I need to prepare for tennis tryouts!?

Question

I'm going to be a sophomore and I have played tennis before, but not seriously, just hitting the ball back and forth. I want to make the high school team in the end of August. That gives me about 3 months to practice. I was hoping you could tell me what I should do to get ready since I've never played before. I'm somewhat atheletic but I have pretty weak arms. How can I work on that? What else should I practice? I have a few friends willing to practice with me over the summer but I'm not sure how often that can happen. Thank you!

Answer 1

This is a very good question. My season actually just ended about a week ago, and I've been playing varsity 1 singles for two years now. The necessary training that you need to do requires both tennis and cardio workouts. What i would suggest is for you to go to a local YMCA or simply your home workout machines and do certain cardio workouts every other day. For tennis, agility is important, so even jump roping would be a good idea to get started. You'll be constantly moving on your toes in the game, and jump roping is the perfect way to acclimate and accustom your body to being on the balls of your feet at all times. Running the treadmill would also be a good idea, maybe 20 minutes or so after you do the jump roping. For days when you are not doing the cardio workouts, try working on the basics at a local club or court.

Practicing your serves would be a very good idea when you are playing tennis. Remember to jump up to the ball at its peak and try to climb over the ball, while keeping your left shoulder from dropping. Focus on staying low during your groundstrokes and never releasing your gaze from the ball until after it strikes the racket. Feet positioning is the most important thing! Remember that you have to earn the shot, and to do so you must position yourself for every shot, keeping low and driving through the ball until your racket touches your back.

Good luck, high school tennis is a lot of fun. That's another thing, just have fun. It's just a game and if u have fun with it it will make your time worthwhile. But i can honestly understand that you are nervous for tryouts. Let me know how it goes. Have fun.

Answer 2

If you don't have friends to go with you to the court, you can still go an practice getting a good hard serve "IN".  If a friend goes with you then you can practice getting your shot to hit in the corners.  Concentrate on getting your return shot to fall just in about a two foot by two foot square in the corner.  You'll get more winners if you can control the ball and alternate one corner to the other.

Answer 3

I used to play varsity tennis in high school, but being a 3 sport athlete then, I only had a short period of time to get ready for tennis (and trust me, from going from hitting a tennis ball to shooting a basketball to kicking a soccer ball and then back again is NOT easy!).

The best thing you can do to prepare is play tennis.  I would suggest getting tennis lessons from a tennis pro at a club or something...the biggest thing I know with friends is no matter how serious you want to be, you end up hitting balls at each other just to goof around, and that gets you nowhere!  Also talk with some of the people who were on the tennis team last year.  They are probably looking for a hitting partner too, and it would give you a good idea of what your "competition" is to get on the team, not to mention some good team bonding!

You should also probably look into receiving lessons from a tennis pro at a club or something.  Trust me, there is a LOT more to tennis than just hitting the ball back and forth.  The pro will be able to help you with your swing, as well as teach you some strategies and such and get you to into shape for the season.

I would suggest you do lift a few weights to help improve your arm strength.  However since tennis does use your arms in a different way, you have to play in order to fully build up your strength.  But in the mornings (or on rainy days), do dumbbell exercises and such.  The biggest thing is just to play play play.

And on the days where you have nobody to hit with, you can still go out and practice serves and such.  If you have money, you can rent a tennis machine that will shoot balls at you (it just won't return them!).  Also do some endurance drills.  Run, do slide drills from one court to the next.  3 months is some good time to get ready for tennis.

Best of luck!

PS:  I have had a variety of racquets, and I found that Wilson was the best value for the price.  You can find racquets at d**k's Sporting Goods or some other sporting stores as well...or if you do get lessons with a tennis pro they will be able to find you the best (and most affordable) racquet there is.

Answer 4

Wilson is a good racket..

Um.. I have played tennis and you dont really have to be strong to play. Just when you go with friends just try to hit it well and work really hard on your coordination with the ball and the racket.

I have really worked hard and i am really good now.

This year I made the J.V. team was really good because at the beginning of the year when i played i didnt do to good because i had only played one other time.

I also have a wilson racket and mine was 30 dollars.

But if you have any questions on it you can just email me and i can answer your questions. thanks

[e-mail]

Austyn

Answer 5

Take some lessons at your park district. There, they usually do drills and tell you what you need to improve on. They also help you improve on it. Three months is plenty of time, so make the best of it and in the end it'll be rewarding. I also suggest watching the Grand Slams (the French Open is currently on). You can get a lot from how the pro's play. And improving your fitness level ain't such a bad idea either - do some running to build up your stamina and some strength and flexibility training. It'll pay off when your in a match for over an hour.