Whether you’re a tennis fan or a tennis player, it is necessary that you know how many sets are played in a tennis match. While tennis can seem like a complicated sport at first, once you get the hang of it it’s quite simple.
Most tennis matches are played in a best-of-three format, which means that players need to win 2 sets to win the match. In Grand Slams, men play best-of-five sets while women play best-of-three sets. Doubles matches are best-of-3 with a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of the third set. USTA and club matches are usually best-of-3.
There are several reasons why the rules vary depending on the event being played, which might include limitations in the numbers of courts available, the stamina of the players, and even television rights.
On top of the regular scoring methods mentioned above, there are more “modern” scoring systems that have been adopted more and more frequently. In this easy-guide, we’ll break them all down for you.
Just before we get started – we’re starting from the premise that you understand how the basics of the tennis scoring system works. If you could use a little refreshing on the difference between points, games, sets, and matches, you can check out our Ultimate Guide on the Tennis Scoring System. We put a lot of effort into it, and it’s extremely helpful regardless of your level.
If you’re already familiar with how the scoring works, let’s get to it.
Professional Tennis
The number of sets played in professional tennis events depends on the event and tournament that is being played. There are several different aspects that influence the scoring rules: whether it’s a singles or doubles match, whether it’s a men’s or women’s event, and the size of the overall tournament. The breakdown for the number of sets played at each pro tournament is below.
Men’s Tennis vs Women’s Tennis
The rules for men’s tennis events are different from women’s events. Most of the professional men’s tennis tournaments are governed by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), while most of the women’s tennis tournaments are organized by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Different organizations, different rules.
Men’s tennis matches have historically been played with more sets than women’s, but more recently tennis events have made a push to adopt similar match formats for both men and women.
Most professional men’s tennis matches are played in a best-of-three sets format, with 6 games (and a possible tiebreak) in each set. In Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), men play best-of-five sets, which means that players need to win 3 sets to win the match.
Women’s tennis matches are virtually all played in best-of-three formats, even in Grand Slam tournaments such as the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. There are also 6 games and a possible tiebreak in each set.
Singles Events
Grand Slams
Grand Slams are the most admired and expected tennis events in the world. There are only 4 Grand Slam tournaments per year – the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. Only the best tennis players in the world qualify for these events.
At Grand Slam tournaments, the men’s main draw matches are played as 3 out of 5 sets. The qualifying draw matches play 2 out of 3 sets, with the exception of Wimbledon. At Wimbledon, men play 2 out of 3 sets until the final round of the qualifying, where they play 3 out of 5.Women’s Grand Slam matches are always 2 out of 3 sets.
The Grand Slam tournaments are one of the few large tennis tournaments which are not organized by the ATP or the WTA, but by the International Tennis Federation. As such, they can kind of make up their own rules.
When it comes to the scoring of the 5th set, Grand Slams have different rules. At the U.S. Open and the Australian Open, players play a tiebreak if they are tied at 6 games to 6. At Wimbledon, players will play a tiebreak if they are tied at 12 games to 12. Finally, at the French Open (Roland Garros), there is no tiebreak in the fifth set and the first player to reach a 2-game margin (6×4, 7×5, 8×6) wins the match.
Since more sets are played at these events, matches can go on for a really, really long time. The majority of the Top 10 Longest Tennis Matches Ever were played in Grand Slam events. This may seem like a lie, but one of them was played for longer than 11 hours.
ATP & WTA Tour Events
A “tour event” is any tournament that is smaller than Grand Slams but bigger than the Futures and Challenger Tour events (see below). These events vary in size, but they are usually played by players ranked between 1 and 250 in the world.
Both men and women play 2 out of 3 sets at tour events regardless of whether it is qualifying or main draw match.
In such events, the 3rd set is always played with a tiebreak in case players tie at 6 games to 6. In the past, the finals of ATP 1000 events used to be played as 3 out of 5 sets, but the increasingly demanding calendar of players forced the ATP to change how many sets were played in finals.
Futures and Challengers
Future and challenger tournaments are the starting point for every aspiring professional tennis player. They are much less glamorous than Grand Slams and Tour Events, and they pay significantly less.
In Future and Challenger tennis singles matches, both men and women play 2 out of 3 sets in the main draw.
For future tournaments, the men’s and women’s qualifying draws play 2 out of 3 sets with a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of a third set. This is a new rule that was put into place in 2019 in order to shorten matches for players in qualifying.
The reason why qualifying matches are shorter than main draw matches is to not excessively tire players who qualify to the main draw.
Doubles Events
Doubles events get significantly less attention from tennis fans, and they are played in a shorter format in order to maximize television revenue. The matches are usually very dynamic and fun to watch.
The majority of tennis doubles matches are played in a best-of-three sets format, with a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of a third set. In the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open, both men and women play best-of-three sets (6 games in each set). In Wimbledon, men’s doubles matches are played in a best-of-five format.
Grand Slams
In doubles, most Grand Slam matches on the men’s and women’s sides are played as 2 out of 3 full sets (up to 6 with a tiebreak). In Wimbledon, the men’s doubles draw matches plays 3 out of 5 sets.
Tour Events
In tour events, both men and women doubles events are played as 2 out of 3 sets with a match tiebreak (up to 10-points) in lieu of the third set.
