As tennis professionals many of our students come to us to help make them better players. Some know what they need to work on and some aren’t even aware of things that would make their game better. The process of becoming a better tennis player starts with assessing your own game. Start with your NTRP player rating, which ranges from the beginning player at 1.5 and goes up to the World touring tennis professional 7.0. Then ask yourself these questions as if you were playing against some of your peers:
-Identify your strengths; ask yourself what you do well.
- Identify parts of your game that are inconsistent. Sometimes you do them well and other times not so well. What shots do you struggle with?
- Finally, determine what your weaknesses are. Do you avoid certain shots or positions on the court? Is there any confidence in this part of your game?
Are you still having a hard time assessing your game? How well do you move on court? Do you move better than everyone else? How is your stamina and endurance? How do you deal with pressure situations? Are you able to think clearly on court and/or focus on your tactics and strategy? As you can see there are many facets to this game of tennis, some more important than others depending on your playing level.
The next step after assessing your game is setting up a plan for you to have success. Set some measurable goals and give yourself a realistic time frame to achieve them. If your strokes need work, take a lesson, figure out the best way to hit them and practice them over and over again until they’re reliable. If you’re inconsistent in certain situations, take a lesson and practice those situations regularly. If you want more power or better movement, work on your fitness level, including drills or exercises that will improve your tennis footwork. The clubs fitness staff can help determine the best way to improve your overall fitness and improve your strength, power, flexibility and stamina all of which will add confidence to your tennis game.
An often-overlooked area is your playing style. Do you have a certain playing style? For example an aggressive baseliner, is it time to practice a new shot that can give you an additional pattern of play and yet still keep your identity? Are you the baseliner that keeps the ball in play and never goes to the net? Work on situations that pull you out of your comfort zone but still complement your game style.
Many of our members consider tennis an addicting sport. Once you tap into the ways to make yourself a better player the enjoyment factor gets even more fulfilling. Take advantage of the Tennis and Fitness professionals at the club to take your game to another level and not only will you become a better player but once you see the improvement you’ll want to keep expanding your game.
Mark Bergman; Silver Lake Tennis Director
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