langdon knew he needed top-tier teaching pros in order to expand his business so he recruited one of his former high school players to help him run his business.
“Kelly was my high school tennis coach, and we kept in touch through college,” said TNT Assistant Director Austin Wynne. “He taught me everything I know.”
Now the duo is running some of the most successful Universal Tennis events in the country, including the annual GrapeFest Tennis Classic that takes place every September. The event is coordinated with the City of Grapevine’s Wine Festival, GrapeFest. Hosting a tennis event during one of the biggest festivals in the area was a great way to elevate tennis in the community.
Along with GrapeFest, the pair also run several other match play events that typically draw in a couple of hundred people per event. As of late, they have also started hosting pickleball events (which have attracted around 100 players each time) and pickleball leagues.
“We got involved with Universal Tennis from the beginning — at that time, we had to explain what this new rating was to everyone and now everyone knows what it is,” Wynne said. “Now we’re running pickleball, too.”
As early Universal Tennis adopters, TNT Tennis & Pickleball has been able to see the effects the platform has had on its community and would recommend the software to all other teaching pros. Wynne also notes that players, especially juniors, benefit tremendously from the UTR Rating.
“Anyone that knows anything about tennis is going to ask you what your UTR Rating is,” Wynne said. “They don't care about other rankings, they don’t care about what level you’re playing, they just care about your UTR.”
If you are interested in running tennis or pickleball events in your area, click here to learn more!