19-year-old Competing?

serveboy · 05-19-2004, 09:20 PM

Well, after a barrage of injuries, I'm now 19.

At 16 I was training pretty frequently and was going to start competing in some provincial tournaments when I injured my wrist.

2 years later I finally start playing again. I hit too hard on the 2nd day back after 2 years of inactivity and hurt my outter upper-arm.

It's now 1 year later and I feel good. No injuries and with constant jogging I'm in good shape.

I'm 1.85m , 80kg.

I was interested in joining one of those junior programs (like I was once in) to train and compete but since I'm > 18 now I don't think that will work.

I want to train 5 times a week and compete.

I guess it's a 2 part question.

a) How do I go about training for competition? Paying for individual private lessons doesn't seem like the thing to do since I'm looking for something so regular.
b) How do I go about competing?

What would I need to do to get a tennis scholarship in an American university? What sort of ranking would I need to show?

Advice from all is welcome. I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so advice from fellow Canadians would be even more replace/insightful/pertinent.

Phil · 05-19-2004, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Advice from all is welcome. I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so advice from fellow Canadians would be even more insightful.

And why is that?

serveboy · 05-20-2004, 03:46 AM

Isn't it obvious?

Verbal_Kint · 05-20-2004, 04:27 AM

I think Phil means you should have typed 'helpful' or something like that instead of insightful. IF ONE WERE SO INCLINED, he could interpret your last sentence as stating that Canadian advise is more insightful, and thus conclude that the writer of that sentence rates Canada/Canadians higher than the USA/it's inhabitants.

One could of course also see it as a not incredibly well-formulated sentence with no bad intentions at all, which is how I look at it.

Marnix

serveboy · 05-20-2004, 04:33 AM

Post edited.

kevhen · 05-20-2004, 06:09 AM

I think you need to address the injury situation first and determine why you get injured to easily. Do you try to hit too hard? Is your form bad? Are you strong enough? Flexible enough? You will not go far if you constantly re-injure yourself. First understand you body and what it takes to stay healthy.

serveboy · 05-20-2004, 06:41 AM

Well, I think my recent upper arm injuries were a result of 2 years of inactivity. As for my wrist injury long ago, I'm confident that was caused by my Ti Radical. If I use it today my wrist starts to ache. If I use my PS85 (use nothing but it right now) there's no wrist pain at all.

I definitely need to do some strengthening to insure I stay injury free. I'm wondering if I should do weight-lifting or physiotherapy. What do you think?

I was looking over TennisOntario.com and I see a bunch of adult tournaments. Would competing in these be a good start? I imagine I could get a provincial ranking playing in these tournaments and consequentially play higher level tournaments.

Camilio Pascual · 05-20-2004, 09:36 AM

Humankinetics.com has a lot of very useful books to answer your questions about conditioning. I think heavy weightlifting and jogging are poor ways for a tennis player to condition himself for tennis. Weightlifting for purposes of injury reduction and little loss of flexibility are best, imo. I suggest biking and sprinting over jogging. Good luck.

kevhen · 05-20-2004, 10:26 AM

Do you play too often and for too long? If it's your old racquet that caused the wrist problem, maybe that issue is resolved.

Tournaments are good if you are ready for them mentally and physically. You do have to play matches back-to-back often if you win and could risk re-injury if you start back too quickly though.

I like jogging, especially on an elliptical where no stress is added to the joints. Sprint training has caused me numerous injuries when I try that. Try to lift lighter weights quickly and with high reps to keep your flexibility up. You may want to work on stretching more to help with injury prevention. I have been working on my middle core with leglifts, crunches, stretch talls, superman pose, etc. and it seems to be helping my back. Good luck in getting back and competitive again.

BigboyDan · 05-20-2004, 02:44 PM

You sound frail.

Do you injure why playing in other sports? Talk to a kinesiologist and have him recomend a program to build muscle-mass comparable to that of your body-frame. Also, play tennis for fun for a full year before you try to play in tournaments.

Phil · 05-20-2004, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Isn't it obvious?

No it isn't. Verbal Kint was (I thought) correct in assuming you didn't communicate your thoughts very clearly, but your "edited" version-replacing insightful with pertinent-does indeed indicate that you only value the advice of Canadians-or else, you don't know the meaning of the word "pertinent" (I'm, sure you don't) The membership of this board is very international like the Internet itself, so there should be no need to limit your options. I'm sure people would be happy to help you, as some already have despite your arrogance, but I cannot help you because, alas, I am not a Canadian citizen. Good luck in finding a Canadian-only tennis Website.

YEMntFtb · 05-20-2004, 07:09 PM

wow anyway

most clubs have good programs that should be flexible enough to allow players who are older then 18 play too, or may even have a satellite training group, or something along those lines. THats probably what your looking for if you want to get back playing competitive tennis.

