And another thing...

By far the best place I have found for tennis strings and other racquet stuff is W & D Strings in the UK. Very helpful and knowledgeable. And the cheapest I have found anywhere. Not sure if they post stuff to CH, though. I usually stock whenever I go back.

Hi jacek,

Thanks for the posting. I moved to basel and I'm going through all the struggles you listed on your initial posting.

I found a local pro to help me with lessons, finding a club, etc.
I don't think cost is the main problem. In the US, private clubs are expensive as well. However tennis clubs here don't seem too interested in new members (I always receive some blaze attitude). Also, clubs here don't have a gym therefore you need to spend money and time looking for a fitness center as well.

Well, next week I hope to be able to choose a gym and a reasonable tennis club.

Not many tennis club have fitness facilities with exception to large sport centers with tennis, squash, badminton and gym. Good example here is indoor centre called Schumacher Halle in Zurich. On the other hand you can find lots of parks and running tracks free of charge to maintain your level of fitness. Sometimes workplaces have fitness centers with free weights and machines like we do have in our company. If you plan staying longer in CH perhaps investing in second hand dumbbells or barbells on www.ricardo.ch would make sense or join a gym ($$$ )

It is usual routine and nerve wrecking process of adaptation to the new place and it takes time to break ice. Swiss give very cold welcome to foreigners but once they know you it is gonna be miles better and you be able to find few good sparring partners. And remember, we all had to go thru same known stuff as expats first time we came here. Things will brighten up and soon you will enjoy Swiss Tennis

One more thing, we all are used to the rebound ace tennis courts and not as much to the clay or indoor carpet with granulate. For your info, you can also find this kind of surface here in CH e.g. www.lengg.ch in Zurich. Such courts are not so popular in CH though being very scarce and badly hidden in couple of places in each and every canton. We managed to find one or two lately

My good tennis buddy from the US loves playing every time he's got an opportunity if he is not away. If you have a car (or doesn't matter even if you use public transport) we could set up something half way

Good luck with making first steps around the clubs

Just in case winter lets us down again... although I keep my fingers crossed looking forward to first snowflakes and that we can hit pistes soon... I wanted to refresh an old thread and incourage those who might enjoy indoor tennis on both social and competitive level. I bumped this thread on purpose so that some of you can find more useful info here.

What drew my attention lately, while practicing at Vitis in Schlieren, is that there are more and more folks looking for a hitting partner. You can write or print out a note with your request and hang it on a board. You might as well ask 'em at the reception to do it for you in German (btw ladies working there are very friendly and helpful - not human robots). The note with basic info should look something like:

Ich suche für Tennispartner/-in:

1. Name .....
2. Verfügbar Spielzeit ....
3. Kategorie oder Klassierung auf Rangliste ....
4. Kontakt no. ......

Grüss,

xxx

We are looking for advanced hitting partners category R4 + for tennis sessions in the evening. Please PM if you are interested or know someone.

All those who might be looking for online tennis shops, clubs and services related to, there is a search engine that provides heaps of info: http://www.suche.ch/info/tennis/

Update on my previous post: the spanking new Sportscore tennis centre in Belp Moos is excellent. The only drawback is that it's not exactly easy to get to (it's right next to Bern-Belp airport). Jürgen Strehlau coaches there - he is one of the most experienced coaches around, and was the making of Xenia Knoll, among others. Jürgen previously coached at the Kratochvil rip-off in Ostermundigen, but didn't stay long (of course).

Thank you Jacek for the invitation.

Every season same rules apply. Everyone is welcome. If you are interested in private lessons please send me PM.

This weekend http://zurichopen.net/?lang=en&page=Home is on. Those who have tickets enjoy. The nice weather outside is reminding us about coming sping. Few more weeks and clay season will start

Outdoor tennis courts season on clay will start soon within 2-4 weeks. Some clubs have already put up nets on their courts. It is time to start filling up registration forms for club memberships and undust rackets

As usual we will be active in summer: Tennis lessons during summer and winter season!