To be a better recreational tennis player, you should be aiming to be constantly hitting a tennis ball with your partner. It could be an exchange of sparring for a good perhaps 8-10 balls. To repeat that again not just on a single rally but throughout say a 1 hour session you’ve booked with your friend or coach.

The action plan to achieve that status:

1. Be disciplined to spend 2 hours a week for a start , 1 hour on a weekday and a weekend.
2. Get a coach to tweak your technique
3. 1 hour a week for coaching session and maybe the other hour was to play at your own pace.( or coaching : your preference)
4. Go on for a good 6 months to give yourself a timeline to reach that goal. Different people have different pace to learning tennis so there is no fixed time period to gauge your learning progress.

I hope this helps to answer some peoples thoughts on how long it takes to learn the game. It varies depending on your sporting capabilities and talent. Its definitely achievable for a person who is completely new with average ‘sports blood’ in them. And what more can you ask, you’re getting a good workout at the same time  while learning something new plus a good bonding time with your partner.