A lot of top universities would require a very high national ranking, or sectional ranking in the for the US, so its probably similar, if you were ranked pretty high in the mens category in canada, and depending on the stretch of your competition, you could possibly be recruited, but this isnt easy. Nor is it easy to walk onto a division 1 team, if you have gotten into the school for grades because you'll have to compete for spots against a lot of scholarship kids, especially at top tennis schools. See what level your at, and then deside how competitive a school you want to go to, this will determine whether or not you'll be playing in some cases.

serveboy · 05-21-2004, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YEMntFtb

wow anyway

most clubs have good programs that should be flexible enough to allow players who are older then 18 play too, or may even have a satellite training group, or something along those lines. THats probably what your looking for if you want to get back playing competitive tennis.

A lot of top universities would require a very high national ranking, or sectional ranking in the for the US, so its probably similar, if you were ranked pretty high in the mens category in canada, and depending on the stretch of your competition, you could possibly be recruited, but this isnt easy. Nor is it easy to walk onto a division 1 team, if you have gotten into the school for grades because you'll have to compete for spots against a lot of scholarship kids, especially at top tennis schools. See what level your at, and then deside how competitive a school you want to go to, this will determine whether or not you'll be playing in some cases.

Great post!

Quote:

may even have a satellite training group

Never heard of that. I'll have a look.

Yes, my arm is incredibly frail right now. I did nothing with it for 2 years because of my wrist. No exercise whatsoever. Boy was that ever a stupid move. Had I only switched racquets earlier...

I definitely need to do some serious strengthening to start hitting all out again. Right now I'm taking a lot out of my strokes to prevent injury.

YEMntFtb · 05-21-2004, 06:41 PM

working out is great for competitive tennis players, I lift weights a lot and this has kept my shoulders strong an uninjured - go to a gym or physical theropist and get specific advice on how to strengthen your weaker muscle groups.

My biscept was injured for the beginning of the season, and I started to work it out intensely for a few weeks the pain is much better now

serveboy · 05-22-2004, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YEMntFtb

working out is great for competitive tennis players, I lift weights a lot and this has kept my shoulders strong an uninjured - go to a gym or physical theropist and get specific advice on how to strengthen your weaker muscle groups.

My biscept was injured for the beginning of the season, and I started to work it out intensely for a few weeks the pain is much better now

Did you stop playing to strengthen the muscle? Is the pain completely gone now?

I'm thinking about doing an echosound examination on my arm, consulting with an orthopedist, then checking in with a physiotherapist for some advice and maybe a couple of sessions.

tennis_prodigy · 05-26-2004, 04:31 PM

Serveboy, I'll be in Toronto for 3 weeks in June, and in July I have a few tournaments coming up back in the states so if you're 4.0+ we could hit. You can e-mail me at standor61@hotmail.com or leave me your email. See ya

serveboy · 05-27-2004, 07:08 AM

Sent you an e-mail.

tennis_prodigy · 05-27-2004, 05:50 PM

Serveboy, sorry, I didn't get your message for some reason. I might have accidentally deleted it because I get i get so much spam every day. Could you send it again? I'll look more carefully this time. again it's standor61@hotmail.com
!P.s Put somthin like "tennis" in the subject line so I know its from you. Thanks!

05-19-2004, 09:20 PM	#1
serveboy Rookie Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 179	19-year-old Competing? Well, after a barrage of injuries, I'm now 19. At 16 I was training pretty frequently and was going to start competing in some provincial tournaments when I injured my wrist. 2 years later I finally start playing again. I hit too hard on the 2nd day back after 2 years of inactivity and hurt my outter upper-arm. It's now 1 year later and I feel good. No injuries and with constant jogging I'm in good shape. I'm 1.85m , 80kg. I was interested in joining one of those junior programs (like I was once in) to train and compete but since I'm > 18 now I don't think that will work. I want to train 5 times a week and compete. I guess it's a 2 part question. a) How do I go about training for competition? Paying for individual private lessons doesn't seem like the thing to do since I'm looking for something so regular. b) How do I go about competing? What would I need to do to get a tennis scholarship in an American university? What sort of ranking would I need to show? Advice from all is welcome. I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so advice from fellow Canadians would be even more replace/insightful/pertinent.

05-20-2004, 04:27 AM	#4
Verbal_Kint Rookie Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 366	I think Phil means you should have typed 'helpful' or something like that instead of insightful. IF ONE WERE SO INCLINED, he could interpret your last sentence as stating that Canadian advise is more insightful, and thus conclude that the writer of that sentence rates Canada/Canadians higher than the USA/it's inhabitants. One could of course also see it as a not incredibly well-formulated sentence with no bad intentions at all, which is how I look at it. Marnix __________________ Currently using PC 600 and Classic Mids Photoblog: www.rnix.nl/blog

05-20-2004, 09:36 AM	#8
Camilio Pascual Hall Of Fame Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,800	Humankinetics.com has a lot of very useful books to answer your questions about conditioning. I think heavy weightlifting and jogging are poor ways for a tennis player to condition himself for tennis. Weightlifting for purposes of injury reduction and little loss of flexibility are best, imo. I suggest biking and sprinting over jogging. Good luck. __________________ "In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is." Lawrence Berra

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