The competition journey

A group of children playing tennis on court, 3 players hitting balls on a clay courtWhen you are ready to compete we advise that you approach it in the following ways.

Step 1)  Talk to your coach.  They will be best placed to advise what events to enter in the beginning.  Remember tennis is about having fun so please should go to the events with the idea firstly of playing tennis against others at potentially different venues.  I say to my players when they are ready to compete, the first four events are for you to just turn up, get use to the environment and playing against new players on new surfaces.

Step 2)  Head over to the LTA page (you will need to register your player prior to entry) Familiarise yourself with the LTA competitions page.  Go to www.lta.org.uk and click on the COMPETE tab.  Here there is a lot of information about how to get started so again worth a read as well as speaking to your coach.

Screen shot of the competitions tab on the lta website

Step 3)  Find a competition.  As you can see on the picture above in the third column is the find a competition link which will take you to the main way of finding events near you.  As a starting point I talk about the small fish in the small pond.  You don’t have to travel too far to find events and I recommend where possible events within a half an hour drive of your club is a good starting point.

Step 3)  As a staring point in competitions have a look at the tournaments page LTA – Tennis for Britain but be wary of the search bar, the advanced search is more reliable.  If you type in ‘Wells’ in the search bar it will search for the word rather than the place in the first instance so it will bring up results such as, ‘Tunbridge wells.’  When you’ve hit the green GO button down the right hand side is the more useful advanced search filters where you can put in your address and the search radius.  I would also start with Grades 7 & 6 (the lower the number the more advanced the event and some you won’t be able to get into until later in your journey) and your age group.  You can always play around with these filters to find an event but this is a good starting point to competition.

Screen shot of lta tournaments page

Once you have found an event (you can always check with your coach if your not sure) fill in the online entry and pay.  You will receive an automated email confirming once entered.

Summary

  • Talk to your coach
  • Go to the LTA website, register your player and have a look at the competitions page to find an event
  • Think about what you will need to take to your event (racket, maybe a spare, water bottle, snacks etc)
  • Turn up and introduce yourself to the referee
  • Play four events without worrying about the wins and losses (you’ve done great to make it to them)

Parents

Entering a tournament for a player can be a big step in their tennis journey and you have a pivotal role to play in the enjoyment of this experience.  Your coach can help and advise when you enter events but I want to advise you of your role on the tournament day (and throughout your child’s tennis journey).  An easy way to explain this is to identify roles, of the player, the coach and the parent/s or caregivers.

The Player:  To go to court, give it 100%, play fairly and with integrity throughout the tournament.  This is the start of your tennis journey so start with the number one most important factor, enjoyment!  

The Coach: To help and support your child through their tennis journey, preparing them for upcoming challenges, technically, tactically, physically and mentally.  They can prepare your child for the upcoming event, talk them through anything they are thinking about or worrying about and answer any Qs they may have.  This is a good time to let your coach know if you haven’t already where they are playing and when.

The Parent: You are the most important person in this journey as you will be there to support and encourage your child through their tennis.  Helpful tips at this point are: 

  • Don’t talk about tennis on the way to the tournament or when the tournament is over. 
  • Be a parent not a coach, ask questions like ‘how are you?’ not, ‘did you win / lose why?’ 
  • You can however ask the player how they want to play in the upcoming match, open Qs help them develop their mental game encourage player autonomy.
  • If the coach is not at the event we generally welcome feedback but remember to keep it positive, especially if the player is in ear shot.  Remember you are there primarily to encourage and support, not critique and coach.

Lastly parents, remember communication is always a great thing and coaches will be happy to answer questions you may have regarding your child playing in tournaments / match plays.