I recently finished my tennis tournament and it was an amazing event. I haven’t played tournaments since my early 20s and I am surprised with the outcome. I beat the number two seed during the first round and I did not feel that sore the next day.
I was surprised that I was not sore because when I looked at my Apple watch, I clocked almost 20 thousand steps and almost ten miles for my two matches. I was also on the tennis court for three hours and it’s been a long time since I was competitive on court and spent that much time. I play league matches but generally it’s like one and done then I don’t play for a couple of weeks again.
I did, however, lose during my second round match and it wasn’t because I was already too tired from my first round. It had something more to do about learning to build up my mental stamina on the tennis court.
In this blog, I want to let you know how I prepared for the tournament, how the match day went down, and what I did after.
How I Prepared
These past months, I have been really consistent with my strengthening and conditioning program. I have a coach who helps me with that. I’ve also slowly increased the amount of tennis that I am playing throughout the week and I worked with a tennis coach.
Having a good schedule of exercising, playing your sport, and having coaching to help you move forward in your game are the things I believe are important when you are preparing for a match in whatever sport. I also think it’s necessary to have multiple people work with you during your preparation as they have different areas of expertise and they know what to do for your needs as you prepare for high performance.
The other thing that was equally important for me was scheduling dedicated rest time. I made sure I was getting enough sleep and I would have time where I was resting my body and not always being on the move. This was particularly difficult for me as I have a toddler.
What Happened On Match Day
Whenever I am performing, I don’t really like to eat that much. I do not get very hungry and I feel like I’m getting full from how much I am hydrating. I know, however, that I needed to get a lot of calories into my body before I even show up for a tennis match.
My first round match during the tournament was at 3 P.M. I knew that if I won the first round, my next match was at 5 P.M. and there wasn’t a lot of time between the matches. In the morning, I decided to have a pretty decent breakfast. There was a bunch of protein on my plate as well as carbs. I had the same thing at lunch so I was pretty full by the time I was at the tournament, but I felt better after I started playing.
Between the matches, I hydrated more and had a banana to keep my electrolytes up and give myself some energy. For some people, they become very hungry after playing their sport so they need to eat a pretty decent amount. So, I advise that you have to check what your body needs after a high performance and understand what works for you.
More on hydrating, I drank so much water before I even got to my matches so I can prepare for match time. Whenever I play, I sweat a ton, so I knew I needed a lot of hydration to sustain that on the tennis court. When I am on the tennis court, I still drink water, but it’s not like I chug it as I am already pretty well hydrated before I get on the tennis court.
The last thing I did during match day was that in between matches, I made sure to keep moving. I did not sit that much as I walked and stood a lot. I did not race around, I just needed to move around so that my muscles would stay warm and I would not get too sore after playing my first match.
After The Match
Aside from the three things I did during the match, I also made sure to do something after. I think these things helped me not be sore the morning after the tournament.
So, after my matches, I did a 20-minute yoga stretch routine to make sure that I was cooling down properly.
Conclusion
I am so excited to play more tournaments and I think it’s important you have a team around you that can support you in reaching your goals. You can do things by yourself by looking on YouTube and you might even have a lot of knowledge in strength and conditioning just like me as I am a physical therapist. However, despite having knowledge, I know the benefits that come with having coaches helpful. The first reason is I have someone outside of me assessing what my needs are so I don’t always have to assess my needs, which can be tiring. The second reason is accountability. When you have someone on your team who can push you forward, you are going to make those strides so much faster.
I hope that this blog helped you get some ideas and inspiration on the next steps you need to take towards your athletic goals.