Hello I am 26 years old I just started playing tennis about 2 years ago and I regret not taking the opportunity to play tennis in high school. I always wish I could go back in time and do that one thing. Please tell me what your experience was like playing tennis in high school...did it teach you a lot? What was the day to day routine? What did your coach do that you liked? What were some of the drills? What was the competition like? How did your class evolve in tennis through the years?
Tell me about your High School Tennis experience
- Thread starter Mike4d
- Start date
Turbo-87
G.O.A.T.
I only played my senior year. My best friend was the #1 player and we used to hit a lot in the summer since his neighbor had a tennis court. I learned the most from him because he never took it easy on me. He had tons of lessons during childhood and was patient with me as a teacher. By the time I actually went out, I really wished I had gone out all four years because I had a lot of fun at practice. I wouldn't say I learned a lot during practices but that was more coaching than anything. He was a casual coach who kind of relied on his formally trained players to carry the team. The rest of us were on our own. We just spent a lot of time playing challenge matches and goofing around. My friend didn't take it all that seriously but he could turn it on and off like a switch when he wanted to, especially during challenge matches.
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Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
I beat a guy ranked #78 in the country in junior boys 16's division
mmk
Hall of Fame
At the end of junior high I was 5' 1", and realized I was probably not going to make it to the NBA, much less as a center. So I grabbed one of my parents' racquets and a couple of balls (wood racquet, white balls - I'm old), went to hit against the wall at the elementary school across the street, and thought I was really good. At the start of 10th grade I showed up for tennis tryouts, and found out I wasn't very good, but I did make JV doubles. I got better, and the next year I was varsity 1 doubles (and 5' 10"), and same for senior year.
Our coach was really the gymnastics coach, and was there mostly to organize, not teach tennis. We had one player, same year as me, who was nationally ranked, then the rest of us. We would end up each year at 4th in the state, but only because of that one player making it to the 1 singles final, winning twice. My doubles partner and I won about half our matches during the season, but lost both years in the first round of conference playoffs.
I was good enough to play in college, but quit after two years due to realization that I wasn't that good, and a 21 semester hour load at a very difficult engineering school.
Our coach was really the gymnastics coach, and was there mostly to organize, not teach tennis. We had one player, same year as me, who was nationally ranked, then the rest of us. We would end up each year at 4th in the state, but only because of that one player making it to the 1 singles final, winning twice. My doubles partner and I won about half our matches during the season, but lost both years in the first round of conference playoffs.
I was good enough to play in college, but quit after two years due to realization that I wasn't that good, and a 21 semester hour load at a very difficult engineering school.
T1000
Legend
Didn’t make the team my freshmen year. We had three guys in my class go on to play #1 singles in college (2 D1 1 good D3 school) so my class was stacked.
Made it sophomore year and played “shadow matches” (matches against the other teams reserves that didn’t count toward the official match) and won my only singles varsity match.
Junior year started off as the #2 doubles team (5 singles 2 doubles) and lost both matches bad lol. Coach and I agreed I was terrible at doubles so I was the 6th singles player. Started whenever someone got a day off or was hurt. I played a little over half the matches and the first round of playoffs. Went undefeated and didn’t drop a set.
Senior year we had a new coach due to a new rule that admins couldn’t be coaches (our coach was the AD). Coach had me as 6 singles behind two sophomores instead of at 4 where i would’ve been if the old coach was there. The old coach would play seniors everyday if they didn’t hurt the team because they put their time in. I was better than 4 and 5 the year before but they had seniority and we were close enough in ability so I played behind them. I got screwed over with the new coach and didn’t get to play challenge matches either to get into the starting lineup full time. Called him out for it during the playoffs and got kicked off the team. He told everyone I quit (no one believed it) and then tried to save face by having me play in the individual state tournament but I told him to f**k off. Ended up giving me the Coaches Award at the end of the year banquet I didn’t go to lol. He quit after two years because the team sucked after my stacked class graduated (6/9 best players my senior year were seniors) and because all the players hated him.
As for actual tennis I played about 3/4 of the regular season because one of the top three seniors would sit almost every match so I could play. Lost one match 7-5 7-5 and got revenge later in the season 6-1 6-2. Won all my other matches in straights.
Ended my career something like 28-1 in singles with thr only two sets I lost being the match I lost and 0-2 in doubles.
