Playing Tennis Tournaments – A Simple Guide – Part 3

The article is the third and final part of our ‘Playing Tennis Tournaments Guide’; you can find the first part here and the second part here.

Check out Tactics with your Coach

Check out with your coach suitable singles and doubles tactics that you can use in playing tennis tournaments.

Understanding your strengths is vital, but identifying your opponent’s weaknesses is crucial for winning.

Elevate your tactical skills with replicable play patterns, simplifying tennis and enhancing your on-court experience.

Our courses cover singles and doubles, ensuring comprehensive support for players in any game format.

So, don’t waste time. Check out our singles and doubles tactics courses today!

Set Your Expectations

Once you have a good understanding of the tactics you will use to win some matches in the heat of battle, it is time to set realistic expectations.

It’s important to remember that playing under match conditions is very different from playing for fun. When playing a match, and every point counts, many players tend to tighten up and hit more passively than in practice.

Remember that this is completely normal and part of the game, so don’t be surprised when it happens to you! Don’t expect to go into a tournament and beat every player you face, but don’t also go into it thinking you are destined to lose 6-0, 6-0. A double bagel!

Both extremes will give you the wrong mindset going to the match, making you wildly overconfident or underconfident. This, in turn, will impact your performance on the court and potentially leave you with a worse result than you may have been expecting.

Therefore, look at the rating or ranking of the players you may come up against and the tournament grading.

Consider also how much tennis you have been playing leading up to the tournament  –  all these factors will help you set realistic expectations before you step onto the court.

Find Your Level

Finally, finding your level and playing to that when you first start playing tennis tournaments is important. This is a really crucial step to stop you from becoming discouraged early in your match-play journey.

If you start playing tennis tournaments that are way too challenging for your level of experience, this will knock your confidence and leave you feeling helpless on the court.

The result of this will be a lack of appetite to go out there and try again as you recover from that traumatic experience!

On the other hand, entering tournaments where you are, by far and away, the best player is no fun either. Whilst it may be nice to win a trophy, doing so without challenging yourself or improving your game is not particularly satisfying or useful.

Therefore, entering a tournament that is pitched roughly at your level, or slightly higher to make it challenging, is a great way to make the most of the playing experience.

You’ll have to enter and play a few different levels of the tournament before you find your level, so be patient and trust the process.

Is Playing Tennis Tournaments Good For You?

Overall, playing tennis tournaments is a great way to improve your competitive awareness, tactics, and mental approach to tennis.

Understanding and analyzing where you may have made mistakes that cost you vital points in a match is a great way to identify areas for improvement.

This can help guide what techniques you need to work on and motivate you to practice harder with a proper direction.

So use our Simple Guide to Playing Tournaments to get the competitive juices flowing and step onto the match court today.