While there are only 4 Grand Slams per year, there are several different tour events spread across the world throughout the year. Tournament organizers always benefit from having the famous singles players joining in the doubles events; they usually draw larger crowds, which means more revenue.
While singles players can make more money if they play both singles and doubles, they often don’t as the extra doubles matches might jeopardize their singles performance (where the big money is). For that reason, doubles matches were made shorted in an effort to have more singles players joining the doubles events.
Futures and Challengers
The same goes for futures and challengers. Both men and women play 2 out of 3 sets with a match tiebreak for the third set.
In these smaller tournaments, most of the players are competing in both the singles and doubles matches. It would be unrealistic to have players compete in so many matches with a 2 out of 3 full sets format – hence why the 10-point tiebreak format was adopted.
Different Kinds of Set Formats Explained
While the match formats mentioned above are the main set formats adopted by professional tennis tournaments, there are several different set formats for amateurs that play tournaments. Below are some of the ones that you may see in your next tournament.
Best of 3 Full Sets (or 2-Out-Of-3)
This will be the most used format for a tournament at any level. These are 6 game sets, with a tiebreak being played if the players tie at 6 games to 6. If the opponents split the first two sets, a third set will be played to decide the match.
This format is the same as the one used in most of the professional tournaments, but it can be quite grueling for players who are not used to it.
2 out of 3 sets with a Match Tiebreak
This format is similar to the previous, but a 10 point match tiebreaker is played to decide the match when players are tied at 1 set to 1. This format is used to shorten matches to preserve player energy and ensure that the tournament is finished in a timely manner.
Just to keep it in perspective, a full set usually lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour, while a 10-point tiebreaker is usually not longer than 15 minutes.
8 Game Pro Set
An 8 game pro set is typically used when players are expected to compete in several matches on the same day. This format is played the same as a 6 game set, but up to 8 games instead. If players tie at 7 games to 7, the set is extended to 9. If players tie again at 8 games to 8, a tiebreak is played.
3 Out of 5 With Short Sets (4 Games)
This format is relatively new, and it’s been adopted in a few professional tournaments (NextGen Finals). These sets are shorter than what you’re used to playing, as they only go to 4 games. If players tie at 3 games to 3, a 5-point tiebreak is played. Since the shorts are much quicker, players usually play as a 3 out of 5 match.
This format was created with the intent of making the game more dynamic and easier for non-tennis fans to watch on TV.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this article was able to better inform you on how many sets are played in tennis. For more information on rules and how these sets are played, you can check our massive guide on the Tennis Scoring Rules – The Ultimate Guide. There, you will find everything you need to know about the scoring in tennis.
And if you do have any questions about how the scoring format works (or any question in general) you can just let us know in the comment section below and we’ll get to it ASAP!
Serving is a huge advantage in tennis. On average, ATP tour professionals hold serve 75 – 80% percent of their service games and that number climbs north of 90% with the likes of Isner, Karlovic, Federer and Kyrgios. Putting simply, holding serve is the norm while breaking serve is the exception. Even the best returners in the world like Djokovic, Murray and Agassi only break serve around 30% of the returning games they play. Knowing these numbers, it is fair to assume that choosing to serve first is more advantageous for the player who wins the coin toss. However, it is very common to see players choosing to receive first. Why do they do that?
There are a few reasons why players choose to return first. First, it helps with early match nerves. Returning first allows you to play a pressure-free game. Second, it gives them a chance at getting an early break because the server might not be in a good serving rhythm early on in the match. Ultimately, the decision comes down to personal preference.
Essentially, by receiving first you get to play a no-pressure game where you can get a good feel for the court speed, ball, let your nerves settle in and throw the pressure to your opponent.
Federer returning at Indian Wells 2017
Nerves
The vast majority of us experience some form of pre match nerves. That feeling in our stomachs letting us know that something exciting is about to go down. However, some players experience nervousness more acutely than others which can negatively impact their level, especially early in the match. For those players, choosing to receive first is a good idea because it allows them to play a pressure-free game before they have to serve. The logic here is that if you start receiving and play a bad game, it is no big deal because technically your opponent was supposed to hold serve. On top of that, it allows you to work yourself into the match before having to play your first service game.
Tactical
In the book “Winning Ugly”, Brad Gilbert prominently argues that most players should choose to receive first because it provides a good chance of sneaking an early break of serve. His logic is that lower-level players tend to not warm up properly so you can take advantage of your opponent being cold. In addition, as we learned, pre-match nerves are another factor that can help players break serve and establish an early lead.
Let’s take a closer look at this from two perspectives: the effective returner and the effective server.
Effective returner: players who are effective at returning (Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Schwartzman) may choose to return first because they can capitalize on their opponent’s nerves and lack of service rhythm early on in the match, especially if they are playing an exceptional server. Skilled servers tend to become more effective as the match progresses so returning first can be a good way to strike the first blow. On top of that, as previously mentioned, nerves can play into this scenario where the server could have an erratic start, opening the door for the returner to take control of the match with an early break of serve.
Effective Server: players who are massively efficient at holding serve (Karlovic, Isner, Raonic) but rarely break serve might choose to receive first for similar reasons. In this case, they trust that they will hold serve so they can try to earn an early break by betting on their opponents having a slow start. Here is why this is a good bet. When you play a great server, every service game has extra pressure because if you lose one service game you will probably lose the set. Players know that going into the match so not only there are pre-match nerves but you also the extra burden of having to hold serve. This compounded pressure provides a great opportunity for less effective returners to gain an early control of the match.
