Alright so here’s what went down with my tennis experiment this month. Been dying to hit more balls without wasting half my session waiting around or dodging stray shots from four different courts crammed into one. Total circus sometimes. Figured I’d track actual court traffic for two full weeks straight – because yeah, I’m that guy with the clipboard at 7 AM.
The Painful Starting Point
My usual slot? Saturdays around 11 AM. Mistake number one, right? Rolled up to the public courts near Lincoln Park thinking “midday on a weekend, should be fine!” Nope. Every single court packed solid. Ended up sitting on the bench like a spare part for 40 minutes watching doubles matches cycle through. Felt like waiting for a table at that tiny brunch spot downtown. Absolute waste. Sunday afternoons? Same disaster. Groups of teens, families just messing around, birthday parties even. Chaos.
Operation Beat The Clock Begins
Fed up, I got serious. Woke up at stupid o’clock – like 5:45 AM on a Tuesday. Dark. Cold. Questioning all my life choices walking in with my breath fogging. Here’s the wild thing though:
- 6:00 AM – 7:15 AM: Only spotted two other hardcore weirdos on the entire complex. Courts 1 through 10? All mine for the picking. Hit serves till my shoulder felt loose.
- Weekday Mornings (Before 8 AM): Consistent pattern. Maybe one other solo player or a quiet doubles pair if I arrived closer to 7:30. Still easy sailing.
- Lunch Hours (11:30 AM – 1 PM): Forget it. Office folks pouring out nearby buildings, claiming courts in little gangs. Saw waitlists starting by 11:45.
- Evenings after work (5:30 PM Onward): Total gamble. Some days manageable, mostly it felt like rush hour on the Metro. Crowded, noisy, stressful to get a court.
The Real Goldmine Times
After my early morning torture phase, I tested weekday evenings later. Like, right before sunset. Huge difference.
- 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (Weeknights): Ding ding ding! Winner. The post-work crowd thins out massively around 7. People heading home for dinner. Light was fading sure, needed a light hoodie by late August, but man… peace! Played uninterrupted sets multiple nights. Maybe saw 3-4 others spread out.
- Sunday Mornings (7 AM – 9 AM): Similar magic to weekdays. Quieter than Saturday mornings somehow. Mostly solo players focused on practice.
My Takeaway Schedule
Based on literally freezing my butt off and scribbling notes like a detective, here’s the deal:
- Absolute Prime Time (Max Courts Min People): Weekdays 6 AM – 7:45 AM & Weeknights 7:00 PM – Dark. Yeah, gotta commit to the early bird life or the after-dinner hustle. But empty courts? Worth missing an extra hour of sleep or delaying dinner.
- Solid Backup Slot: Sunday Morning 7 AM – 9 AM. The weekend sleep-in crowd hasn’t mobilized yet.
- Just Don’t Bother: Weekdays Noon-1 PM & Weekend Afternoons. Save yourself the frustration. Go grab coffee instead.
Started doing this consistently for weeks. Played way more tennis, wasted zero time waiting, stopped yelling internally at people crowding my service line. Still packed my windbreaker for those crisp evenings though. Adapt and conquer, folks.
