tournament

[monkeyisland90]

I'm gonna be entering a pretty big tournament here in seattle in the memorial day. Anyone who has tournament experiences, what do you guys do before the actual match time. (like minutes, hours, or days before).. I just hate thinking too yet have fun and perform well.. Like do you guys map out game plans, drills or no drills, read book, watch tv, what pro matches, oh yeah and do you get nervous before and during matches?

[penpal]

I don't have a routine for the days leading up to a match, other than a general ongoing fitness routine. Basically, I treat a tournament match just like any other match ... I try to get in about 20-30 minutes of warm-up and stretching and drink plenty of water. To be sure I get my warm-up and stretching in at a tournament I generally won't check-in for my match until I'm ready to go. Sometimes to keep things moving a tournament director will put you and your opponent on early if you have both checked in, so it's something you need to be aware of.

If I'm playing someone I've played before and I know there is very little chance of losing, I don't get nervous. As a result, I very much look forward to the matches that make me a little nervous ... that's half the fun.

[SideSpinPDR]

I just played my first tournament, my partner and I didn't have a routine because this was our first tournament and we really didn't know what to expect. We went a warmed up about 30 minutes before we had to be at the site to play. We got there, signed in and got our t-shirt and tennis balls and then waited until match time. We got about a 5-10minute warm-up with the opposing team and played. I was pretty nervous because it was my first official tennis match, so the butterflies were working overtime. After the first match though I settled down and had a blast playing.

[goober]

I generally treat tournaments as any other official matches such as league matches club ladder matches.

If I am not familiar with my opponent I will look up his record on the USTA website. If he does not have a USTA history I will ask around to see if anybody knows anything about him. I know some tennis tournament/league diehards that know almost everybody that plays competitively in the area. Sometimes I will find out info that will mentally prepare me- i.e. the guy has a big serve, likes to S&V, ect.

Get there a little early and if possible warmup before you match. Your match warmup with your opponent is fairly cursory and not a real warm up in many cases.

It is best to have a basic game plan and adjust it based on what your opponent is doing.

[fgs]

a match is something different than practice, so it is absolutely normal for your adrenaline level to be somewhat higher. if you just keep concentrating on your game during the match, you will eventually get over that "adrenaline induced stiffness" and start playing your game. it's good to have a gameplan, and if you have info regarding the gamestyle of your opponent it is even better since you can prepare mentally on how to approach the various game situations. during that short warm-up you will basically see what it's all about with your opponent, try hitting low balls and high balls to see how he reacts and enable you to make a gameplan.
just concentrate on things that you can influence, that is your footwork, your timing, your followthrough, etc.
and yes, if i get too relaxed prior to a match i'm bound to play pretty bad, so for me a little bit of tension is beneficial. looking up for the challenge - somewhere i read a very memorable sentence that was like: "life is a present, talent is a gift, competition is a privilege". be happy that you are one of those that can participate in a competition!