Austin Texas Tournament

Austin Texas Tournament

I just got back from playing a tennis tournament in Austin Texas.  I am super happy that this past year I have been able to get back into playing competitive tennis. After more than a year off and I am happy to say that this past year I have been able to play the most competitive tennis that I ever have thanks to making a personal commitment to making tennis tournaments work and getting more efficient at running the On The Rise tennis program. I love to get out and play tennis tournaments because I love to compete and have something to work for and I truly believe that playing tournaments makes me a better coach. In this article, “Austin Texas Tournament,” I wanted to go over three reasons playing tennis tournaments are crucial for your development as a player.  There are many more then just three reasons to play in tennis tournaments, but the following are three challenges that I faced during my tournament in Texas.

Playing Different Types of Players
During the UTR tournament down in Austin I played 3 opponents with distinctively different playing styles.  The first opponent I faced was a lefty counter puncher. The second opponent I faced was a crafty player that truly tested my movement and mental toughness and the last opponent was more of your traditional aggressive baseline player.  The biggest thing about playing tournaments is that you have to get used to all the different playing styles that you will face throughout your matches. The more you play the more you get used to different styles of play and you learn what strategies work best for you to put yourself in a position to win.  It is super important for any player’s development to play all sorts of different players as each player will test different aspects of your game. With these different “stresses” being placed on your game you will begin to find what areas you need to work on in practice.

Learning to Adjust
The next aspect that you learn from gaining match experience in a tennis tournament is that you need to learn how to adjust to all the different elements that you face.  During this particular tournament the biggest obstacle that I had to face, outside of dealing with traveling, was the Texas heat. The temperature during the tournament was between 95 degrees and 105 degrees throughout the event.  Normally, this heat wouldn’t be that big of a deal but back in Minnesota we have not had to deal with any sort of heat since July so this heat was a bit of an issue. I did my best to hydrate as much as possible during the week before the event and I drank multiple pedialytes before, during and after my matches to help with the heat.  For the most part all of my preparation paid off as I didn’t feel that affected by the heat. Some of the other elements that I had to face was a slightly different court surface, different tennis balls and just being in a different place. 

Learning to Travel
The last challenge that I faced was learning to play tennis after having to travel.  This is a skill in of itself as there is a learning curve to learning what you need to do after a flight or a long car ride to be able to perform at your best during the tournament.  Every player has some individualistic things they will need to learn to overcome when they are playing tournaments when they have to travel. You get better at coping with traveling tournaments by playing those tournaments where you have to travel.  If you want to learn about some great ideas as to what items you should bring when you travel to tennis tournaments you take a deeper dive by taking a look at Coach Toby’s travel tips video which is located in our Tennis Player’s Guide to Greatness blog as well.

Conclusion
In conclusion playing in tennis tournaments is important for any player to develop their tennis game. When you play in tennis tournaments you get to play against all different types of tennis players, learn to make adjustments quicker to different surfaces, tennis balls and anything else that is different as well as learning to deal with the pressure that comes from playing in tennis matches that matter.  Feel free to comment in the comment section below about any questions you might have about this article.