Playing Tennis Tournaments – A Simple Guide – Part 3
The article is the third and final part of our ‘Playing 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 which you can use in your tournament matches.
It is, of course, important to understand your own strengths and weaknesses but also learning how to identify those in your opponent is key to winning more matches.
We help take your tactical approach to the next level, offering a wide range of replicable patterns of play that will help simplify the game of tennis and make your life easier on the court.
We’ll help you outsmart your opponent, learn how to force your opponent into errors and implement great tactics in your matches.
We have dedicated courses to both singles and doubles tennis, so no matter what format of the game you are playing, we’ve got you covered.
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 are going to 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 you are 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 of these 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 grading of the tournament.
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, it is important to find your level and play to that when you first start entering tournaments. 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 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. 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, as well as give you the motivation 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.