Having said all that, the decision to return first ultimately comes down to personal preference and several factors can play into the choice. It depends on how nervous or confident the player feels, how the warm-up went and who the opponent is. In tennis, we have to evaluate ourselves on a daily basis in order to understand how our game, mind and body feels. By doing so, we can make an educated decision on whether to serve or return, choosing the one that will most likely to give us an early edge.
If you’ve ever watched a tennis match, you know that tennis players have their own routines and even their own tics. If you’re a tennis fan, you can probably imitate the tics of a few tennis players, like Rafael Nadal (the king of tics), Roger Federer, or Novak Djokovic.
For some reason, professional tennis players develop their perfect routines for before, during, and after a tennis match. By doing so, they try to have an ideal “formula” that they can follow every time in order to play their absolute best. These routines involve which exercises they use to warm up, which music they listen to, and what type of foods they eat.
While each player seems to have their own individual routine, there’s one item that seems to be a part of several players’ on-court rituals, and that is the famous “pink drink” you may have seen on TV. And if you’re curious about what this drink is, you’re not alone.
The pink drink tennis players drink is a combination of liquids and powders that helps players replace electrolytes, gives them extra energy, boosts vitamin levels, and helps them stay focused. While top tennis players have their own formulas designed by nutritionists, you can find similar drink options in vitamin stores – with popular brands being Cytomax, Endurox, and Biosteel.
If you’re interested in knowing a little more about what these drinks are and if they might be a good addition to your tennis game, keep reading on as we will cover the information more in-depth below.
Purposes Of The Pink Drink
Just like any other substance tennis players consume during a match, the pink drinks have very important purposes. Even though players have different recipes for their drinks, most of them try to accomplish the same things – and we will cover them below.
Replacing Electrolytes
One of the main reasons why players choose to drink Cytomax, Endurox, or any other pink drink is because they need to replace lost electrolytes. During a tennis match, players lose a significant amount of electrolytes through their sweat, and this can make their performance worse. It is estimated that during a normal tennis match, you can lose from 0.5L to 3L of water. The more humid the weather, the more you sweat, and the more it is important to replace lost electrolytes through these pink drinks.
At the end of the day, what are electrolytes and why are they even important? In a nutshell, electrolytes are chemicals responsible for carrying “electricity” throughout your body, and this electricity is necessary to kick-off several important functions in your body – including hydration, nerve and muscle function, and tissue repairs.
If your body is running low in electrolytes, your tennis performance will suffer. If the deficit becomes too large, it can lead to muscle cramps – and you definitely want to avoid those. The most common electrolytes are sodium, potassium, and calcium, and drinks like Cytomax, Endurox and Biosteel are full of them.
Give Some Extra Energy
Another reason why tennis players drink the pink drink is to keep their energy levels high. While some of the formulas may even contain caffeine in them, a lot of them just provide energy as a good source of carbohydrates. While regular drinks like Gatorade or Powerade might give you an instant spur of energy, you will eventually go through a sugar-crash. These other specialty drinks like Endurox, Cytomax, and Biosteel are created in a way that you won’t go through a crash.
Since tennis matches can be quite long, it can be challenging to maintain your intensity high. And if you go through energy level drops, you might give your opponent a chance to get back into the match. By drinking the appropriate “fuel”, players can sustain their energy levels throughout the whole match.
Vitamin Boost
These drinks also help players to keep healthy vitamin levels in their system. The reason why this is important is because vitamins assist in the recovery process after tennis matches, and maintaining a healthy level of them can be challenging if you’re just relying on regular meals.
These specialty drinks and shakes are filled with vitamins, which allows players to not only maintain their energy levels high during the match but also recover faster before their next matches.
Stay In The Zone
Another benefit of these specialty energy drinks is that players can stay “in the zone” for longer periods of time. Long tennis matches can have a big impact on players’ bodies, but a lot of times their biggest challenge is to keep their attention and positivity levels through the match. The reason why this happens is because, as our bodies start running low on fuel (glucose), our brains do not have the same capacity to process everything that is going on.
So it’s not just our muscles that become tired, but our brain does so too. Needless to say, it is extremely important to keep our fuel tanks full – and this is where the pink drink comes in. By taking advantage of these specially designed formulas, players are able to stay alert for longer periods of time – not giving a chance to their opponents.
The Most Popular Pink Drinks
Now that we’ve covered the main reasons why tennis players can benefit from drinking those pink drinks you may see on TV, we will go over the most popular choices you have available to you.
Cytomax Tropical Fruit
Cytomax has been around for a while, and this drink is supposed to “reduce the burn during intense exercising and to reduce muscle soreness afterward.” It claims to increase a player’s endurance – without any sugar crash. With only 90 calories per serving, you can buy the Cytomax Tropical Fruit on Amazon for $24.99 (81 servings).
Endurox R4 Fruit Punch
Endurox is another pretty established brand when it comes to sports drinks, and I’ve personally tried the Endurox R4 product before. I feel that it definitely helped me get through long practices without crashing – so I’d recommend it. Endurox claims that the R4 drink can “Increase glycogen replacement by 128%, increase protein synthesis by 400%, and decrease muscle damage by 36%.” You can buy the Fruit Punch R4 on Amazon for $48.00 (28 servings).
