Palisades Tennis Center

Pacific Palisade Tennis Center is pretty nice but a main attraction here, being the tennis social LiveBall, is not so great (that is a basis of this review). I know a lot of folks enjoy LiveBall but I was pretty disappointed with the experience and actually left with a fairly serious ankle injury.
LiveBall is a kind of doubles king-​of-​the-​court game where an instructor feeds balls from a hopper and you play out the point. If you win a certain number of points before the other side does, you get to take over the «king» side of the court and defend it against the other players. The session lasts 90 – 105 minutes and is a pretty good workout.
However, I was disappointed in a number of things, enough so to explain it all to the Unilocal universe:
(1) — Price — $ 35 walk-​on fee (pretty steep)
(2) — Competition was lacking. I went to the 4.5 level class thinking I was going to be in over my head and the competitors there were 3.5 level, at best! It was a total joke. I know people like to «play up» in levels to get better competition but this was absurd. Nobody was near a 4.5 USTA rating level.
(3) — Lack of instruction by the Pro. There wasn’t any instruction. The pro fed us balls and that was it. No doubles strategy tips or how to correct our volley or ground game. He was like a statue there the whole time and barely said a word. What was the $ 35 per person fee for? For him to stand there and feed us balls? Wow.
(4) — Tennis balls were generally dead. The hopper full of balls that instructors use are generally not that great and this was no exception. most of the balls were flat and that lead to inconsistent play.
(5) — No serving or returning of serve. Key part to playing tennis. but it does not happen in LiveBall. You get to hit a ground stroke and then hack at a couple volley’s until the older people miss it (yes, it is mostly an older crowd).
(6) — Tennis balls all over the court presented a hazard. A hazard I fell into, unfortunately. With tennis balls all through the back court, I went chasing after a lob and ended up stepping on a ball and rolling my ankle pretty bad. I couldn’t even limp over to the bench. One of the fellow competitors went and got me ice but the instructor did absolutely nothing. He actually continued with the game while I sat in pain in the backcourt. Completely rude gesture. A week later and I’m still recovering (it will probably be several weeks). I take responsibility for the unfortunate incident, but the reaction by the Pro and even the club house was a total put off.
Best of luck to everyone enjoying LiveBall out there but don’t expect it to improve your doubles game too much when there is no serving or returning of serve practiced. There is also little repercussion for making an error (get back in line and try again), so the errors are rampant. The cost is steep and there is little direction from the pro, but I guess that does not bother people out here too much.
I will not be returning.

My husband loves the live ball clinics! It’s a great location with nice courts and plenty of benches if you want to sit and watch. I also reserved a court myself a few times and the staff is very accommodating and nice!
It is pricey so come prepared!
The packages should save you more money.
Otherwise, pretty fun!

Ive been to their live ball about ten times. Its expensive, and the last few have had intermediate grouped with advanced. If I am going to spend 35 dollars per session I really expect it to be worth my while, unfortunately that isn’t always the case. I love playing live ball. I just wish they were a bit cheaper, better at sorting the levels and being clear about abilities.
I keep going because it is near my place and it is convenient. It certainly is a good workout and a great place to meet tennis people.

Great place for Live ball. All instructors seem to love what they’re doing. Great pro shop as well.

I like this place, but the only reason I drove out here was because I purchased a «deal» on living social (actually I purchased a total of four so my friends could particate too). When we got there, it turns out that the deal I purchased was actually a free service for first time visitors. I don’t know if this was living social’s fault, or the tennis center’s, but I think it was the center that prepared the ad for the deal and mischaracterized their «deal.»

Tennis Clinics that will Kick your Butt!
This place is famous for their «Live Ball Clinics» Live Ball is basically King of the Court Doubles style.
The clinics are formed by skill level and are available for Adults and Kids. Beg-​Advanced. You can buy in sessions or do the drop-​in rate.
You can also book courts or take a private lesson.
This is some of the best tennis in Los Angeles! Wish I lived closer, so that I could go more often!!!