Van Ness Recreation Center

One of my favorite parks to play. You HAVE to go there on a weekday morning of you can. Mon,Wed,Fri, and some other mornings (8am-11am). There is an older lady there at those times, and she is a great help to beginners. She will help you get the fundamentals of the game and if you are in pain, she is a massage therapist and can massage pain away. If you want a challenge, Ask for Earl. He is the one yelling numbers wearing a cachalot hat. He's a great coach, and will improve your game in no time. He can accurately pick out the weak and strong points in your game, and get in your head to help you out so that you figure out how to improve. If you don't think you need his help, just try to beat him. The better you get, the better he gets. You will hear him say that, and it's true. He's a great challenge. If you want to practice returning huge serves, he's your guy. He can make you run too trying to get to all the places he hits the ball. He has excellent placement. When he isn't there, the courts are usually locked, which is why I rated it a 3 in availability. He's usually around somewhere if you wait though. I'd say go there in the morning and play once, and after that you can ask him to leave them open at certain times you will be there.