Biosteel Mixed Berry
Biosteel is a newer player in the market of sports drink, but it has been gaining popularity quickly. This product is different from the other two above, as it is sugar-free, low-calorie, and fully vegan. Biosteel claims that their product helps to provide “optimal hydration, healthy sustained energy, and improved recovery from fatigue.” You can purchase it on Amazon for $24.99 (20 servings).
Final Thoughts
The pink drink you may have seen professional tennis players drinking is nothing more than an advanced hydration formula for high-performance athletes. These drinks allow players to replace lost electrolytes, get extra energy, boost their vitamin levels, and stay “in the zone” for longer periods of time. We mentioned some of the top brands we like, but there are plenty of options you can find in stores these days. If you think you can benefit from some extra energy on court, you might want to give one of these a try. Just always try to stay away from drinks that have a bunch of sugar in them!
Scenario. You have a tournament in two weeks and you are practicing hard in order to get in the best possible shape for the upcoming competition. The weeks go by and you are feeling good about your game, you are ready to crush it but mother nature has different plans for you. The day of your match comes and the wind is gusting which completely messes up your game. We’ve all been there. Playing in windy conditions is extremely difficult for players at all levels so we want to help you get the most out of those days.
When playing tennis in windy weather, there are a few things you should do. First, accept that you will not play your best tennis that day, so keep expectations low. Second, avoid risky shots. The simpler you play, the better. Third, focus on your footwork – active feet can make fast adjustments. Lastly, realize your opponent is on the same boat, so be tougher than him.
Below we will cover these points more in depth.
Adjust Your Expectations
Like previously said, the first thing you need to do is to accept that it won’t be the best tennis of your life so you can control your frustration. It is definitely easier said than done but it is extremely important for you to maintain a positive attitude towards the situation. Expect that you will shank a few shots, miss some balls that you typically don’t and that you will struggle with your serve. Personally, I used to try to laugh at some of the mistakes I made because of the wind. It won’t be an enjoyable experience but you can still make the most out of it. Both you and your opponent have to deal with the wind so if you can stay calm you will have an edge over him/her.
Game Plan
It is hard to execute your typical game plan during windy days. All of us have different playing styles but you need to be adaptable. Let’s take a look:
Pay attention to the direction of the wind;
It is important to know the direction the wind is moving. Is it blowing sideways? Is it with you (meaning blowing in the direction you are hitting your shots) or is it against you (meaning it is blowing in the opposite direction of where you are hitting your shots)? Let’s go through each of these scenarios to see how they can affect your game so you can make the proper adjustments.
Sideways wind:
First, pay attention to the direction the wind is blowing; is it moving from left to right or right to left? Let’s say the it is blowing from your right to your left. In this case, you should hit your shots against the direction the wind is blowing. On the other hand, avoid hitting shots that will move with the wind (in this case, towards the left). Divide the court into quarters and avoid hitting to the far left quarter of the court (check image below).
Hit to the green zone, avoid the red
In this case, where the wind is blowing from right to left, you can use it to keep the ball on the court. For example, if I hit my backhand crosscourt (I’m right handed, hitting from the left side of the court) the wind will blow the ball within the limits of the court. On the other hand, if I hit my backhand down the line, I risk pushing the ball wide. In general, hitting your shots against the direction of the wind is the safer bet.
Against the wind:
If the wind is against you, you need to keep a few things in mind. First, remember that your opponent’s shots (especially the serve) will be faster so you need to be extra quick with your feet. On the other hand, your shots will be slowed down by the wind which means that, if you have the time to proper set up, you can be more aggressive. In addition, your opponent will be more prone to errors (I will explain in the next point) so it is important to be solid and make a lot of balls. Lastly, it will be difficult to hit fast serves so avoid going for aces and try to increase your first serve percentage by hitting the serves you trust the most.
With the wind:
I always found that playing with the wind was the trickiest one. While your shots will be more powerful, it is much easier to make mistakes because the ball often sail long. In addition, it can be extremely difficult to control your second serve. The grand majority of players hit kick serves on the second serve and when the wind is behind you it is particularly hard to make the serve drop in the box. Here are a few tips that can help you:
Serving: slice serves can be very effective. Also, your flat serve will be more powerful so you can swing less aggressively to make sure you get your first serve in. In general, try to increase your first serve percentage as much as you can.
Returning: don’t go for risky returns and aim 1-2 meters (3-6 feet) shorter than your usual target.
Groundstrokes: avoid hitting slices because it is super easy to float them long. Just like the returns, aim shorter than your usual target so you have more room for error. Try to add more topspin to your groundstrokes in order to avoid them from sailing long.
Managing Risk
As you can tell, reducing risk is a recurring topic in this article. While it can feel boring for more aggressive players, it is very important to limit the amount of risk you take during a windy day. The first thing you should do is to go for the shots you trust more and avoid the ones you are less comfortable with. We all have favorite shots so keep it simple and go for the shots you trust. Second, have big targets so you have more room for mistakes. What I try to do is to imagine the court is smaller. Take a look:
Try to avoid hitting to the red zone in order to limit your risk
In my head, the red zone is technically out. I try to play within the limits of the green zone. The size of the red zone is up to you but I believe three feet (one meter) is a safe number. By “shrinking” the court size you will have automatically avoid aiming your shots close to the lines. On top of that, if the windy gets in the way of you hitting a clean shot, you will have a bigger margin for error.