Our first coach was great. He let the top guys self regulate and put the lower guys in matches. Practice was fun. Second coach sucked. Had us doing dumb drills and a lot of running. The thing I liked most about it was the wake up call I got my freshmen year. The club I played at during the winter I was usually the best in my group so I was cocky and on cruise control. Then I ran into guys much better than me at tryouts and from there on I put a lot more effort into practice and improved a lot. As a freshmen I lost every usta match I played and got blown out 0 and 0 by one and two star recruits. At the end of my senior year I was in the top 50 of my usta section and holding my own against 3 and 4 star recruits, ended up winning a couple of those matches as well.
Made it sophomore year and played “shadow matches” (matches against the other teams reserves that didn’t count toward the official match) and won my only singles varsity match.
Junior year started off as the #2 doubles team (5 singles 2 doubles) and lost both matches bad lol. Coach and I agreed I was terrible at doubles so I was the 6th singles player. Started whenever someone got a day off or was hurt. I played a little over half the matches and the first round of playoffs. Went undefeated and didn’t drop a set.
Senior year we had a new coach due to a new rule that admins couldn’t be coaches (our coach was the AD). Coach had me as 6 singles behind two sophomores instead of at 4 where i would’ve been if the old coach was there. The old coach would play seniors everyday if they didn’t hurt the team because they put their time in. I was better than 4 and 5 the year before but they had seniority and we were close enough in ability so I played behind them. I got screwed over with the new coach and didn’t get to play challenge matches either to get into the starting lineup full time. Called him out for it during the playoffs and got kicked off the team. He told everyone I quit (no one believed it) and then tried to save face by having me play in the individual state tournament but I told him to f**k off. Ended up giving me the Coaches Award at the end of the year banquet I didn’t go to lol. He quit after two years because the team sucked after my stacked class graduated (6/9 best players my senior year were seniors) and because all the players hated him.
As for actual tennis I played about 3/4 of the regular season because one of the top three seniors would sit almost every match so I could play. Lost one match 7-5 7-5 and got revenge later in the season 6-1 6-2. Won all my other matches in straights.
Ended my career something like 28-1 in singles with thr only two sets I lost being the match I lost and 0-2 in doubles.
Our first coach was great. He let the top guys self regulate and put the lower guys in matches. Practice was fun. Second coach sucked. Had us doing dumb drills and a lot of running. The thing I liked most about it was the wake up call I got my freshmen year. The club I played at during the winter I was usually the best in my group so I was cocky and on cruise control. Then I ran into guys much better than me at tryouts and from there on I put a lot more effort into practice and improved a lot. As a freshmen I lost every usta match I played and got blown out 0 and 0 by one and two star recruits. At the end of my senior year I was in the top 50 of my usta section and holding my own against 3 and 4 star recruits, ended up winning a couple of those matches as well.
D
Deleted member 766172
Guest
I played #1 singles my senior year. I wasn’t good, just one of the only ones that wasn’t horrible. I had a losing record that year. I won pretty much all the matches I could, except for two kids. The other matches I knew I was going to lose because I was up against year-round tennis players. What really annoyed me was that I was the only one on the team that could hit with pace. I got absolutely no practice hitting against pace outside of the matches with other schools. So I just got destroyed whenever facing a power hitter.
LOBALOT
Hall of Fame
I played 1 dubs all 4 years of high school with a good friend of mine who lived a few houses down from me. We grew up playing together so by the time we got to high school we had 7 years playing together on our side of the net. This was 35 years ago. I stunk at singles and still do today. I was more an athlete than a tennis player.
Our tennis coach was the high school shop teacher who played recreationally so you can imagine the coaching and drills we got! I was fine with that as I played USTA tennis outside of school.
Our 1 singles was a very good player, Bjorn Borg type who played with a Jack Kramer autograph. Unfortunately, while very good and looking like Bjorn Borg he didn't play like him and he got crushed every match.
Here is the best part. We went to a small school so tennis was coed!!! We would be at some league meet and my partner and I would be cruising through the tournament playing dubs like it should be played and no one would be watching us. We would look down the bank of courts and there would be 100 people watching our 4 dubs team getting smoked 6-0,6-0. I will leave it up to you as to why
!!!
I played varsity football (2 years) and wrestled (4 years) so after those sports high school tennis was a needed break. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad I had the experience.
Our tennis coach was the high school shop teacher who played recreationally so you can imagine the coaching and drills we got! I was fine with that as I played USTA tennis outside of school.
