-
October 2023 by matt mullens
I recently started playing tennis here as a beginner and it has been so much fun! The location is very nice and classes are well organized. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. I especially love the morning classes, great way to start your day!
-
February 2023 by Jonathan Lazar
Love this place!!
-
December 2022 by Jess C
Really nice and helpful tennis coaches!
-
January 2022 by Justine Lassoff
I love these courts - they are well maintained. The surrounding park is nice for some shade.
-
January 2022 by Steven L.
Sorry, his name is Mike. I know I'm not the only one with complaints because other guys I've talked to were also frustrated by the assignment nonsense.
-
November 2021 by DC Dude
John is a terrible manager
-
October 2021 by Y T.
Totally agree with what Amir said. Palisades Tennis Center lives up to the neighborhood's reputation for being snobby and elitist. I played varsity tennis in high school and consider myself to be a decent player. Never have had I to jump through so many hurdles to prove myself worthy of being here, all at the discretion of the manager John. I thought I would give this place a chance as it does bring out some more of the competitive and competent players in the area, but I gradually realized there would be no way to me to overcome the favoritism of the owner. For the live ball clinics, you are basically assigned a court at his discretion and you're either moved around in a bizarre, haphazard fashion or if you're on the king side of the court at the end of the round, depending on his mood of the day. I came here to have fun, but it just ended up making my blood boil as I was consistently made to feel like I wasn't good enough while subject to his reindeer games. Mind you, I was part of the advanced group. If I'm paying $40 per class, I expect the chance to have the chance to compete and not be relegated to a certain court each time ranked by his subjective decision of who's best. Below is an email that was distributed to patrons by a disgruntled employee.... looking back I can see he was telling the truth: "Subject: BEWARE OF LA TENNIS CENTERS IMPORTANT-PLEASE READ Before I get into the details I want to start this off by saying one main point: LA tennis centers is the most unprofessional company I have ever worked for. You should take a second look at who you are giving your business to and who you are letting around your kids. As a whole, LA tennis centers enacts some shady, and most of the time illegal business practices. LA tennis centers underpaid, paid late, and tried to cheat me out of my hard worked for paycheck on multiple occasions. Upon talking to former employees I have realized that there are many more like me. A handful of us have not been paid our last paychecks for months. Mike Thomas is aware of this and actively ignores emails from former employees. A former colleague of mine quit over a similar issue. He was black and was making $10 on hour less than his white coworkers to do the same job. Racial inequality? Absolutely. They are not only cheating me. They are cheating you too. Remember all those credits you had prior to Covid? Classes you paid your hard earned money for that you never received? They told you they had no way of letting you come and use those credits, or at least not pay for additional classes when you had already done so. That was a lie. They are fully able to let you use credits or give refunds. They just don't want to. Next, the coaches. While some coaches are professional and truly care, the way in which others talk about the kids behind their backs in absolutely deplorable. I have heard coaches address kids as "bratts" "annoying" and on some occasions even "retards". They talk about the parents in even worse terms. Finally, the management at LA tennis centers is the reason for many of these problems. Mike, who runs the business, is perhaps the biggest perpetrator. Not only does he actively screw over his employees and patrons, he is a downright grade A scumbag. I have heard from multiple female coaches that he treats them as second class citizens and believes they are only capable of teaching young children. Furthermore Mike for the most part only hires former male D1 tennis players to coach at the palisades. Are you asking yourself why he has such a proclivity for fit young men? So am I. I was told by a former colleague that Ish Blanco, who works at LA tennis centers (and is essentially Mike's henchmen) once got in trouble for being drunk around his students at work. What did Mike do? He put Ish in charge of the Cheviot Hills center. Lastly, Mike does not pay the city of Los Angeles the correct rates to use their courts. In finality, Mike and many of the current staff and management at LA tennis centers are co
-
September 2021 by Amir K.
