We have just completed the 1st leg of Tennis Malaysia Junior Tour in National Tennis Centre, Kuala Lumpur. NTTA players doing great in this tournament. The results were starting to show in the National level for 2025 season.
Reefa went on to advance in the semi final of Single and doubles partnering with her sister Raihah in 12 & under girls. Afiqah went to Quarter final in single and semi final in doubles for 16 & under. The boys side, 14 & under were both stopped at the qualifying round and the first round. The results were getting better with players proceeding to later days compared to 2024 season where not many NTTA players even compete in Nationals.
The things with single matches, what most importance is the progression and improvement in playing matches. The confidence to hit balls in crucial points and the bravery shown because of the many exposure through match plays and tournaments.
From the observation, there are players who are matured in their decision making compared to others. At one point, winning and losing at 12 under does not mean anything. It is the maturity and the way they play the matches that matter the most.
In the semi final match of 12 under girls, Reefa have shown a very good attacking game throughout the match. She took many opportunities to attack the balls and giving a lot of pressure to opponent. Being the small kid in the encounter, she manage to push the match to tiebreak in the second set only losing 6-8. The first set was 4-6 with also a good set to watch. That semi final single score 4-6;6-7(6).
When you have a weapon, that weapon need to be deadly and hurting the opponents. In this new era, players now have one big weapon if not two. They are mostly big with their forehand. Building a weapon should be a must for coaches in this time frame. Get that mindset inbed for coaches and players so they know their goals to reach.
One good weapon also need to be fired simultaneously without much error. That was one area that Reefa’s game was lacking. She can fire one, two or three, but above that will be an unforced error. That needs to change. Taking risk on that was good, but a lot of factor plays part in this. One of it is the ability to focus on task, the certain complex task repetetively. Once she able to do that, she will be a better aggressive player.
In a match where one being aggressive and one being defensive, the stonger defence will always comes out as a winner. This is due to the the lacking of consistency in the aggressiveness. Patience plays the key here. Players usually do over their limit and will definitely affect their techniques in order to “kill” quickly. This area can be solved by giving higher intensity in training while doing the aggressiveness drills to increase their limit in going for the shots. Hitting with power forehand need to be trained often in players training block.
What to do in training?
1. The racket head speed
This is where power in the forehand can be built. The practice of this can be done with many repetitions to increase the players racket head speed. Players who practice this, may develop better ball speed compared to those who don’t.
2. The ball spacing
Players who have good contact, will have better deliveries of the balls making less mistakes. The ball spacing drills is done with the footwork training to adjust to the balls. The incoming balls might be vary in speed, but players need to get their good spacing in order to get cleaner forehand and backhand.
3. The “on the rise”
This is important to teach especially to kids aged 12-14 years old. They need to sense and react fast to incoming balls, hitting it on top of the bounce. In 10 under, players usually need more time to “time” the balls, but that have to change. This can be done in live drills everyday with the intention to get the contact on top of the bounce.
4. Accuracy vs Precision
To be players who give trouble to the opponent, that player need to be accurate if not precise. They need to be able to hit to a target in practice and that skill can be transition in matches. A good player is able to hit with different variables such as speed, height, spin and angle.
5. Soft hand
To get higher speed in hitting tennis balls, a player needs to have a soft hand during the swing. That skill is not usually practice for kids since it does not have a good way in seeing whether that training is effective. The players need to feel the soft hand. Only way is to see how the balls flight speed going differently or stays the same. Still searching for ways to train this better. A question that needs answer.
These 5 things to do in training hopefully will give better impact for the 2nd leg of the National Tennis Malaysia Junior in February 2025. Time to put it in practice. All the best.