Extra Footwork:
The last thing you need to focus on is being extra active with your feet. Because the wind will move the ball in awkward directions, you have to expect the unexpected. The key is to always be on your toes so you are able to make quick adjustments with your lower body. Creating the right amount of distance between you and the ball is extra difficult during windy days so if you do not pay more attention to your feet, you can find yourself in a difficult spot to make contact with the ball. Keep in mind that during windy days you will often find yourself having to make split second adjustments with both your hands and feet but if you stay active and engaged with your footwork you will have more success.
Summary of Tips
Keep your composure: remember you won’t play your best tennis but neither will your opponent;
Pay attention to the direction of the wind and adjust the placement of your shots accordingly;
Stay away from taking unnecessary risks and go for the shots you trust the most;
Serving will be hard so try to increase your first serve percentage;
Footwork, footwork, footwork. Moving your feet extra will pay dividends;
Extra tip: if the opportunity presents, go to the net. It is really hard to hit passing shots and lobs during a windy day so taking over the net will be rewarding.
Tennis and golf are among the most popular individual sports of all. They have several characteristics in common – they can be played until an advanced age, they are both very social sports, and they can be played with only a few players. These characteristics appeal to athletes of all ages, and they are the reason why so many people adopt these sports as their favorite hobbies.
When we compare golf and tennis, one of the advantages of golf is that golfers can practice more easily than tennis players in their own backyards, and some people will even work on putting in their living room. On the other hand, what can tennis players do inside their homes safely that will help their game?
If you’re wondering how to practice tennis at home, there are a lot of ways you can do so. You can practice specific areas you tend to neglect – footwork, volleys, hand-eye-coordination, mental game, and even your serve. Practicing these skills at home will help you transfer them to the tennis court and improve your overall game.
If you’re hungry to improve and you don’t want to waste an opportunity to get better, this article will be a good fit for you. Below, we will cover some of the most popular (and effective) ways to practice tennis at home.
Work On Your Volleys At Home
Before you read any further, we want to point out something very important: you may not want to use a regular tennis ball for the following drill, because you may end up breaking something – and if that happens you may need to say goodbye to your at-home tennis practices. A good alternative to a regular tennis ball is going to be a foam ball because the risk of breaking anything in your house goes down significantly.
Now that we got that out of the way, we’ll cover one exercise you can do at home to help your tennis indoors whether it’s on a rainy day or during the winter months when it’s hard to get into our court time. Since your space for practicing will usually be limited, we suggest that you stick to practicing your volleys – as they require very little space.
All you need to do is find a sturdy wall in your home, get your racket and foam ball, and get to work. Our favorite 1-player volley drills are the Wall Ball 1 and the Wall Ball 2 (follow the links for detailed instructions). These drills are excellent for developing fast reflexes and volley consistency and control, and practicing with a foam ball will have very similar results to practicing them with a regular ball. These drills are great for players for all levels, and working on them will ensure you’re improving your tennis game even during rainy days.
If you want to exercise something else, here are a few other things you can work on.
Visualization
One of the most powerful tools you can use for your tennis game is visualization. And most importantly, you can work on it from your living room or bedroom. Since your mind – physiologically speaking – cannot tell the difference between what is “real” and what is vividly imagined, you can use visualization to improve your game.
So during rainy days, you can work on visualizing a tennis match. You should try to do so in a quiet environment, and you should focus on shots you want to hit, moments of the game you need to work on (like serving out a match), and emotions you feel through the game. By visualizing these skills, you will be able to transfer them to the tennis court later on.
Hand-Eye Coordination
Tennis very much depends on the dexterity of your hands in relation to the acuity of your eye. The hand-eye coordination drills you’ll learn in the video below will help sharpen that connection.
https://youtu.be/R42rz4DlYD
Even though the 3 drills mentioned above are a good starting point, there are so many variations you can practice when you are at home.
Footwork
Movement dictates everything in tennis. Practicing your footwork with an agility ladder will make you faster, lighter on your feet and ultimately allow you to get to more balls. The video below shows a few footwork exercises you can work on when you’re at home.
https://youtu.be/a5zOYmFSxp
Billy Jean King’s Eye Coach
Finally, what does the majority of tennis players have in common? We take our eyes off the ball. Even some of the pros do this – it’s human nature. As soon as the ball leaves our strings, we want to see how good of a shot we just hit, and we want to start to see our opponent scrambling to try and get to it. It’s hardwired into us. The problem is that when we pull our head off the ball, our balance suffers and it becomes this domino effect that leads to the dreaded shank.
One of the best things you can do at home to improve your tennis game is to use the Billy Jean King’s Eye Coach tool. This machine literally eliminates the distraction mentioned earlier. The ball is going to stay right where it is, which allows you to really dial in all of the technical stuff that you want to work on.
Because if you think about it, there’s literally only one moment in time in which we can influence where the ball goes – and that’s at contact. What this machine does is it allows you to feel the difference between solid contact (hitting the sweet spot) and a careless, lazy shank where the ball flies over the fence.
At the end of the day, the last 3 feet when approaching a shot are what matters. As the ball is approaching the contact zone, that’s where we either hit a stinging forehand that hurts our opponent, or a ball floats harmlessly over the net and is crushed past you for a winner.
Now yes, when you rally or play, the ball is traveling at you from a further distance, but once you can feel what it means to hit a perfect forehand on this machine, you will have developed great muscle memory. It becomes significantly easier to recreate that shot in a live setting.
