Getting there mentally.

[canny]

Hey guys, Im kind of new to tennis (2 years) But I love it alot and really getting into the sport. Well I just turned 18 and im a senior on my High School Tennis team. Well Im having trouble playing in match play. See I live here in central florida and the high school tennis scene is pretty competitive. Alot of the kids play usta and have rankings. Well over the past couple months I played with 3.0/3.5 singles and fared well. But now im having trouble playing in our high school matches because they really mean something to me. I'll play fine in practice and what not then I get into a match and I cant get comfortable and really hit through the ball.

[VeeSe]

Just have to play more of them and get used to being in those kinds of matches. Everybody gets nervous in matches that mean more to them.

[LeeD]

And 2 years doesn't give you any chance of being mentally ready for 4.5 thru 5.0 level tennis, which is top high school level.
Most of your singles players in high school have played longer than 5 years, with some as much as 10.
Even back in the mid '70's, the No1 for WashingtonHigh WON a WTA tournament the following year, and the fella who beat her in the high school championships went right to #4 for CanadaCollege. I suspect Canada is Div11, so he was easy 5.0, top of the class.

[slowfox]

The only way to get there is to play a lot of matches. No substitute for experience.

[mikeler]

I know for a fact Central Florida has a lot of junior USTA tournaments since I live here. Sign up for as many matches "that count" so you get used to the feeling of playing in a competitive environment. Even at a 4.5 level, I took a lot of beatings in the juniors but it eventually helped me get out that nervous shell I always was stuck in when I played competitive matches. Like everyone above me says, you have to just play more.