Why is Tennis in the UK regarded as a 'toffs' sport?

Question

Depends what 'toffs' are i guess. Tennis is my favourite sport. I went to grammar school then college. now im an IT Manager. Hardly a toff! Played in the team at school. there were other schools playing Tennis all over Kent and none of them were schools for Toffs.

Let look further afield - is John Mcenroe a Toff? Is Andre Agassi a Toff? Lleyton Hewitt? Raphael Nadal? No , no,no and no. Its not the sport that is a Toffs sport but the stupid class system in England which can paint things this way. Its why we dont produce many (ok 1) class Tennis players. Bloody English histrionics at play!

At school we had four tennis courts (grey tarmac) which most of the year had nets up. the nets were taken down to use the playground for other uses (Cadets, football etc).

Local parks have tennis courts which only cost around £3 per hour. Rackets can be bought for £20. Can of balls £3 - £4. Not a fortune.

Used to be a rush at break time and lunch time to get to the courts first - every day I could get a court out there i would!

Answer 1

Because children only get to play tennis at school a few times each year, most local authorities do not have FREE tennis courts and all the clubs charge lots of money, so you need to be well off to play tennis in the UK.

Answer 2

Most the premises of the question are flawed. Anyone with the tiniest knowledge of both sports knows that the nature of the tackling and hits, along with the flow of the games, are very different. Both sports are tough (I'm not sure what you mean by "manly") but require different sorts of toughness. And to be upfront, I'll tell you that I play rugby (union), believe that it is the better game -- and contrary to what some NFL fans believe -- that rugby requires a higher degree of atheletism. Very few NFL player would have the physical stamina required to get through an eighty minute rugby match. They don't need it in football, where each team really fields three squads (offense, defence, special) to play a single game. And lets face it -- the sport is boring -- make a tackle, take a breather, make another tackle, have a TV time-out and then break for half-time. That said -- tackles which are perfectly legal in American football would draw a red card in a rugby match. Rugby tacklers are responsible (to a degree) for the safety of the ball carrier -- thus you can't lift the tackled man past 90 degrees and then drop him on his head -- no such niceties in football, In rugby you can't leave your feet when tackling, you can't shoulder charge, nor can you use your head/helmet as a weapon. Perhaps most important, players don't get blindsided in rugby the way that quarterbacks or receivers do in football because there is never a need to turn their backs on an opponent. Like I said, the nature and flow of the sports are different. And the pads only help to a degree. A little bit of research will show that the concussion stats for football are far worse -- not to mention the risk of heat stroke. This is not a good thing -- there are reasons why so many professional football players die before their sixtieth birthday -- but it does indicate the degree of toughness required. Rugby requires its own sort of toughness -- like the ability to take what are still very painful hits but still keep going for eighty minutes without timeouts or substitutions -- or without getting a breather after every tackle. It requires a much higher degree of physcial fitness. But I don't pretend to believe that the hits in rugby are as hard as in football or -- or that matter -- feel the need to pump up my sport by belittling someone elses'.

Answer 3

Having lived, and played tennis, in both the US and the UK, I can think of a few reasons. Firstly, in Britain, free tennis courts are still few and far between. In the US, by contrast, almost every apartment complex has tennis courts on site. Local rec-centers usually give access to free or dirt cheap tennis courts too. Also, for a country with such unpredictable weather, there are very few indoor courts available (especially at an affordable price). The tennis clubs also have something to do with the somewhat stuffy perception. I have played at tennis clubs in both the US and the UK. In America, the atmosphere is relaxed and the dress code only goes as far as non-marking shoes, and prices are reasonable too. In the UK, however, the clubs still indulge in snobby traditions such as wine and cheese evenings, the dress code is STRICTLY all-white, and the clubs are still expensive to join. Consequently, tennis clubs in Britain are still attracting an older and more elitist class of person than those in the US. These factors all amount to tennis still having a very stuffy reputation in the UK. They also go some of the way to explaining the UK's lack of world-class professional players. With Henman on the wane and Rusedski seemingly retired, Andy Murray is the sole British male of any significant note. The situation is even worse on the women's side. It would take the most obsessive of tennis fans to name even one Brit playing on the WTA Tour. For a country with such a glorious past in the sport, this is terrible. There may be other factors to consider, such as coaching, but making tennis more accesible and appealing to the average person in the UK can only improve the country's chances of producing more top-level players and, maybe, someday ending a now seventy-year drought at Wimbledon.

Answer 4

because if you want to move on to the next level - you need one on one coaching - then there is the equipment and court hire etc. Where as football - there are always clubs which are not very expensive and it is very ecconomical - therefore if you play tennis you must have money and hence the reference to Tof!

I don't think that though!!

Answer 5

Hi,
I like tennis very much as well, you can read more and get more tennis news at http://www.allaboutsport.info/index.php?category=Tennis, If you have any more interesting sports items that you would like to share please enter allaboutsport.info and share your sports items with our community!!!

Cheers
Tom

Answer 6

2

Answer 7

1

Answer 8

thats a good qeustion, i think the answer has something to do with 1914 tennis players

Answer 9

because in the early 20th century, it was the sport that only upper-class people could afford to play.

Answer 10

TENNIS IS FOR TOFFS