The broadcast of tennis occurred in the 1960 and 1970 years. It has been widely supported by the public authorities who have given the clubs a lot of help. Certainly the most important help in the history of tennis. The awarding of grants allows the federation to control the actions of clubs and significantly strengthens its power.

As a result, these helpers push club leaders to upgrade their playing field and transform their introductory classes into a federation-sanctioned tennis school. In addition, it also allows them to renovate their facilities, train federal educators and create official tournaments.

Gradually, the FFT stands out as the national governing body through the membership of club leaders. After the Second World War in 1945, the spread of physical activity is not just about tennis. Other sports such as football, skiing or judo are experiencing a sharp increase in the number of licensees. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Sports everything suggests that the sport has experienced a significant increase in its workforce in the second half of the twentieth century, especially in the 1970 years.

According to the report of INSEE, what changes especially is that the French are more assiduous in the frequency of the practice of physical activities and they are more numerous to register in club. But they are not much more involved in sports. A strong progression of the tennis appears in the affiliated clubs, that it is in the number of members or in the level of their frequency of practice.

What is important to note is that tennis no longer only concerns the well-to-do social classes: it does not yet touch the popular classes but it is opening up more and more to the middle classes. According to the study by Pascal Garrigues, the distribution of tennis in 1967 amounts to 20,2% for "managers and liberal professions", 5,8% for "intermediate professions", 2,3% for "employees" and 1 % for "workers". In 1974-75 the circulation of tennis amounts to 25,7% for "managers and liberal professions", 11,7% for "intermediate professions", 5,8% for "employees" and 1,5% for "workers" . And in 1983-84 it amounts to 20,4% for "bosses, managers and liberal professions", 14,7% for

"Intermediate occupations", 6,6% for "employees" and 4,4% for blue-collar workers. Despite the progress of popular tennis practitioners, the gap between higher and lower class practitioners is still too great. These statistics do not allow us to affirm that there has been a democratization of tennis.

In the 1970 years tennis has seen a sharp increase in the number of licensees and the number of clubs. These results can be explained in particular by the distinctive power of a classification and by the subsidies received by the new founding directors. This is also explained by the aid granted by the FFT only to the clubs benefiting from the approval. In fact the central body also manages to force them to join. This affiliation makes it possible to standardize the rules of the game on the national territory, ie the height of the net, the dimensions of the field and how to count the points, etc. Tennis evolves and passes in different ways to play a total standardization on the national territory.

It is a tennis court where the federal ranking system is recognized in all regions and where it is difficult to obtain one, as the number of licensees and competitors increases. In 1974, only 2% of the licensees are classified then in 1984 12,4%. But the continued growth in the number of licensees and classifieds now makes obtaining a banal ranking. Between 1970 and 1980 the number of licensees goes from 167000 to 801000. In 1982 the federation passes the million mark with 1056000 licensed. The increase in the number of classifieds is also impressive: 5000 in 1970, 48508 in 1980 and 100000 in 1982.

Nicolas Zebbar

Graduated from a Masters in sports management and passionate about tennis, I carried out a study on the development of women's tennis. Practicing this sport for twenty years and today manager of my club (TC Morlaàs in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques), I am always on the lookout for new ideas aimed at improving the practice environment for members. I am therefore delighted to be able to share this work.

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