What this machine is really really good at is letting you feel the difference between a cleanly hit ball on time and a ball that is off the sweet spot – and you and I both know that the sweet spot really matters.
Final Thoughts
The drills mentioned above will help you get better, and there are so many more drills you can come up with that you can work on at home. As long as you have the will power, you can get better in any environment – whether that’s the gym, the court, or your own home. The best players have that kind of hunger, and they are willing to get better no matter how.
Stay tuned for more drills and exercises you can work on at home, as we will be publishing more of them soon!
Getting Through College Recruiting – Everything You Need to Know
If you’re a high school athlete looking to get recruited, you might be lost and overwhelmed. You may feel that all of these intimidating coaches are watching your every move. You might feel stressed that you haven’t been playing up to your highest ability, or maybe you have been and feel that none of the coaches are recognizing it.
The recruiting process is challenging, but I have been through it myself and helped multiple juniors get through it. The following article will outline everything you need to know about the process ahead of you.
Competing While Being Recruited
Trying to compete with the recruiting process weighing you down is no easy task. Most juniors feel a lot of pressure during this time, so don’t sweat it. Follow these tips to make sure you are doing what you can to show college coaches what you can bring to the table.
Mentality
First thing is first: you need to make sure your mind is clear enough to compete. It’s a stressful time, but the coaches understand that. A common problem that I see with a lot of juniors is that they build up coaches like they are larger than life figures. Remember, college coaches are just people. They’ve seen a million matches, and a million bad matches at that.
It is important to remember that the coaches are watching your match because they already have some level of interest. Believe in your ability, because the coach watching you is there because your name has been flagged in his recruiting process.
Finally, control the controllables . You’re deep enough in your tennis career to understand that you will have good and bad days on the court. The matches that you play in front of college coaches are no different, and they know that. Just hit the ball and commit to what you usually do on the court.
What Coaches Look For at Matches
I have built some good relationships with head college coaches throughout my years. Speaking to them, I have learned what they are really looking for when they go watch recruits at tournaments.
Believe it or not, most coaches aren’t looking much at the level you can play at. Sure, they care about how you hit the ball. However, they care just as much or more about your behavior and reputation among other players and parents.
Positive Attitude
I was recently having a conversation with a coach about a junior he was recruiting. His exact words were “I really like his game and I think he has a lot of upside, but I saw him go off on his dad after a loss. I don’t want to put up with that so I decided to stop recruiting him.” This made a lot of sense to me, and since then other coaches have told me similar things about different kids. The coaches care about winning tennis matches, but why would they want to spend 4 years with a kid that is miserable to be around? A kid like this can be toxic for team chemistry, so it doesn’t matter how good of a player he is if he might make his teammates worse.
Competitiveness
Another thing that coaches look for aside from tennis is your willingness to compete. No matter what the score is, fight hard. So much of college tennis is the ability to be gritty, coming up in the big moments, and working for every point. Coaches know that if you’re able to show that in junior tournaments, you have potential to be a great college player.
Problem Solving
Finally, coaches are looking for problem solvers. This goes hand in hand with fighting hard for every point because you can’t have one without the other. If you happen to get down a break, a set, or more against an opponent with a coach watching, use it as an opportunity to show you are willing to find a way to win. In fact, showing that you can figure out how to win can be more impressive than winning easily.
Mental toughness is a massive component in college tennis, so if you can’t show that in the juniors, many coaches will look for other players who are willing to show those qualities.
How to Find the School for You
Because the recruiting process is so busy, it is important to stay organized and take it step by step. Following this step by step timeline will help you to make sure you don’t miss any opportunities.
Make a list
There are so many options for college tennis. Each school is unique, so the first thing you need to do is figure out what you want in a school. Do you want a big or small school? Public or private? Do you want to be at a big sports school? How important are academics? Do you want to be far from where you grew up? You don’t necessarily need to know the answers to all of these questions, but it is good to have an idea of what you want before you start searching.
After you have thought a bit about what you want in a school, my advice is to print out the rankings lists. Whether it is division 1, 2, 3, or just the conference rankings lists, it is good to visually see all of the schools that could be options for you. Find a physical list of as many schools as you can find. Below is a list of the top 22 schools at the end of the 2019 season as an example, but be sure to narrow it down from a larger pool.
Go through each school, crossing off the ones that you don’t think would be an option based on location. Then go through the remaining schools and eliminate schools that would not be an option based on academics. You will be surprised at how many schools you will be able to cross off by just taking 10 minutes to do this.
You should be able to narrow down your list of schools to about 20. This is not a final list by any means and can change at any time, but it is a great start to get the process going.
Email Schools of Interest
The next step is to get in contact with the coaches at your schools of interest. Forming a generic draft email to reach out to coaches will help the process seem more simple. This email should be professional, simple, and straightforward. It is good to send emails to coaches that sound like yourself, but below is an example of what this email should look like:
Hello Coach ______,
My name is ______and I am from ______. I am a junior player in the graduating class of ______. I have looked into (college name) and would like to learn more about the potential of playing for you there.
I would love to get to learn more about the school, the team, and you as a coach as I am beginning my recruiting process. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
______
As you can see, this opening email does not have to be long or give too much information. The coach will be able to look you up on his own, and chances are he has heard your name come up in the past anyways. This email is simply to open the door for conversation.
