iTennis/iPickle "The Narrows"

Living in Louisiana, I rarely get to see so many pickleball courts like the ones at iPickle (formerly known as iTennis)! There are over 30 courts available for you to play on. You can rent a court on some days, but we went on a Friday night where it was open play and you had to line up your paddle in the queue. Friday night was “Social Night” which means it was $15 to enter but you can stay anytime until closing time (2 am). You can bring your own chairs, food, and they even have food there for you to purchase. There were also fire pits and pickleball merchandise for you to purchase. Staff were friendly as well. Overall, a really cool pickleball spot in the area.

a month ago

They're obviously less interested in being a tennis facility now. Tennis relegated to the back row of courts only, with broken net straps, old and broken lighting, missing benches that were relocated to the pickleball courts. edit to reply to the owner - that reply was very odd. Was it AI generated? 1) the two front rows of tennis courts (10 courts total) are now either full time pickleball or have pickleball lines. Only the back row of tennis courts are available to reserve for tennis use on weekdays. 2) there is no clay court at Whittier Narrows. there is no stadium court, for that matter. I want to agree with your being "very much about tennis," but as someone who's been playing here for years it feels increasingly less so. edit 2 - the back courts are now closed and tennis court reservations cancelled this week so far. There was a pickleball tournament over the weekend and they applied tape that apparently melted into the court surface. edit 3 - they've cleaned the pickleball lines with some success. However, court 9 has significant damage and I would avoid it if possible. One spot has a chunk of concrete missing and another was poorly patched and is actually sticking out of the ground. (see photos) edit 4 - lights and net straps have been fixed. do beware of days when pb events are happening because their parking lot was not originally sized for 4x the number of people.

6 months ago

I've been a regular at iPickle for their Social Fridays for over a year, and I am incredibly disappointed to say the decline I've witnessed is staggering. What used to be the highlight of my week has devolved into a frustrating, poorly managed cash-grab operation. The core issue is Social Fridays are severely over capacity. Despite having over 20 courts, you can expect to wait well over an hour just to play a single game. The problem is a complete lack of management and what feels like pure greed. They have no maximum capacity policy. They will just keep taking the $15 non-member fee from every person who walks in the door, with absolutely no regard for the quality of the experience. You are paying $15 to stand on the sidelines and watch other people play. The frustration starts before you even walk in the door. There are not nearly enough parking spaces for the number of people they let in. You're forced to park way down the street in an area that is notoriously known for car smash-and-grabs. It's completely unacceptable and unsafe, and the club seems to have no issue exposing its patrons to this risk. This all points to extremely poor management. When you see this level of operational chaos, you look to leadership, and unfortunately, it's just as disappointing. The director has a very arrogant attitude and acts as if he's above the patrons. There is no sense of customer service or any apparent effort to address the obvious overcrowding and safety problems. It feels like they are operating under the assumption they're the only game in town. They are not. With several new, high-quality pickleball clubs opening up around the LA area, you would think they would hire a professional manager and try to stay relevant. Save your money and your Friday night. I'm taking my business elsewhere, and I suggest you do the same until they learn to respect their paying customers.

3 months ago

*Removing a star because tennis courts are being taken over by pickleball.* I love these courts. Easy reservation through the Playbypoint app. The staff is cool. And my daughter loves the neighborhood cat Pickles.

4 months ago

I was there just to see a friend and get into pickle ball. This is inside my neighborhood in South El Monte. But it must have been a night that residents of the city were not supposed to attend. I was asked to leave just for watching a friend play. Because I'm from here it's the first time I felt disconnected for being Mexican. The person that told me to leave was again along with everyone there.

2 months ago