review #29 out of 31!…read more I got to visit this club last weekend (Jan24). The weather was nice and sunny, but a little windy so layers were a must. I was here to watch my tennis team play (who ended up winning all lines SWEEP) and I loved the views! So pretty! I could see the city so clearly. Every room looked like it had a nice view, except the bathroom for obvious reasons. I would love to play at the tennis courts here for a match one day (total 10).

This review is just for the tennis courts! I was lucky enough to be able to play here for a special…read moreevent in collaboration with another tennis group that I'm a part of. First off, right away, I got a great parking spot with a beautiful view, overlooking the city and the courts! The parking lot seems kinda small/medium, I can imagine it gets filled up, but I was lucky enough to get a spot. It seems easy enough to get street parking outside though if the lot fills up. Inside, there is a room to the left when you enter with a TV and chairs/tables. That day they had US Open matches on. We were setup here for a potluck, to be enjoyed later post tennis. There's then a patio view where you can look down at the courts/people playing, and the city view. Then there are stairs leading down to the courts! The courts were very clean, well-maintained, and brightly painted! I'm comparing to the public courts of Oakland lol which can sometimes be rough - sometimes there is a lot of foliage from nearby trees/nature, fading paint, cracks, holes in nets, etc. These courts were pristine compared to what I'm used to! I met some OHTC members through the event, and everyone was very nice. They were even convincing me to join, and I would consider! Employees there as well were very nice and helped me with any questions I had. I hope to have more events here, rally as a guest, or to join one day!

I've been playing soccer in the Albany 5-aside league for more than a year and it has been so much…read morefun! In fact, the Wednesday-night games are usually the highlight of me week. I love playing soccer, but I was intimidated to play in other leagues because I don't have a lot of experience. The Albany league is casual, yet highly organized. Its fun for everyone from beginners to seasoned players. You can get a great workout, meet new friends and reduce stress at the same time! The refs are very fair and make sure that a clean game is played to minimize injuries. The other nice thing about soccer is that it's co-ed 5-on-5 with open subbing (teams are usually made up of 8-10 people). So there's not a lot of pressure to put a big team together and it's usually ok if you have to miss a week or two. The registration fees are very fair. If you've ever thought about playing a team sport, I'd definitely look into this. They will even help match you up with a team. It's a great opportunity for people who are new to the Bay Area. So go for it! Sign up! Hope to see you on the field!

Albany Adult Sports has softball, soccer, kickball, pickleball, winter indoor sports (basketball…read moreand futsal) and running on Sundays. If you want to stay in shape, on a budget, this is the place.

This place was recommended by a friend from our pickleball group, and I'm glad we checked it out!…read more The young gentleman who helped us was friendly, knowledgeable, and very patient in answering all of our questions. One of the best things they offer is their demo paddle rental program. You get 30 days to try different paddles and can check out up to three at a time. During that period, you can come back and swap them out as many times as you'd like to find the right fit for your game. The rental fee is applied back to your account as store credit once you return the paddles, which can be used toward a future purchase. Just keep in mind there is a $2 per day late fee if you return them after the rental period. They also sell demo paddles at discounted prices, so it's worth keeping an eye out if you're looking for a good deal and don't necessarily need a brand-new paddle. This is a great option for anyone getting into pickleball or looking to upgrade their equipment without making a blind purchase. I'll definitely be back!

