What Are Match Play Skills & How to Develop Them
If you’re like me, your passion for tennis includes playing in competition. That type of passion goes beyond learning how to hit a ball and having the perfect technique.
It’s about stepping on the court, across from an opponent, enjoying the chess match that a tennis match can be, and figuring out how to give yourself the best chance to win.
To do this well, a player needs to have match play skills. These skills are:
- how to use your strengths and hide your weaknesses
- how to position yourself
- what adjustments to make in your strategy and when
- developing the routines in between points such as how to breathe, when to take time and when to play fast
- how to handle cheating
The better your technique and footwork, the better you can execute the first 3 items on that list. But if your technique and footwork are perfect, but you have no idea where to stand, setup your strengths, and what strategies to use, you’re going to lose.
You’ll be the best looking, technically sound player that ever lost a match.
And you’ll continue to lose more than you win because you don’t have the match play skills required to satisfy your competitive goals.
So to get these match play skills, you’ll need coached match play.
Coached point play is helpful, but it doesn’t have the ebbs and flows of a match. These are points where you start without a serve, or you only play a tiebreak, or one set. That stuff doesn’t have the full chess match of your opponent making adjustments, you having to make adjustments back, and seeing who can correctly strategize and execute their plan.
It also doesn’t include the physical and mental fitness a match requires. Focusing for 20-30 minutes is one thing. Being able to focus for 2-3 hours, while staying physically fresh, is another.
That’s why coached match play is so important. A full practice match includes all of that. And as everything unfolds, a coach can bring to the player’s attention everything that’s happening. After all, how does a player know what to pay attention to if they’ve never been taught what to look for in the first place?
That’s where the coach comes in.
Then when a player goes to an actual tournament, they’ll have the skillset listed at the beginning to give themselves the best chance to win.
Unfortunately, most players aren’t getting coached match play, especially juniors at after school programs. Those programs are built for revenue. They fill the courts with kids and can’t spread players out to play matches.
So if you’re looking to develop match play skills, here’s what you can do:
1. Instead of doing a regular private lesson with a coach, get a lesson where you bring a friend or practice partner and play a match. Have your coach there and that’s the lesson. If you can’t find a partner, play a match with your coach.
2. You can setup a practice match with a friend, record it, and send it to your coach. They can watch it, and give you feedback as to what’s happening. You can also do the same with your tournament matches.
3. Search for a program that includes coached match play as part of the program. These are hard to find (sadly), but it’s worth a look. Call the person in charge and ask them what the program includes. If it doesn’t include weekly coached match play that you can attend, look somewhere else.
4. If you’re a junior player, you can start going to a home schooling program. That’s a massive commitment, but if you’re tennis goals include division 1 tennis, you’re going to have to get match play skills somehow. And if you’re going up against players who are learning these skills as part of their development plan, and you’re not, you’re going to be at a severe disadvantage. It’s going to be hard to beat them. I suggest option 1, 2, or 3 first, but homeschooling is a viable option.
Whichever option you chose, if your tennis goals include being successful during competition, choose 1 of them! The most successful players are getting coached match play. So if you want to beat them, you’ll need these skills!