You can add different personalized bits to the generic email you have set up. Don’t be afraid to tweak your original email to cater to the school you are reaching out to.You should not necessarily be sending the exact email to every coach, but they can definitely be similar.
You can find the email for most college coaches on the team’s website. For example, google, “University of San Diego Men’s Tennis Coach” and you will be able to find the coach’s email.
Hearing Back
If there were coaches that you didn’t hear back from, a follow up email is definitely worth sending. College coaches miss emails all the time and its important not to take it personally. Give them a week or two to respond, then send your follow up.
Once you hear back from the coaches you reached out to, you can start dialogue about specifics. Be sure to respond to their email in a timely manner. Leaving a college coach hanging is never a good idea. Most coaches will respond with questions for you regarding your level, schedule of upcoming tournaments, and grades. Respond to their questions as thoroughly as you can and be fully honest with them.
The biggest key here is to talk to the coaches professionally, but to remember that they are people too, so be yourself. Be respectful, but you don’t need to try too hard to impress them.
Respond to Every Coach
Starting your junior year, you will start to receive emails from coaches, as they are allowed to contact you starting August 1st. Some will be very exciting, but others you will have no interest in. It is important to handle those in the proper way.
My advice is to respond to every coach in a timely fashion, even if you are uninterested. One reason for this is that sometimes the recruiting process can become unpredictable. You do not want to burn any bridges with coaches, because you just never know where your mind will be later in the process. The other reason is that coaches talk to each other. If you do not respond, it looks unprofessional on your part, and it may hurt your reputation for a school that you are interested in.
The best way to respond to a coach that you have no interest in is to be honest. Explain why you have no interest in going to their school, be respectful, and you can move on from there. Remember, coaches are used to rejection and they would rather hear a “no” than nothing at all.
Develop a Relationship
From here, you are on your way. Depending on the NCAA rules, you can set up visits, phone calls, and face to face meetings with the coaches to get to know them better. You can find the rules for this later in the article.
The process now becomes a bit easier because the coaches are there to guide you. They will tell you what they need from you, help you set up visits, and discuss scholarship when necessary. The most important thing is to stay engaged. Keep checking in with them as the process goes on, updating them on your results and progress.
As you begin to develop relationships with the coaches, you should remember that as they are deciding if you would be a good fit for their program, you must also decide if the coach is a good fit for you. Picture yourself going to practice for the coach you are talking to. Four years is a long time, and you will see the coach almost every single day if you decide to go to his school.
Personally, I still have good relationships with the schools that recruited me in the juniors 7 years later. Being recruited is special and even though I decided that some coaches and schools weren’t the perfect fit for me, I still valued the relationships that I built with them along the way.
Telling Coaches “No”
College coaches get rejected all the time, and while it may not be the most fun part of their job, they understand. At the end of the day, you can only commit to one school. Always be upfront with them, as the recruiting process is tiresome for them as well.
Even if you ultimately decide not to go to a school, be courteous to the coach that showed interest in you. Thank them for their time over the previous months. They will understand and while it is not an easy conversation to have, they will respect your decision. Handling this process in a professional manner is not only the right thing to do, but also will help your reputation.
Now for the part that makes all of this worth it. When you finally feel that you’ve found the best school for you, it is time to officially commit. In order to commit, you need to make sure that the coach is on the same page as you.
Once you’ve told the coach that you are ready to commit, you are done with the process! The coach will tell you what you need to do from there as far as signing your National Letter of Intent (NLI).
Rules on Contact with Coaches
The NCAA has recruiting rules in place dictating when you are allowed to start certain parts of the process. There are a lot of rules in effect, but I have listed the most important ones below:
Recruits may not engage in “recruiting conversation” with a coach until August 1st of their junior year.
Recruiting conversation includes any contact (in person, phone call, text, email, etc.) regarding the recruiting process.
Recruits may email college coaches whenever they want, but the coaches are not allowed to respond with answers to questions. They are supposed to deflect any recruiting conversation.
Recruits can take visits, both official and unofficial, starting August 1st of their junior year.
Recruits can visit the campus on their own before that, but they cannot have meetings with coaches.
By NCAA standards, the recruiting process cannot really start until a recruit’s junior year. However, you can unofficially start it earlier by making your list, getting your name on coaches’ radars, and seeing schools on your own.
There are a lot of specific and small rules for the recruiting process. See ncaa.org on recruiting for answers that may apply to your unique situation.
Preparing for Meetings with Coaches
As you start to have phone calls and in-person meetings with coaches, it is a good idea to do some preparation beforehand. Remember, you want to look as professional as possible, so make it apparent that you have done your homework.
Questions to expect from coaches
Coaches will ask fairly generic questions to see where your interests are and where you stand in the process. It is good to have answers to those questions before they ask them so that you aren’t stumbling on your words during the meeting. Below is a list of questions that I have found are the most commonly asked by coaches:
What are you looking for in a school?
What do you like about my school?
What other colleges are you looking at?
What kind of scholarship are you looking for?
How are your grades?
What are you looking to major in?
What are your strengths and weaknesses as a player?
What do you do outside of tennis?
When answering these questions, be honest. When responding to any question that applies to your level, it’s important to show humble confidence. Let the coach know that you believe in your abilities, but also that you’re not full of yourself.
