SpecTennis founder and creator, Nate Gross, leans into a forehand volley while playing SpecTennis. Gross hopes his creation can help segue more players into tennis as well as find a niche for those looking to pick up a new racket sport.
Founder Nate Gross wasn’t necessarily looking to create a new sport when he designed SpecTennis. Gross is the director of racket sports at Clear Creek Tahoe and has been teaching tennis for a number of years. He started the sport in 2016 in Northern California and has introduced it to Northern Nevada since moving to the area last May. Initially, it was Gross and some tennis friends who enjoyed the new sport. In the years following, Gross began to realize that his creation may be a new and improved way to get players involved in a racket sport. With tennis not being the most straightforward sport in terms of scoring or design, Gross saw an opportunity to find a unique middle ground. SpecTennis is designed to be simpler and easier to understand, while also teaching fundamentals of the game. Game design SpecTennis doesn’t use a full tennis court is 44 feet long by 20 feet wide, making it almost half the size or a normal tennis court. The ball has 50 percent less pressure than a regular tennis ball, leading to smaller bounces. The paddle, which is based off the Platform Tennis paddle, is designed to not be too heavy for players. Gross says he went through approximately five different paddle prototypes before settling on the final product.
(A look at the SpecTennis paddle as designed by founder, Nate Gross / Courtesy)
Hole sizes on the paddle are larger also, in order to allow player’s swings to be fluid and keep weight down. “There’s two SpecTennis paddles that are approved for play. There are people across the country who are not using those paddles and that’s fine,” said Gross,” but if they were to enter a tournament or league, they wouldn’t be allowed to use a different paddle for that competition.” When serving, players will serve underhand and stand on a line four feet behind the actual court. The reason why Gross put the service line behind the court is to slow down the serving player’s approach to the net. “As players get more advanced they like to serve and volley,” said Gross. “That puts pressure on the opposing player or team. When you’re standing four feet back, it neutralizes the server a little bit.” Unlike pickle ball, players in SpecTennis are allowed to stand as close to the net as they can without actually touching the net. Scoring runs similar to tennis with games and sets, however each game is played to four points and to win a set, players need to win four games. Typically, the first person to win two sets, wins a match. “Tennis scoring doesn’t make sense, mathematically. … Most people enjoy playing games, that’s the most fun thing to do,” said Gross. “That’s unfortunately not the case in tennis because it’s so technique driven. You have to reach a level where you can do certain things before you can even play a match.” Gross says that the jump into match play with SpecTennis is swifter and can be done in a matter of a few times on the court. Watching the sport’s growth Gross thinks SpecTennis is a great introduction to tennis. The swing design is the same and with the game being easier to manage, Gross started to see the sport grow across the country. He started by reaching out to other tennis professionals, but the ambassador program has been the key to the expansion of the game. On SpecTennis’ website, Gross has testimonials from all across the country and has seen the sport extend into Australia and Japan. “It’s been really special and exciting to see people enjoying it,” said Gross. “Seeing people throughout the country who are starting to incorporate it into their tennis programs or just simply players, I’ve heard a lot of really great stories.” For those interested, SpecTennis.com has a shop for equipment such as paddles, balls and even portable nets. For those interested in trying SpecTennis, they can also email Gross at nate@spectennis.com.
