WHY EARLY PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL RANKING IS SO IMPORTANT FOR ASPIRING PLAYERS

Tennis for young players can be extremely frustrating once a player reaches a certain age. Having coached this sport and worked with competitive juniors for more than 17 years, while also being father to a now Division 1 tennis player, I have learned the importance of early match play development for young players. I used to be of the believe that developing proper technique BEFORE a player goes into competition was most important. My belief was that a player needed to have proper stroke mechanics prior to starting their first match and that would carry them into early wins when they begin their junior tournament career. I was only partially correct in my belief. I now am of the sound belief that you need to not only focus on the technical side, developing solid stroke mechanics, but also competing at the appropriate level for a player’s current state. Early participation in national rankings and a good and consistent practice and match prep routine is generally what creates a top national player. Whether its an experienced coach behind them or if it is just an encouraging parent, if a player is truly dedicated to their schedule and routine, they will progress through the rankings.

WHEN TO START COMPETING

Many parents ask me when is it a good time to start their child in competition. My standard answer now is that if they are able to serve the ball in the appropriate service box and are able to return serve and maintain a rally in the middle of the court, they are ready for competition. The reason for my answer is obvious to anyone familiar with USTA Junior Tournaments. There is a level for a player no matter where they are in their development. USTA has always offered a tournaments for every level. For those entry level players, they offer their new nationally named Level 7 tournaments. These are round robin tournaments where players play 3 matches no matter the results. Players are seeded just like any other tournament, however the players are selected from lowest ranked or WTN to highest. Most players who have played tennis for about a year should have the skill level to compete at these events. Winning matches in these events will offer players national ranking points using USTA’s National Ranking System. For more information on how this system works and how many points are awarded, visit. here. To get caught up on USTA’s new national ranking pathway, see the video

The other option is to compete in Junior Circuit Events. These events are for those players who do not feel ready for sanctioned and ranked tournaments. These Junior Circuit Events do not offer USTA Ranking Points, but are a great way to get a player started and gaining some match experience as they develop the proper skill to compete on a national level. Every player is different and deciding on whether or not to start with Junior Circuit Events or Junior Tournaments should be discussed with a players coach and parents. Some players take losses extremely hard, so it is important that parents and coaches discuss with the player how they feel about competing and which level works best for them. I can not express enough the importance of having your child in the right head space for competition. Tennis loses a lot of talented junior players due to burn out. Burn out comes from a lack of encouragement

THE REASON

The reason why us at Gripspin Tennis feel that early participation in match play is so important is because it takes quite a bit of time to develop a top level player. To be specific, it takes roughly 10 years. Some players develop in a much shorter time and some need more time to reach to top of their game. Either way, early match play and development is essential for a player to develop and have room to grow. A great example was one of our academy players who started competing in 8th grade. This player had no prior record of official matches prior to starting with us. Starting with private lessons, we recommended that this player immediately start playing L7 tournaments. His serve was not fully developed, but he could make it in a majority of the time. On average he would double fault once every 2-3 service games during a match. Since he was a very competitive student and put a lot of time in outside of our training sessions, so he improved this part of his game to the point where he reduced that double fault to an average of 1-2 times per match. This means that playing at his level, he began to win more points due to less errors and slowly began to move through the rankings. After 3 years with us, this player went from no UTR and no ranking to a 6 UTR by his Junior year of high school and is now has the opportunity to play the number 1 singles position on his high school team. This player now has only a year and a half to develop his ranking and UTR for an chance to play on a college team. Depending on which school he wants to go to, he has a solid shot to play on a college team. Imagine if this player started working on his ranking at age 11? He would have had time to fully develop and work out his game with out feeling the pressure of time. There are key tournaments that he could have played in the 12s and 14s age division which would allow him to earn points to gain crucial ranking points to keep him ahead of the pack.

RANKINGS VS UTR

Ranking points matter! No matter how your look at it, your ranking is much more important as a developing player than your UTR. Just remember that in order to develop as a player, you need to continue to challenge yourself with better and better players. If your ranking is not high enough, then you will not get into high level tournaments. Once you get to Level 5 tournaments, the selection process for entry is done from highest to lowest ranked. Which means that you will be waitlisted if your ranking is not high enough. Which means that if you want to gain points that weekend, you will need to play a lower level tournament. Which can stunt your development in many ways. Mostly by playing people below your level. There is no challenge being the biggest fish in the pond and some tournaments have to give priority to the lowest ranked player. This will happen to every player at some point, so if you are not prepared to sit a weekend out due to being waitlisted, you add more pressure on your ability to develop as a player. Start developing a player’s ranking as soon as the player and coach feels that a player is ready. Prioritize ranked tournaments (Junior Level 7-1 Tournaments) over non-ranked events. Keep an eye on your ranking and use www.myutr.com as a tool for your development and not as a determination of who you are as a player.

CONCLUTION

It is vital that each player has a pathway and a plan to move along that pathway with a coach. That individual plan should be followed and adapted to how a player is developing throughout their junior years. The longer the road, the more time a player has to adapt and the more options you have to make those changes.

For more information on how a junior should navigate their junior career and junior development, please reach out to us for a consultation. reach us at admin@gripspintennis.com and request a consultation with our head coach.