Questions to Ask Coaches
Coaches will generally ask you, “Do you have any questions for me?” This is a big question and if you come into the meeting unprepared, it will catch you off guard. Be curious on the visit. Take everything in, because being in person with a coach is valuable time that you will not get a lot of with each coach as you go through the process. Here are some questions that can get you started:
How many players are you looking to recruit for my class?
What do you see in me as a recruit?
What level do you see me getting to as a player?
How do you think my level stacks up against your team?
When are you looking for a decision?
You can get creative with these questions based on what you want to know about the school. If there is something that you want to know, just ask. Avoid asking what number you will play in the lineup. The answer 99% of the time will be “I make my lineup decisions right before the season starts, and that is a long way away.” You don’t want to make it seem that your lineup position is your priority. College tennis is a team sport, so show that you will be a team player.
Official Visits
Official visits are the most fun part of the recruiting process because they allow you to live the life of a college student at a particular school for a couple of days. While they are a blast, they are also important.
What to expect on a visit
During your visit, your potential future teammates and coaches are going to show you what their school is all about, but they want to make sure that you have a great time. When a coach or team member asks you what you want to do, be honest with them. Your time on campus is precious and your goal is to get the most out of it while you are there.
The coach will come up with a schedule of your 48 hours on campus that will include going to a class, getting an official tour of campus, seeing a football or basketball game, eating at some of the campus restaurants, and hanging out with the players on the team. Take it all in and try not to be too judgmental during your time there. You do not need to make a decision by the end of the trip, although your visit will likely give you a good idea of if the school is right for you.
It is important to remember that while you are going on the visit to see if the school is right for you, the team and coaches are also seeing if you mesh well with the team. The coach will ask the team members how the visit went after you leave your trip. Make an effort to be social and friendly with the team, as their opinion of you does carry weight. You don’t need to try to be cool or impress them, but just make sure you are doing what you can to show that you will be a good teammate.
Should you party with the team on a visit?
Parents, look away. My short answer to this question is to do what you feel comfortable with. Like I said before, the players on the team ultimately want to make sure you have a good time and let’s face it, partying happens in college.
As a recruit being hosted by people older than you, you may feel pressure to do things you aren’t comfortable with. Don’t feel obligated to drink on your official visit. They will understand that you are still young and they will not think any less of you for doing what you are comfortable with.
If you do decide to drink on an official visit, its important to know your limits. Putting in bluntly, the worst thing you can do is drink too much, forcing the team to babysit you all night. There are a lot of things that can go wrong if you drink unresponsibly on a visit. If the team sees that you may be an irresponsible drinker, they may report that to their coach as it could cause future issues with you on the team. So, in a few words, have fun on your visits but don’t go crazy.
Ending a Visit
Officially visits typically end with a meeting with the coaching staff. They will ask you questions about how you liked your time on campus, how you felt you fit in with the team, scholarship, and when you plan to make a decision.
It is important not to feel pressure to make a decision on the spot. It is more common for recruits to tell the coaches that they will make their decision in the coming months. In fact, I advise taking at least a few days after an official visit to make a final decision.
Regardless of how you handle this meeting, be sure to thank the coaching staff for having you on the visit. They likely spent a lot of money to make sure that you had a good time, so let them know that you appreciate it.
Tennisrecruiting.net
Tennisrecruiting.net is one of the biggest tools that coaches use to recruit. It is a dynamic website that allows them to see a range of things such as a recruit’ ranking, results, articles they are featured in, schools of interest, and much more.
As a recruit, tennisrecruiting.net can help you with the recruiting process as well. It is free to make an account,but you can also buy the recruiting advantage membership for $7.95/month. Through this, you can even see exactly which coaches have been viewing your profile. With the base membership, you can still see a summary of which coaches have been looking at your profile based on their conference.
Remember to keep your profile up to date so that when coaches look at you on here, the information they read is accurate. Click here to create your account and get started!
A Note to Parents
Parents, this is an exciting time in your child’s life. You have invested a lot of time and money to get them to this point and you played a huge role in their success. While it is hard to take a step back from deciding where your child will spend 4 years of their life, it is necessary for your child to be an adult though it. It is really important that while you guide them through this process, you also let them do most of the work.
The reason for this is that college coaches are looking to recruit young men and women. You will blink and your child will be off to college, ready to make their own decisions. Coaches want to see your kid is mature enough to go through this process as an individual with support. If you are overly involved, a coach picks up on that and it can cast a negative light on your child as a recruit.
Your role through this process is to support your recruit, but not do the work for them. They should be the ones emailing the coaches, talking to them on the phone, and doing the research on the schools that they want to attend. However, you should definitely be involved. Coaches want to see that a recruit has the support of their families through this decision.
My advice is to help them with their lists and the organization part of the process. Help them decide what they want. Ask questions like, “Do you want to go to a small school or a big school?” When they respond, don’t push back against it. Let them decide and be their rock through the process!
Final Thoughts
This is the biggest decision of your life up to date. While it can be stressful, it is important to remember that your hard work put you in this position and you are privileged to be in it.
I hope that this article helped to answer some of the questions you may be asking. I know that it can be a lot, but once you start narrowing your list down, you will get the hang of it. If you are confused, don’t be afraid to use the coaches as a resource for information. They’ve all been through it multiple times. Remember to be yourself and try to enjoy the process. Good luck and happy recruitment!
Need help? Leave a comment below if anything was unclear, and we will do our best to assist you!