This place is the best! Shout out to all the young guys that are usually working there - they're…read morealways happy to help answer all my tennis racket/string questions! I recently did the racket demo program. It is awesome, you get 30 days to try as many rackets as you'd like, 3 at a time, for $40. The $40 is like a down payment toward the racket you eventually end up choosing! Bryce helped me out the first time I came in - gave me all the basics in a very friendly and approachable way! I swapped rackets many times lol and it was always pretty quick and easy. Anytime I needed a recommendation, I felt like I could trust what they were telling me from their own tennis experience! I ended up getting a Head Gravity racket with pretty blue, Mach 10 strings to match lol - I couldn't be more pleased with my choice! The price match they offer can also be handy - even though they ended up having the cheapest prices in store when I went, it's good to keep in mind if you happen to see a cheaper price online, they'll honor it, according to their policy! Tennis can be expensive haha so just keep this policy in mind! They're a small shop but I feel good supporting local! Sometimes they might not have what you're looking for, but they're happy to get it from their other location/order it for you and they're always really good about calling you when your item or racket is ready! For example, they had to get my racket and some racket head protection tape from their other store, on different occasions. They called me each time when it was ready. For your fellow tennis lovers, keep this place in mind - they have gift cards! I actually got a gift card for my birthday lol that I used towards my new racket. I also bought tennis balls here as part of my tennis friend's birthday gift - recommended by Bryce - and they ended up being great balls! Dunlop Grand Prix! I will always appreciate the help, knowledge/recs, and friendly service from Courtside - come support them if you need anything for tennis!

I had 10 weekly lessons with Sammy and saw a huge improvement in my game. He completely transformed…read moremy groundstrokes and serve, while also making a real difference to my footwork. What I particularly appreciated was how much Sammy adapted his coaching to me. He took the time to understand the biggest areas holding my game back and kept each lesson focused on one or two clear, actionable points. That made it easy to take what we worked on into my own practice, build it into muscle memory, and see genuine progress week after week. Sammy is incredibly patient, positive and invested in your development, and explains things in a way that really clicks. I'd highly recommend him to anyone who is serious about improving their game!

Coach Sammy has been teaching our 6 year old (Kindergarten) Tennis in a weekly lesson. My daughter…read morehad never played tennis before starting with Sammy but has made incredible progress and most importantly, she LOVES and looks forward to her lesson each week. She says "Tennis with Coach Sammy is SOOO fun!" In the hour lesson Coach Sammy keeps students focused and engaged with fun practice games and switching between skills and activities (rallies, serving, footwork, etc). His coaching style is extremely effective and the lessons are truly worth every penny and more. He uses every minute of the lesson effectively and jam packs the hour with instruction, practice and skill building games. My daughter is tired in the best possible way by the end! Coach Sammy is kind, knowledgeable and flexible and adapts his teaching and lesson to each student. Most importantly, Coach Sammy is incredibly patient which is necessary when working with young learners. We can't recommend Coach Sammy enough to anyone looking for a tennis instructor - both kids and adults! He is a wonderful person and skilled coach and so enthusiastic about teaching Tennis! We feel so fortunate to have found Coach Sammy.

I cannot recommend the East Bay Tennis League highly enough -- it was pretty much the saving grace…read moreof 2020 for me. It's a freakishly affordable, easy way to get matches with players matched to your level, and while the competition's good, people are nice and chill. I'm a big fan. Before I found it, I was trying (and failing) to use NextDoor and Craigslist to find matches with local people -- not one of those panned out. I joined figuring that the cost was so low, I had nothing to lose -- and was then amazed at how well-run it was, and how populated it was by cool people to play with. Upon joining the EBTL, I had almost as many matches as I wanted (some people play one every so often, while others are managing to get in 3 a week or more!). How it works: matches are self-scheduled. The algorithms the league uses to sort people into groups of equal levels work very well, esp. after you've played a few matches. The app for phones is very easy to use and well-designed, but if you want to just use your computer, that's fine (and well-designed too.) Matches are "competitive" in the sense that people play scored matches and try to win... but 99% of the participants are easy-going and understand that no one's going to Wimbledon anytime soon. (And while only "matches" count for the purposes of the league, it's been a great way to meet people that I just want to hit with, as well!)

Great app to meet new local players in your area and similar skill level. Best part is its flexible…read moreand even a tournament style playoffs at the end of n each season. App is simple and easy to use.

I had a tennis match recently where I had a minor toe injury that I realized might be due to my…read moretennis shoes. I thought I should go to a local store and get some advice on shoes. Tom was super helpful. He recommended wide shoes and also helped measure my shoe size since it can be different for wide shoes, and it totally was. The shoes were reasonably priced and comparable to anything you can find online. But you can't beat a personalized shopping experience with Tom, who helped explain what different brands offer shoe-wise and also measured my feet to be sure. Tom is a true gem and it's always awesome to support a local business with owners like him who have a true passion for what they do. He used to own a bigger store downstairs but during the pandemic, his business suffered and now he's upstairs but still clearly knows all of his tennis stuff. I would definitely come back to support his business whenever I need tennis gear. The only downside is that parking is street parking and you do have to pay for it.

