Courts found on the road:

Sierra Vista Jr High, Canyon Country, CA.

Holiday Park Tennis Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Well- what else to name this page? Just recently I took a trip to California with my job and had the hankerin' to hit a few- so I asked the hotel help if they knew of any outdoors handball or paddleball courts. Of course, they didn't! I had a pair of graphite paddles and a brand new can of Wilsons just burning a hole in the carpet of my room and no place to break 'em out and hit, I thought- and so I resolved to find a place. This trip out I was lucky enough to have my own rental car, so after a Google search for courts in the Santa Clarita, CA area, I came up with what seemed a promising hit for outdoor one wall courts at http://www.santa-clarita.com/cityhall/parks/facilities/sportscomplex.asp. So last Sunday, I printed out directions, grabbed my gear and got to lookin' for this place- and found it. It was up in the hills (the kind we don't have in Florida!) overlooking valleys and other hills and next to their city's Aquatic Center- talk about a gorgeous, big-bucks facility! Yeah I was duly impressed but no- no outdoor courts so I wasn't impressed enough! The place did have courts- just not ones I was looking to play on this particular Sunday morning. The Sports Complex's side-walls would have done perfect duty as those outdoor courts if only fencing were put up and lines put down... but who am I to say? I really was missing my playing so I asked a couple of racquetball players if they knew of any outdoors courts and they gave me directions to the ones you see below on this page. On another page, I cover an alternative I found right on the hotel property to practicing on a handball or paddleball court-or even a wall. I'd love to get me one of these thangs!

Just a few miles from the Sports Complex, in a town named Canyon Country, these unlighted 3 wall courts wait to be played on at the Sierra Vista Jr High School grounds. I wrapped up my Sunday work early, changed to my play clothes and hauled it on up to the courts... The first impression one gets is that no one uses these courts, yet they're fairly well maintained. The lines, well... There was some kind of 1 foot line and serving boxes but back from these, the lines faded away to barely visible. Another beef is that the courts share the side lines. I can imagine if and when the courts are full, the confusion of a player from an adjacent game running into the next court to keep a ball in play. Not good! There was a bit of debris on the courts but not on every one, leading me to believe someone played something there.

That day, I stayed from 3PM until just about dark- a good long time- and barely worked up a sweat. This wasn't due to a lax work-out but to the weather. It was just perfect paddleball weather at about 65-68 degrees and nothing much for humidity! The kind of weather we get in the winter in SoFl... and that us players love! I went one other time to these courts and tried all 5 of them- just to say I did. Bounces were true off the front wall but for some reason, the ball got great traction on the ground bounces and at times took wicked skips! It'd be a great place to play, if you ask me- just ignore those pesky side walls, paint or chalk out a 3 foot, side, long and back line and hit away! Oh- due to the low height of the front walls, I found myself sailing balls over them- something to get used to!! Just remarking- I've go no complaints cuz I got all the practice I needed there! There are no facilities or water fountain, so act accordingly! Directions? Find yourself Valencia Blvd, off of Interstate 5 and take Valencia west. Valencia turns into Soledad Canyon Rd. Stay on Soledad until you come to Camp Plenty Road, left then straight to Stillmore and right and another right at White's Canyon Rd and you're there. Leave me a quick email if you hit there... they should have a guest book!! ;-) As an aside, I found a pic of the "handball" courts (so called in the Schools' web page at http://www.hartdistrict.org/sierra/pe/) and took the liberty to copy and paste it below. Thanks, guys! It really is a nice facility! I read also that paddle tennis is on the curriculum- add paddleball to it to really get the kids into it!

Click on a thumbnail to view the full size picture, click the back-space key on your keyboard or the "back" button on your browser to return to this page.

Morning Side Park, Clearwater, FL

On the road again for a couple of days and I wanted to go hit a few- if you don't know, I don't go anywhere without my paddles and a can of Wilsons- I did find a place at a great Tennis Center but it wasn't quite a paddleball or handball court- more a tennis practice wall. It was fine for working out- but not quite ok for playing. One would need to measure out the court, lay out the lines- hell- One's gonna have to raise the wall a few feet! Anyways, it did fine to practice and work up a sweat for that evening! I'll do a write-up on that another time after I go back.
Once I got to the hotel, I grabbed my computer and "Googled" more courts, of course! I got various hits in the Clearwater, FL area but not much time to find them as I was leaving the next day. I resolved to find these courts below cuz they were on my way out of "Dodge." I came in via the Skyway and intended to leave the same way. From Rts 60 & 19 take 19 south to Harn Boulevard, take a right and drive west about 1/2 a mile- pass the power lines and on the right, there they are! Just past the basketball courts, woo hoo!! Ummmm- what? Racquetball courts!? Ok, I went to see and snapped a few pics but when I went around the back? Lo and behold- lighted paddleball courts! 3 foot line and everything! I hit on them for a few and got to like them yet also found a few short-comings: they could be a bit closer together- say 3 feet so players don't fall off the outside edges of the courts- or add a "skirt" as was done on the racquetball courts. See the picture below. The wall is solid and constructed of cinderblock but the joints aren't smoothed over making for the occasional erratic bounce off the wall- but the ground surfaces are smooth with nary a crack and the lines are flush. The ball got great traction on the ground! I did say lighted courts- but I'm not quite sure how well it works or what kind of care was taken to get good light coverage as was done when the lights on the Historic Courts were set up. There's some tree branches hanging over the western court that'd just play hell on a game of doubles or shots down the right line and there's no fencing around the courts to keep stray balls in. Lastly- there's no lines marked out on the walls thought the dimensions of the floor lines looked right. I didn't measure so I'm not certain... I'm willing to bet these courts would be great to play a few games on! If you go bring your cooler with your favorite cold beverage- even though there is a water fountain on site the water wasn't very palatable. Facilities may be available when the pool's open but don't take it for granted: act accordingly!

So, how about it, Clearwater Parks & Rec.- take these hints from a player of the sport and do it right and you just may just get many more people using this great facility!

Below are pics I took during my short visit there. Click on a thumbnail to view the full size picture, click the back-space key on your keyboard or the "back" button on your browser to return to this page.

Holiday Park Tennis Center
Practice wall

Nestled in the back of the Holiday Park Tennis Center in Fort Lauderdale, You'll find this very nice pair of practice walls to hit on. Yeah, I know that right nearby are also the Holiday Park 3 wall racquetball courts but they are racquetball courts, aren't they? One gets claustrophobic hitting in there and when the echoes surrounding you change the sound of the ball you're used to, you just gotta get away, back to 1 wall! I never got a chance to hit here but I did do a walk-through of both courts. The walls are solid, flaw-free with barely a crack as are the hard-court floor surfaces. Break out a tape measure, chalk-line or chalk, lay out your floor lines and get to hittin'! It'd be nice if the Ft. Lauderdale Parks & Rec department laid out some regulation court on these walls, wouldn't it? Wishful thinking.

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