How to prepare for USTA sanctioned tournies?

[AngleMaster]

What should I do to prepare to make good runs at USTA sanctioned tournies?

I was thinking either play highschool or join a club. I'm thinking of racking up some USTA tournies to look good on my resume in plans to try out for my future college team, and I am a 15 year old junior in high school. I'm still in love with tennis, so it would be a dream to play pro in some way.

I don't know the exact level of my game, but I'm a grinder. My weapons are my forehand and court coverage. Unlike most juniors I hear about, I come to the net at least, whenever I know I can finish it off up there. I've been pretty much rallying or hitting against a wall. I haven't been putting much emphasis on matchplay which includes serve practice for that matter. The rest of my game is pretty solid, and the things I am most concerned about are my serve and keeping my head together.

I also keep fit off court.

Thanks for sharing your tips

[SageOfDeath]

Well obviously put a lot of time on your serve. I put a lot of time on my serve because its the only shot that is totally is in my hands. You can win free points off a great serve, you can either ace them, force an error on them, or they will send a weak reply and you can finish the point off the weak reply.

You should definately play for your high school team, if you make varsity your coaches will probably make you do a lot of footwork drills. Some coaches offer real tennis instruction and some don't, some just drill. You should probably take lessosn outside of school practice. Private lessons would be good but they are also expensive. Private lessons allow you to work on your game on areas you need to work on.

Learn all the rules of tennis, knowledge is power on the court. Some guys don't necesarily try to cheat but they aren't sure about the real rules and you could lose some points if you don't know. Such as if your opponent is uncertain if your serve was in or not, its your point.

[goober]

How to prepare for tournies? You need lots of match play. Playing against wall and practicing serves are not going to help you as much as match experience. There are so many players that look good in practice but completely lose their form and composure under pressure. Colleges are going to look at your match results and ranking.

You should start playing practice matches now against good players. Sign up for every tourney you can go to in your area. In Florida I would assume there would be a lot. Join a club and join your high school team. Why limit yourself? If you have college aspirations you should be getting deep into to tournaments and you should be dominating or at least doing very well against high school level competition.

[samdwaney1]

mentally you should build up confidence in yourself otherwise you will not have a chance out there

[donnyz89]

wait... you are a junior and THINKING about playing highschool? why didnt you play the previous years. Im your age and thinking about the same thing so I can help you out quite a bit i think.

So get to the point. Preparing for tournies. Have you had any previous tennis experiences before? because, the kids at those tournies, they are tennis players, not some kid that picked up a racquet two month ago, i mean most of them have been playing for at least 2 yrs or more, a lot more. How often do you play, who have you played in the past? Because it seem like you are a little unexperienced as far as competing. Thinking about how good you are is very subjective. Try to find someone thats on the highschool team and play against them. Usually one of the top 3 or 4 players on a team would tell you the competetion you will find. Now, some schools could be full of nationally ranked phenoms but thats rare. So, I do have some doubts about your ability, i cant tell from your discription because tennis is far more complicated to describe what you can do on the internet, so only scores will tell.

Now, as for preparing for them, IF you are good and can go far, fitness needs to be in top shape. Lift weights, strengthening your legs and arms is especially important, you will get fatigue a lot less and can work/play more. Also cardiovascular fitness is just as important, I play tennis everyday, and when I dont play or play very little, I would find time to get some running, its especially important to stay in shape when you are out there playing 3-4 matches in one weekend.

And how long have you been playing tennis? how often do you play? what kind of instructions do you get? if you are 15 and havent been competing in highschool, or USTA or any clubs, i dont see how you have much of a shot, because the people at those tournies are quite good, unless u been hiding in a shell with your coach for the past 3 yrs practicing and just decided to come out... idk, but good luck anyways.

[tennis-n-sc]

As discouraging as it sounds, Donny has hit it on the head. In the age group you will be in, there are many very good players with a ton of tournament experience behind them. Don't expect to go deep, but you might as well started.