Our 1 singles was a very good player, Bjorn Borg type who played with a Jack Kramer autograph. Unfortunately, while very good and looking like Bjorn Borg he didn't play like him and he got crushed every match.
Here is the best part. We went to a small school so tennis was coed!!! We would be at some league meet and my partner and I would be cruising through the tournament playing dubs like it should be played and no one would be watching us. We would look down the bank of courts and there would be 100 people watching our 4 dubs team getting smoked 6-0,6-0. I will leave it up to you as to why
!!!I played varsity football (2 years) and wrestled (4 years) so after those sports high school tennis was a needed break. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad I had the experience.
yossarian
Professional
Coach was a moron. I played for one year and then decided to just focus on USTA tournaments. But during that year, even though we practiced daily, I felt that I got progressively worse. Team sucked, there was no one for me to play with, and it was freezing cold in early March which I think played a role in me getting injured
I gave up on tournaments and trying to play in college (probably wasn’t good enough anyway) shortly after when I realized it was no longer enjoyable and focused on just playing for fun
I gave up on tournaments and trying to play in college (probably wasn’t good enough anyway) shortly after when I realized it was no longer enjoyable and focused on just playing for fun
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It was great fun being on the HS team. We had a great deal of talents but the coach wasn't much into coaching. He was alright I suppose, as a person he was enjoyable to be around, but I believe he was there just for an extra pay check. A year or two after graduating a new talented coach took over, and he began guiding the team to state championships.
krisdrum
Semi-Pro
Played all 4 years at a small school (my "large" graduating class was only like 120 kids). My junior year our #1 singles player was a regionally ranked freshman. He was significantly better than the rest of us, I don't think any of us took a set off him in two years.
I played doubles every year, and worked my way up to Junior/Senior year playing 3rd singles and 1st doubles. I co-captained the team my senior year. A great experience, especially considering I didn't pick up a racket in earnest until the summer before my freshman year. So when I made the team that next spring, I hadn't even been playing a year.
It was a lot of fun. Won some, lost some, and still good friends with some of my teammates.
I don't remember the coaches doing much. Practices were mostly match play based, so you'd get paired up with a singles or doubles match and play a set or two. The only "drills" I remember were more fitness or warm-up based (stretching, etc.).
I played doubles every year, and worked my way up to Junior/Senior year playing 3rd singles and 1st doubles. I co-captained the team my senior year. A great experience, especially considering I didn't pick up a racket in earnest until the summer before my freshman year. So when I made the team that next spring, I hadn't even been playing a year.
It was a lot of fun. Won some, lost some, and still good friends with some of my teammates.
I don't remember the coaches doing much. Practices were mostly match play based, so you'd get paired up with a singles or doubles match and play a set or two. The only "drills" I remember were more fitness or warm-up based (stretching, etc.).
max
Legend
Played four years in high school and two years in college.
High school was a TON of fun, largely because this was in the Era before Professionalized Youth Sports and the hyper-craziness that trend's created. We used to moon drivers when we took the bus to matches. Cranked the boom box. Jerked around a lot. Ran sprints, and really, best of all, just put a lot of time on court, which is the best way to grow your game.
Some days when I won, I'd feel great. Other days, it'd be walking home feeling frustrated.
College was tough because of the studying you have to do, and the traveling.
High school was a TON of fun, largely because this was in the Era before Professionalized Youth Sports and the hyper-craziness that trend's created. We used to moon drivers when we took the bus to matches. Cranked the boom box. Jerked around a lot. Ran sprints, and really, best of all, just put a lot of time on court, which is the best way to grow your game.
Some days when I won, I'd feel great. Other days, it'd be walking home feeling frustrated.
College was tough because of the studying you have to do, and the traveling.
navigator
Hall of Fame
My HS team was undefeated through the state championship all four years I was there. In two of the four years no one on the team lost a match for the entire season - including the state championship. We were AA, so AAA was above us (bigger schools), but I think we would have won AAA each year as well, but it would have been considerably more competitive. Of our top two players, one was a NCAA Division I singles finalist two years in a row (got to ~ATP 160) and the other guy got to ~ATP 120. Then we had at least another six players (not all in one year) who were starters on above-average to middling D1 teams. I made the team as a freshman but only played a few doubles matches that year. As a sophomore and junior I played #2 and #1 doubles (the top-6 played singles, the next six played doubles). As a senior I rotated between #3 and #4 singles. After my last high school match I didn't touch a racquet for almost 28 years.
