How to almost win a USTA team tennis national championship

First of all, let me start out by saying that I had hoped to title this 'How to win a USTA team tennis National Championship', minus the 'almost'.  My USTA team traveled to Las Vegas this past weekend to compete in the national championships.  It was a long road to get there.  In order to get there, we had to:

• Finish in the top 4 teams in our local league (16 teams total.)
  
• Win 2 playoff games in our local league. 
  
• Win 3 more playoff matches at the district championships
  
• Beat out 3 additional teams at the sectional championships, after which we became NorCal champs, and went onto represent the region at the national championships. 
  
• Once at nationals, the 16 teams were put into 4 flights of 4 teams each.  The top team from each flight of 4 advanced to the semi finals and then the finals.  Whew. 
  

We didn't get to advance out of our flight at nationals, which meant we didn't get to play in the semi-finals or the finals.  It was very disappointing, since we got really close (came down to the last match). Since we've been playing this season since March (and it's now October), I thought I'd recap what I've learned during the course of the season.   First, a picture:   here's our team after winning districts in Napa, on our way to sectionals.  Aren't we cute?  We play for Orange Park out of South San Francisco, which is why everyone's wearing orange. 

And, here's a picture of me in action during our playoffs.  Don't ask what I'm doing with my racket since I'm pretty sure that's not a USTA approved racket positioning, but it's the only picture I've got on hand.  

So, twenty something singles matches and 6 months later, here's what I've learned about how to win a USTA National Championship: 

1.  Prepare.   Play everyone.  Play people better than you, people worse than you, anybody who is willing to play you, play them.  Keep score.  Don't play anyone more than once who you've already beaten, since you've already figured out their game.  The trick to winning lots of USTA matches is being able to figure out how you can beat your opponent quickly.  If it takes you too long to do this, you won't be able to win consistently.  Also, play on different courts in different places.  Don't get used to playing at any one court.  

2.  Whatever you think it's going to be about, it's not.    Nationals threw me for a loop.  I figured, 'Vegas in October...I'll prepare for the heat as best I can in the Bay Area.'  Turns out that Vegas was chilly.  And WINDY.  So windy that it was nearly impossible to serve, and ordinary balls would go flying out past the baseline or fall short of the net merely based on random gusts of wind.   While we spent our time preparing for opponents, we ended up playing the weather.  The people who were best able to adjust to this were the people who won.  It's still important to prepare because the more used to playing points and sets you are, the better you'll be able to adjust to yet another factor.  

3.  You have to pull your own weight, and to do that, you have to really want to win.   Tennis is both a team and individual sport.  The sum of individual performances adds up to a team effort.   There's 100% transparency as to what each person has contributed, which is different from other team sports.  Once we got through the first couple rounds of playoffs, we encountered some pretty intense tennis ladies.   In singles, it often comes down to who wants it more.   I've found the matches where I've opened up my mind to even the slightest doubt (eg. 'I'm not sure if I can win this one'), I don't win.  When I approach it with the attitude of 'there's no way I'm losing this match' (and mean it), I have a much better record.  

4.  However, recognize what's under your control.   This one is really tough for me.  I tend to want to win so much that I get frustrated by my inability to control lots of things, and fail to execute on the things that are under my control.   Things that are out of your control are:  the weather, how your opponent plays, how your strokes feel, random occurences like good or bad bounces, whether your teammates are winning or losing, the points you've already played.  The things that are under your control pretty much include how you react to this exact ball coming over the net at you.  Even then, all you can do is watch the ball and hit the the best shot that you think you can hit.  It's been really helpful for me at certain times to realize just how little I control and focus on those things that I can control.  

5.  Nationals is pretty much the same as every other USTA event.  Seriously.  If you've ever played a USTA event, you know that they basically set up a table in front of some courts and call it an event.  You get a 5 minute warmup, and there are random officials roaming and calling footfaults at inopportune times.  It's definitely not grand.  Which is to say, when it comes down to it, it's the same as the league matches, but with a table.  The one thing you'll have to get used to is spectators.  There will be a bunch of random people happening by your match, and rooting for either you or your opponent.  If your match ends up being a critical one, you can expect a big audience, which can be intimidating.  I hate audiences, so I just try and tune them out.   In my first match at Nationals, my opponent had a large fan base watching.  They were prone to shout things like, 'Come on, now, FOCUS!' and, 'Eye of the tiger, Susan!' at my opponent, which is pretty funny in hindsight, but a fairly weird experience while you're living it.  Try to ignore such fans unless you can just laugh it off.   Sometimes the obnoxious fans will be yours.   Treating these as tennis matches rather than 'nationals' is critical so that you don't waste time being nervous.  

6.   Don't make your life more difficult by talking back to the USTA officials.  As mentioned, the USTA puts officials roaming around to make sure that play is progressing on all courts.  They do things like make sure your warmup doesn't exceed 5 minutes, provide lines calls (if requested) and call foot faults. During nationals, with the wind being what it was, I felt lucky to make contact with the ball at all on my serve.   When I would toss the ball, it would blow violently in one direction or another, causing me to have to chase it down in order to hit it, which wasn't fun.   When I was called for a foot fault (my foot crossing the baseline before I made contact with the ball) I yelled back that it was unfair given the 50 mile an hour winds.   That resulted in the USTA official not only staying for that point (I double faulted and lost the game), but also my 2 service games after that.  I learned it's best not to call attention to oneself in these events.  

7.  Sometimes, people are better than you.   It's true!  For the most part, you play people about your level, thanks to the USTA rating system.  But sometimes, someone who's better than you sneaks through and you will have to play them in a playoff match, which is the worst.   I spent not an insignificant amount of energy hoping for easy opponents in the playoffs, but it wasn't always to be.  It's important to recognize when you're playing someone better than you, because you won't be able to win via traditional means.  At this point, your ability to win becomes purely based on your ability to throw that person off their game and frustrate them into losing.  Basically, whatever you've been doing, do something else until you find something that starts working.  If you find yourself down by more than 2 games, it's important to recognize this and put it into effect sooner rather than later. 

8.  It's a long season.  Everyone will carry the team at some point.  As mentioned, we played 20+ matches.   At any given time, we relied on different people to carry us to the next level.  You can't win a national championship relying on a couple people.  The best lineup is a big one, where everyone shares the responsibility of bringing the team to the next level.  

9.  Often, you have two chances to get it right.  You will not get three chances.   In both sectionals and nationals, we stumbled by losing a team match 3-2.   In both circumstances, we got another shot at winning.  We capitalized in sectionals, but not in nationals.   In USTA tennis, you will not get a 3rd chance.    Also, you won't know that you are getting a second chance while you're getting it, since it will be determined by how the other teams do while you're playing.  That means you have to assume you're getting a second chance even if you aren't..  

10.  Have fun.  Tennis is fun.  We aren't being paid to do it.  If at some point, it's not fun, reassess your motivations and figure out why it isn't fun.  Ain't nobody going pro at this point.   

11.  Make it up to your loved ones.  Our suprising run to nationals resulted in me playing a lot more tennis than I usually do.  It also took up multiple weekends in various locations, and caused me to take a few days off work, not to mention the hours I spent verbally recapping my matches.   When you get a little freaky like that about something, it's best to recognize it and spend some time making it up to those closest to you.  Which I intend to do, starting right now.    Just as soon as I schedule my next practice.