My wife and I recently got back into tennis after watching the US Open. I haven't played tennis…read morebefore, so I didn't have my own racket, but my wife still had some rackets from high school that desperately needed to be restrung. Through Yelp, we found Montclair Sports offered restringing services and I am beyond satisfied with my experience working with Tom. To start, Tom is a seasoned professional in his craft, with over 50 years of experience. We brought over our two beaten up rackets to the shop and Tom walked us through his recommendations for the rackets. We ended up going forward with restringing only one of the rackets, but we actually purchased a new Babolat racket there on the spot. Turns out, the racket my wife had been using her whole life was completely the wrong size! At no time during the racket shopping process did we ever feel like Tom was trying to upsell us. He patiently answered all our questions and I trusted Tom's guidance in every step of the process. Honestly, you won't find a nicer guy in the business; I cannot recommend his services enough.

Fred is a phenomenal tennis coach! I played as a kid but wanted to pick up the sport again as an…read moreadult. It's been challenging but fun to learn and play with Fred as a 1:1 coach. We play at the Chabot courts, and though I wish the city of Oakland would update their booking system, we always get a court and it's only $10/hr. I would recommend Fred as a coach to anyone getting started or looking to sharpen their skills. He has a great eye for even small errors that I make and gives great advice for correction- I felt a huge improvement after just 4 lessons with Fred. We have a great time, and I'm also becoming a much better player than I had expected to be in just the 5 months that we've been working together.

Fred is a great tennis first timer coach. He is involved, loves the game and is an easy going guy.read more

I joined Montclair Swim Club because I was looking for an option closer to home and after about a…read moreyear decided it wasn't really for me. They have good hours and the lifeguards at the front office are super helpful. The pool itself is a bit unusual - one end is quite shallow so it takes a bit of getting used to it for doing flip turns. There are always kids around - and quite often children's swim teams practicing. When I first started swimming there, I kept hear the name "Marco" being yelled repeatedly and thought "This must be the worst game of Marco-Polo ever!" I later found out it was that one guy on the kids' swim team who doesn't hear instructions and keeps swimming when everyone else is stopping. The hot tub is not bad - it's quite big. It's sadly full of people who all seem to want to talk OVER the noise of the jets. I can only imagine what it must be like for the people who live in the canyon all around and have to hear banal conversations, frequently alcohol fueled as there are many people with cans of beer in the hot tub, about personal relationships and compost bins. While parking is plentiful - there are plenty of people who block the road because they can't be bothered to park and walk 20 feet. There are even some rather entitled white male Tesla drivers who will criticize another person's driving despite the fact that they had no problems parking themselves (and the parking lines are many, worn down, and contradictory at best). There's definitely a bit of elitist element among the long time/regulars. Finally, the locker rooms are a horror. They are not kept clean and could do with re-tiling. The lockers are a mess. The toilets are miniscule and not much bigger than what you'd find in an airplane. I do confess that the source of my discontent was a visit to Villa Sport in San Jose last summer -- and the realization that for HALF the money, I could be getting way way more value. Let's not even get into the strange cash-only deposits and lack of policy to suspend membership when out of town or out of commission for long periods of time. It's a really great pool and club for families -- it's got picnic tables, grills, and you can bring the au pair as part of your membership. Two stars for single people without kids who prefer clean lockerooms - but five stars for families with lower standards and more money.

I go here five or six days a week, the beautiful location and lack of crowds makes it easy for me…read moreto get my laps in. Sure, i wish the pools had been resurfaced in the last twenty years or that the locker rooms felt a little less wet/moist, but tbh it all makes it feel like this is my personal club. I'm basically writing this review to make sure the swim club sticks around for another 100 years, i dunno what i'd do without it