We had no daily routine. Our coach was responsible for getting us to away matches (so, show up at the van on time) and making sure we showed up for home matches and that's about it. Sometimes he would schedule a challenge match between two players close on the roster but that's about it. Otherwise, we just did whatever we wanted to - sometimes we'd play at the HS, but most of the time we'd play at the small club a mile away where everyone was a member, or a mix of the two. We rarely saw our coach unless it was a match day.
It was an interesting social dynamic because my HS was new - the school opened my freshman year. So, as is typically the case with new schools, the other sports teams struggled - football, baseball, basketball... mediocre at best (and generally bad). So, in our gym, each year six new banners were added - district, regional, and state championships for boys and girls tennis. And that's it - nothing else, not even a district championship for any other sport. So, in most high schools tennis is a secondary sport and the jocks (and, frankly, the rest of the school) don't even give it a second thought. But at my HS we had the begrudging respect of the jocks because not only did we completely dominate in a manner they couldn't comprehend... we didn't even have to show up for practice. So, they're out there busting their 4sses every day to try to win a game, and we just show up for matches and win easily - they were dumbfounded, perplexed... jealous. My teammates were really fun - and when I was a freshman/sophomore, the juniors/seniors on the team, by coincidence, ran with the popular crowd, so the rest of us underclass dorks benefitted from a social halo effect. Anyhow, being on the tennis team was fun; high school in general, less so.
We had no daily routine. Our coach was responsible for getting us to away matches (so, show up at the van on time) and making sure we showed up for home matches and that's about it. Sometimes he would schedule a challenge match between two players close on the roster but that's about it. Otherwise, we just did whatever we wanted to - sometimes we'd play at the HS, but most of the time we'd play at the small club a mile away where everyone was a member, or a mix of the two. We rarely saw our coach unless it was a match day.
It was an interesting social dynamic because my HS was new - the school opened my freshman year. So, as is typically the case with new schools, the other sports teams struggled - football, baseball, basketball... mediocre at best (and generally bad). So, in our gym, each year six new banners were added - district, regional, and state championships for boys and girls tennis. And that's it - nothing else, not even a district championship for any other sport. So, in most high schools tennis is a secondary sport and the jocks (and, frankly, the rest of the school) don't even give it a second thought. But at my HS we had the begrudging respect of the jocks because not only did we completely dominate in a manner they couldn't comprehend... we didn't even have to show up for practice. So, they're out there busting their 4sses every day to try to win a game, and we just show up for matches and win easily - they were dumbfounded, perplexed... jealous. My teammates were really fun - and when I was a freshman/sophomore, the juniors/seniors on the team, by coincidence, ran with the popular crowd, so the rest of us underclass dorks benefitted from a social halo effect. Anyhow, being on the tennis team was fun; high school in general, less so.
Injured Again
Hall of Fame
I played high school tennis primarily because the prettiest girls played tennis. Co-ed practices were the highlight of my day.
When my son was in his early teens, I coached his junior USTA team. One of the parents said to me that we didn't have the best girl players but we had the prettiest girl players. I had a **long** waiting list of boys who wanted to join the team.
Some things change but other things are universal.
When my son was in his early teens, I coached his junior USTA team. One of the parents said to me that we didn't have the best girl players but we had the prettiest girl players. I had a **long** waiting list of boys who wanted to join the team.
Some things change but other things are universal.
D
Deleted member 769694
Guest
Started playing a few months before freshman year and didnt make the team. Sophmore = #4, junior =#2 didnt play as a senior. A top junior agree'd to come to my HS if he could play #1, i beat him 2 out of 3 times and told me i was #2, so i quit and practiced with college guys and adults.
Finally got to play #1 in college
Finally got to play #1 in college
THE MAN
Professional
Tennease
Legend
My high school was poor as. They did have tennis net posts on the basketball court but the sport teacher never ever used them and did not teach us any tennis. I don't think there were tennis racquets nor tennis balls even. We played basketball, soccer, volleyball, badminton and table tennis.
Ironically, other high school, which was not as prestigious as mine (mine was the number 1 high school in the state --in terms of academic achievement), did have tennis court and tennis net, and I even saw their teachers and staff played tennis in the afternoon.
Ironically, other high school, which was not as prestigious as mine (mine was the number 1 high school in the state --in terms of academic achievement), did have tennis court and tennis net, and I even saw their teachers and staff played tennis in the afternoon.
