Playing tennis on Clapham Common: courts, booking and coaching
Eight public courts, five floodlit, £12.50 an hour and booked online a week ahead: how to get a game on the Common.
By Clapham London Editorial
The short version: there are eight outdoor courts on Clapham Common West Side, five of them floodlit. Court hire is £12.50 an hour, and you book online through Lambeth’s ClubSpark system before you turn up.
Where the courts are
The courts sit on the south-west side of the Common, near the bowling pavilion and kiosk. The address listed on the LTA and ClubSpark pages is the Bowling Green Cafe, Clapham Common West Side, SW4 9AN. Playfinder gives a different address, Windmill Drive, SW4 9DE, so go by the Common West Side listing when you are setting your map. Playfinder describes the surface as hard (macadam), with changing rooms and free parking.
The nearest station is Clapham South on the Northern line, according to the LTA venue page. Don’t count on a café stop: the former bowling pavilion and kiosk is listed as vacant on Rightmove, so bring your own water.
It is the biggest public tennis site in Lambeth, which has eleven in total, from a single court at Streatham Common up to the eight here. Lambeth runs it because the Common is owned and managed by the council, even though over half of it lies in Wandsworth.
How to book
- Book online first. The terms of use say you must book before you play. Use the Clapham Common booking page and log in or create a ClubSpark account.
- Seven days ahead. Courts can be booked up to 7 days in advance.
- Two hours a day. That is the maximum, in one slot per day.
- Check the lights. Only some courts are floodlit, and the booking sheet shows which. Don’t book an unlit court for after dark.
- Cancel if you can’t play. There is a 2-hour cancellation policy.
- Bring proof. Print the confirmation or show it on your phone.
One account per person. Duplicate or fraudulent accounts have their bookings deleted without refund. Lambeth sites have used gate access with a pin code, so check the current arrangement on your booking confirmation. Enquiries go to parkssportsbookings@lambeth.gov.uk, and Lambeth lists booking details on its sports facilities page.
What it costs
Lambeth’s published charge is £12.50 an hour at Clapham Common, against £8 at its other sites. Other websites quote lower, rounded figures, so treat the council number as the one to trust. Split between two players, that is £6.25 each for an hour. Lambeth’s facility hire charges page has the full list.
Coaching on the courts
Three coaches run sessions on the Common courts through ClubSpark. Prices move with the season, so check the live pages.
Tennis4London
Group coaching, social tennis and events, with LTA-accredited coaches. Adult courses run at beginner, improver, intermediate and advanced levels, with rackets and balls provided. There are no refunds once a course has started. Its 2026 private lesson rates, court hire included, are £65 for one player, £70 for two and £75 for three or four. Details are on its adult coaching page.
LineBall Tennis
Lessons for adults and juniors, individual and group, from beginners upwards, with Krishna Siva as coach. A daytime individual adult lesson was listed at £40 for a Wednesday 10:00 to 11:00 slot. For children, toddler tennis for ages 3 to 6 was listed at £15 for Friday 4pm sessions, and Saturday 2pm drop-in toddler sessions at £13. See the LineBall Tennis page.
Julian Cousins Sports
Julian Cousins has been a qualified coach for 33 years and has run community tennis programmes on the Common for over 25. He offers adult classes all year, LTA Youth Tennis from age 4 and school-holiday programmes, which he describes as the longest-running at Clapham Common. His details are on his ClubSpark page.
If the Common is full
Lambeth’s other sites use the same ClubSpark system at roughly £8 an hour. Third-party listings put Brockwell Park at six courts without floodlights, Kennington Park at five with floodlights and Ruskin Park at four without.
