Real-World Experience for the
Beginning to Intermediate Player
With a passion for tennis, I created Advancing Tennis to help recreational players (2.5 to 4.0) climb the USTA NTRP rankings.
Hi, my name is Brett Snow and I am addicted to tennis. I started playing tennis late in life when my wife and I became empty-nesters. We wanted a hobby or sport where we could have fun and get some exercise.
So, my journey began…and it may sound much like yours.
Like many guys, I played sports throughout my life. I played soccer, football, and baseball. As I got older I learned golf and moved from baseball to softball. I have to admit, along the way, I thought tennis was for sissies.
Anyway, we signed up with a local teacher to learn the basics. She was awesome and taught us how we are supposed to hit a forehand, a backhand, an overhead, a volley, and a serve. It was ugly but like many guys who pick up new sports, I could make up for some of the ugliness with athleticism.
After a few lessons, my teacher told me to come to this thing on Sunday called drill. I told my wife “I don’t know what a drill is but I’ll try it”. I showed up and met 7 or 8 other guys just like me. Some were a little better. Some were a little worse. All became great friends.
Our pro told us we were a “team”…We all signed up at 3.0
We went to drill for a couple of months and one day our pro asked if any of us ever played practice matches. Huh? I thought this was tennis…this drilling thing.
Apparently, there was more to it. A few of us started getting together and playing some games and sets. That was fun! Still ugly, but fun.
Our pro told us we were a “team” and we needed to sign up for the spring USTA season. By this time there were 12 of 14 of us rotating into the group. Most of us had no clue what USTA was and no one knew anything about captaining a team. Fortunately, one of the guy’s wives had played for several years and she offered to captain our team. I learned that many guys started playing because their wives were playing. They got pulled into tennis because their wives loved the game and they would hit for fun with their spouses.
We had a couple of “seasoned veterans” on the team. Those were the guys that had played one season before the rest of us joined. We all signed up at 3.0.
Most of us had never even seen a match. We went out and the veterans taught us about spinning the racket to see who serves, picking sides, time between games and other standard protocol.
I showed up for my first match. Line 3 doubles. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. The first 3 or 4 times the ball came to me, I whiffed. Suddenly this tennis thing wasn’t very fun! My partner wasn’t much better. After a few points and games, we started to settle in. Points lasted longer and we even won a few games. Match over and my first of many losses in the bag. Time to move on? Nope, I thought about all my failures, all the things that went wrong and I was awake half the night. Tennis is definitely NOT fun.
“The first 3 or 4 times the ball came to me, I whiffed.
Suddenly this tennis thing was not very fun!”
We went to drill for a couple of months and one day our pro asked if we ever played practice matches. Huh? I thought this was tennis…this drilling thing.
Apparently, there was more to it. A few of us started getting together and playing some games and sets. That was fun! Still ugly, but fun.
Our pro told us we were a “team” and we needed to sign up for the spring USTA season. By this time there were 12 of 14 of us rotating into the group. Most of us had no clue what USTA was and no one knew anything about captaining a team. Fortunately, one of the guy’s wives had played for several years and she offered to captain our team. I learned that many guys started playing because their wives were playing. They got pulled into tennis because their wives loved the game and they would hit for fun with their spouses.
We had a couple of “seasoned veterans” on the team. Those were the guys that had played one season before the rest of us joined. We all signed up at 3.0.
Most of us had never even seen a match. We went out and the veterans taught us about spinning the racket to see who serves, picking sides, time between games and other standard protocol.
I showed up for my first match. Line 3 doubles. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. The first 3 or 4 times the ball came to me, I whiffed. Suddenly this tennis thing was not very fun! My partner wasn’t much better. After a few points and games, we started to settle in. Points lasted longer and we even won a few games. Match over and my first of many losses in the bag. Time to move on? Nope, I thought about all my failures, all the things that went wrong and I was awake half the night. Tennis is definitely NOT fun.
In that second season, we went to nationals in Fort Lauderdale
In our first season together our team won a couple of matches but we were dead last in our league. I noticed our captain (working with our teaching pro) put our two best guys on line 1, then the next two best on line 2, and so on. But, the guys didn’t always sync.
I saw strengths and weaknesses in each of our games that I thought could be paired in a different way so I decided to captain our second season. In that second season, we went to nationals in Fort Lauderdale and what an amazing trip that was. We came in 7th or 8th that year but we all experienced something that many people don’t get the opportunity to experience. Our wives came and cheered, we made team swag, we played hard, we met other guys just like us from around the country, we had great social time with our team and our opponents, and we learned to love the game even more.
My love of tennis continued to grow over the next several years. Determined to improve, I worked hard to get better, I played as many matches as I could and I developed a passion for the many challenges tennis brings to so many players at all levels of the game. I learned that tennis is tough. Every shot has a different pace, spin, direction, angle, depth in the court, position of your opponent, and position of your partner (in doubles). Tennis is definitely not for sissies!
I learned to appreciate the NTRP ranking system and its pros and cons. I appreciated that I was playing against guys at my general skill level with some of my opponents much better than me and others not as successful. One moment I would see a 4.0 match and think “holy heck, I will never be that good” and the next moment thinking I don’t want to be a 3.0 forever.
As time passed, I did get better and I won more matches. I moved to 3.5 and played a whole new level of tennis. I moved to 4.0 and experienced new and different challenges. As I moved up I saw things that guys and girls were doing at the lower levels that people don’t do at the higher levels. I am not talking about hitting harder groundstrokes with more topspin. I am talking about practice techniques, positioning on the court, placement of serve, or reading your opponent. These are the type of the things that will help the beginning recreational tennis player move up the NTRP rankings. Skills are important and take time and practice to develop. However, tactics and strategy will compensate for the missing skills as they develop.
I continue to play often and have played at the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 levels including men’s and mixed in 18+, 40+ and 55+ leagues. I should also add that I have played very little singles other than for practice. I prefer the style of doubles and the unique challenges it offers. I plan to have a few guest writers contribute their experiences with singles tactics for beginners
Sharing my journey is here for two reasons; to build a little credibility and allow you to see if my journey sounds similar to yours…at some point along the way.
Now, enough about me. Let’s talk about how we can help you improve your ranking!
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