the Hamptons
Tournament prep in the Hamptons: ratings, the calendar, and coaching that plays for keeps
Competitive players in the Hamptons train against two numbers: the UTR, a 1.00–16.50 rating computed from a player’s last 30 matches in 12 months, and the NTRP, the 1.0–7.0 scale in half-point steps that adult leagues use. Suffolk County school tennis is a spring sport for boys and a fall sport for girls (Section XI). Year-round training happens under the bubbles at Ross School (six Hydro Har-Tru courts, mid-fall to mid-spring, open to the public) and East Hampton Indoor Tennis (six indoor courts); SPORTIME Amagansett’s John McEnroe Tennis Academy runs college-tennis drills on 33 Har-Tru courts.
Last updated · Reviewed by Hamptons Ace Tennis
Who this is for
A junior who plays tournaments or wants to, a high-school player with a season to make, a college prospect building a rating, an adult on a league ladder. The coaching is different in kind, not degree: match play and point construction rather than strokes, a plan across a season rather than an hour, and a coach who has done it, which in certification terms is the RSPA’s Elite or Master Professional level (ten or more years as an Elite plus 80 hours of specialty study for the latter).
The two ratings
UTR. The Universal Tennis Rating runs from 1.00 to 16.50 to two decimals and is a weighted average of a player’s last 30 eligible matches in the preceding 12 months, weighting the percentage of games won against the opponent’s rating; a rating becomes fully reliable after five matches against opponents with reliable ratings. For scale, the top professionals sit above 16 on the men’s side and above 13 on the women’s. College coaches use it; UTR’s own site runs a college-pathways section for that reason, though it would not give us its recruiting thresholds, so we do not print them.
NTRP. The USTA’s National Tennis Rating Program runs in half-point steps to 7.0; one reference gives the floor as 1.0 and another as 1.5, and USTA’s own pages would not load for us, so we quote the scale and not the descriptions. Adult leagues are organised by NTRP level; Southampton Racquet Club’s adult clinics, for instance, run from beginner to 4.0-plus, with Live Ball at 3.0–3.5 and 3.5-plus.
The calendar we can vouch for
Suffolk County’s Section XI plays boys’ tennis in the spring and girls’ tennis in the fall. The USTA Eastern section, which runs the junior tournament ladder for Long Island, would not load for us on any address, so we do not print its levels or its 2026 schedule; ask the coach for the current one. The one competitive event we can date is a fundraiser: the 12th Johnny Mac Tennis Project Pro-Am at SPORTIME Amagansett on August 24, 2026, 128 pros and amateurs, more than 400 attending, more than $550,000 raised, with John and Patrick McEnroe and Mats Wilander on site, which tells you how much serious tennis passes through Amagansett in August.
Where to train year-round
| Facility | What it is |
|---|---|
| Ross School Tennis Center, East Hampton | 6 Hydro Har-Tru courts under a bubble mid-fall to mid-spring; open to the public; private lessons $175 weekday, $190 weekend |
| East Hampton Indoor Tennis, Daniels Hole Road | 6 indoor and 20 outdoor courts, pro shop, clubhouse (2021 description) |
| SPORTIME Amagansett / JMTA | 33 Har-Tru courts, mid-April to early November; John McEnroe Tennis Academy groups, ATK college-tennis drills |
| East Hampton Tennis Club, 178 Montauk Highway | 15 Har-Tru courts, private, lessons for non-members (2021 description) |
| Southampton Racquet Club | Cliff Drysdale Tennis programme, clinics to 4.0-plus, six pros listed |
| Montauk Tennis Club | 12 teaching pros across Montauk Downs (6 Har-Tru) and Hither Hills Racquet Club |
The surfaces
Most of the fork plays on Har-Tru, which rewards patience and punishes a flat game; a junior whose tournaments are on hard courts should be hitting on Mashashimuet Park’s two hard courts or a club’s in the weeks before. The coaches we refer for tournament prep are asked which surface the player’s next event is on before the first session.
FAQ
Common questions
What do RSPA (formerly USPTA) and PTR certifications mean?
They are the two American coaching credentials. The RSPA, the Racquet Sports Professionals Association, is the former USPTA (its old address now sends you to rspa.net) with 14,000-plus members and four levels: Instructor ($249 to apply plus $235 a year), Professional ($499 plus $335 a year), Elite Professional (an upgrade with on-court testing, $129) and Master Professional (ten or more years as an Elite plus 80 hours of specialty study). RSPA dues include on-court liability insurance for teaching, and its directory at members.rspa.net verifies a coach in a minute. The PTR, the Professional Tennis Registry, is the other body; its site would not load for us, so we do not quote its terms. Neither certification is a background check: we ask every coach for a current screening separately, and the US Center for SafeSport’s core course takes about 90 minutes with a trained status good for 12 months.
How much do private tennis lessons cost in the Hamptons?
About $175–190 an hour at the one Hamptons club that publishes a rate: Ross School Tennis Center in East Hampton charges $175 on weekdays and $190 on weekends and holidays in 2026. New York coaches list $65–190 a lesson, with named coaches at $100–150, and the national average is $113 with a $62–204 range (Thumbtack). The other Hamptons clubs quote through booking portals, and the coaches we work with sit around the Ross number in season. Add the court if you have none: Montauk Downs rents Har-Tru at $44 an hour ($24 for members), Southampton Village sells a $25 season permit, and club memberships with court time run from $2,547 (individual) to $6,000+ (family). A summer of twelve weekly lessons at the published rate is about $2,100.
Read the full answer →How does Hamptons Ace Tennis work?
You tell us about the player once: who is learning, their level, what kind of lessons, when, and where in the Hamptons you are based. We put you in touch with one coach who teaches that age and level in your part of the fork, certified by the RSPA or the PTR and background-checked, and they call you within one business day. From there it is their rate, their schedule and their court, or yours. It is free for players and parents; participating coaches pay us a referral fee for the introduction. We are not a club, a camp or a coaching business, and we do not sell your details; the one coach we send you to is the only one who gets your number. We cover 9 South Fork towns and 6 kinds of coaching.
Related
Other services
Private & Semi-Private Lessons
One-on-one and two-player lessons with a certified coach: the $175–190 Hamptons rate one club publishes, New York and national ranges, where to play without a court, and what RSPA certification means.
Junior Group Lessons & Clinics
Group lessons for children 3–17: the red-orange-green-yellow ball progression, the Town’s youth clinics, the club programs, junior racquet costs by age, and how to tell a good group from a busy one.
Family Lessons
One coach, one court, the whole family: the permits and memberships priced for families, the season, and how a coach runs an hour for three levels at once.
Summer Camps & Clinics
Camp weeks for children: Future Stars’ published 2026 rates in Southampton and East Hampton, the club camps at SPORTIME, Hampton Racquet and Southampton Racquet Club, the add-ons and the discounts.
Adult Lessons & Cardio Tennis
Adult privates, beginner series, Live Ball and Cardio Tennis: what the clubs run from beginner to 4.0-plus, what a lesson and a membership cost in 2026, and how to get back on court without a club.
Book a tennis coach for tournament prep
Sixty seconds: who is learning, their level, what kind of lessons, and where you are based. One certified, background-checked coach who teaches that age and level calls you within one business day. Free for players and parents; nobody else gets your number.
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