The exercise of live ball is fun, the manager/owner is as arrogant as they come. His goal, I'm Assuming is to get rid of all those whom He thinks are not as good as he wants them to be. Clear and cut favoritism that is too obvious, since others who are not as good got to stay with their perspective group/day. Unfortunately, his decisions are not based on what's good for the players, but more so what's good for him and NOT the business. It's sad that a community place acts this way, instead of enjoying the game of tennis. The players are threat, some are better than others, but in general, the guys and ladies are awesome. Do I recommend this place? Clearly not. You can start with one group and on any given day this guy will switch you around or simply ask you not to come. Gladly, my wife and I found a much better solution in the form of a private court with a bunch of great players and a private coach. Every challenge presents a new solution. We will not be returning to the palisades for tennis. Let this guy destroy his operation one player at a time.
-
April 2021 by Marilyn H.
Beware of trying to get a private lesson (or anything) here. I paid $100 on the phone to set up a gift, then came in to use the confirming texted graphic asking to set up a session. Timmy said couldn't find a private coach to schedule and couldn't refund any money bc they changed software. Talked assistant director and Daria and others. No on could provide a refund. No one could schedule a private lesson. All just dissed me, telling me to come back later. (on 5 occasions?). This operation doesn't get oversight by parks or anyone so they can do what they want. Too bad their using public land for this. These people are unbelievable!
-
April 2021 by Kabir Kang
Great community of players and coaches
-
April 2021 by David Jones
Very Nice facility ask for Bela Jones a really talented coach great with young kids!
-
February 2021 by Nathalie Besse
My son loves his coaches and Mike is a pleasure to deal with. I highly recommend this place!
-
February 2021 by Roxana M.
I'm an adult beginner and signed up for the introductory level tennis lessons. This tennis center has an online portal for signing up, and classes fill up fast. As soon as this term's classes opened up, I signed up for the only slot that worked for my schedule (balancing childcare for my two toddlers at home, and my full time work schedule means I have just one morning a week to myself for something fun like tennis lessons). Score! I made it into my first choice time slot for the introductory classes. I paid my $350 for the 10 lessons and went to the first class, which turned out to be a lot of fun. What wasn't so fun? The clique of women in the class who all seemed to know each other from previous lessons. The women very openly talked about their one friend who was waitlisted for the class and couldn't get in. Due to the pandemic, class sizes are kept small and only 5 people were allowed in this particular morning intro class. "Who took her spot?" they asked loudly, looking at me. It turns out, I had "taken" a spot from one of their friends. I'm not sure how -- since this tennis center holds classes open to the public, and I signed up online just like anyone else could. No matter, I played the 90 minute lesson - had fun and got some good exercise in too. The other women had taken lessons here before, clearly, and were playing at a higher level than I was. Even so, it was designated as a beginner class and I was looking forward to the rest of the term - particularly to my one morning a week of "me time" away from pandemic work-from-home parenting. What happened next was not only embarrassing, but a bit shocking. A week later, the night before my second lesson, the owner/manager (Michael) called me on my cell phone at 9 pm at night. "I'm not sure how you even got into this class - it's a closed group" he said. He proceeded to spend the next five minutes in a full monologue belittling me and telling me that there was some huge error in the system that allowed me to register. In other words, he told me I was not welcome in the publicly available introductory tennis class that I signed up for just like everyone else did. The clique of women ousted the newcomer, and Michael sure didn't sugarcoat. It was a great way to crush a beginner's confidence, alienate a customer, and tarnish the tennis center's reputation all at once. Michael was very clear: "So, yea, make sure you do NOT show up to class tomorrow morning" he said as he hung up. I had the call on speaker, sitting next to my husband and when the call ended, his jaw was nearly on the floor. "I can't believe he talked to you like that" was all he could tell me. Even better -- Michael kicked me out of the class unceremoniously with a promise to refund my money and has yet to issue the refund a week later. If you're looking for tennis lessons, look elsewhere. Here, you will find bored housewives and downright discriminatory admissions practices. Signed, The only non-white participant in the "closed group" that Michael "has no idea how I got into"
-
January 2021 by joe morris
Terribly run tennis center and pitiful owner
-
October 2019 by Frank Howardson
The instructors genuinely care about teaching and the sport and the individual. The owner and management are flexible and friendly. They redid the club house in 2018 and it looks great with the new renovations And I think it's the best deal for tennis on the westside. Highly recommended.
