The 11th tournaments that the girls, Raihah and Reefa went in 2024. This is the count from Januar up to middle August this year. Tournaments have helped us knowing and understanding what to focus on our training when we are back to train. Its a test and measure of the effectiveness of the training.
During tournaments, there are times when you play well, and there are times when you play average and also some are bad.
The tournament that we went this time was not a bad one. Few trigger points that needed to work on:
- The serve
Mastering the serve is a must. There are reasons behind two serves given in tennis. The first serve need to be more aggressive to get the early advantage in the serving games. When you have a bad 1st serve, you only have to rely on the 2nd serves which will not be very advantageous for you.
The second serve, may not be as fast as the first, but it needs a lot of spin, to clear the net and to bounce higher, above the confort of the opponent striking points.
2. The Aggressiveness
Aggressive with the ground stroke. Generate more spin with both wings, the forehand and backhand. This will push the players back behind the baseline making them difficult to attack especially on short balls. When you hit heavier spin, the ball bounces higher and puahing the opponent back.
3. The Court Positioning
When you hit shorter balls, it means that the opponent able to hit with aggressiveness to attack. Then you have to retreat behind the baseline. Most common mistakes done by juniors, they get glued at the baseline. Due to this position, they are not able to be fast enough to get to the faster ball hit to them. Stand a little bit further back when the balls are hit half courts or short.
4. Short Swing
This has to be practiced. The higher up the age bracket, the faster the balls return to you. That way, you dont have time to prepare for big swing. Shorter swings are the answers of this situation. To practice that in training is a way forward.
5. Letting Go of the Pass
Every points is a new points. Some players get carried away with mistakes they made in the last points. It may affect 2 points ahead. Or even 3 points making them lose the game. Learn from mistakes, then let it go.
Its a practice along the way, but making them understand this principle of past, present and future will enhance their winning rate.
Always encourage playeres to be presence so that they are not being affected by the past, or dreamiang of the future.
Learning in tournaments are great ways to improve players. The experience and mistakes done in tournaments will make players ready to train and improve from the mistakes they done. Only that, sometimes coaches were not with them at the tournament. Its quite hard to understand the “to do list” in training when coaches are not watching.
Get some videos up to coaches and let them review the match when they are not present.