For tennis players aiming to improve your rating within the USTA’s National Tennis Ratings Program (NTRP), the journey requires dedication and commitment to continual improvement. Whether you’re a beginner looking to enhance your skills in order to start playing in competitive leagues and tournaments, or you’re an experienced player hoping to achieve a higher rating to play against tougher opponents, you will need to employ strategies to achieve your goals. This article will provide tips and techniques to help you elevate your game and improve your NTRP rating.
Understand the Rating System
Before you set goals to improve your NTRP rating, it’s important to understand how the system works. Familiarize yourself with the rating criteria and determine your current rating. Your rating is based on your skills, weaknesses, and match results. When you initially join USTA leagues, you self-rate according to the guidelines. If you need a detailed explanation of the system, check out this blog article.
Winning a match 6-3, 6-1 is better for your rating vs. winning 6-4, 7-5. But importantly, your opponents are critical to the rating outcome. An algorithm is applied to each match based on each player's rating at that moment in time and the system comes up with an expected score. The final score is compared to the expected score and your rating changes based on that.
So, if the system expects your opponent to get 4 total games out of an entire match and…
They get 4 games → Your rating stays the same.
They get 0 games → Your rating goes up.
They get 8 games → Your rating goes down.
Set Clear Goals
As with any area where you’re trying to reach a higher level of performance, set specific goals that you can measure and achieve in a reasonable amount of time to achieve your desired rating. Having clear goals helps maintain motivation and focus throughout the journey to improvement. These goals could be related to improving specific aspects of your game, minimizing certain weaknesses, or winning a set number of matches against other players.
How to Boost Your Rating
After you’ve set your goals, follow these tips to improve your rating.
Practice More
The most basic way to improve is to simply practice more. Play frequently and focus on specific areas of your game, including serving, groundstrokes, volleys, overheads, and lobs. Determine where you’re at and what the next step is for improvement.
For serves, consider getting a ball hopper to be able to hit numerous serves in a row before having to stop to pick up balls. If you’re a beginner, focus on getting your serves in. If you’re an intermediate player, focus on placing serves in different parts of the service box. If you’re an advanced player, focus on adding speed and variety to your serves, like being able to hit a kick serve out wide.
If you don’t have a regular practice partner, consider getting a ball machine to be able to practice hitting numerous groundstrokes and volleys at differing speeds from different locations.
Hire a Coach
If you’re serious about improving your skills and have the financial means, you can hire a coach for either group or private lessons. A coach can help you refine your technique and form and strengthen your weaknesses. Beyond helping you improve your strokes, a coach can also teach you tactical strategies to employ during your matches. If you can’t hire a coach, the great thing about the internet is the plethora of detailed videos available to teach you the mechanics of how to master every stroke.
Compete Regularly
As mentioned before, the USTA adjusts your rating according to your match results in league play and tournaments. Competing regularly gives you a better chance to improve your rating, but playing frequently without practicing to improve your skills likely won’t result in wins and a higher rating. Also, practicing isn’t the same as match play, so playing competitively more often will give you the opportunity to work on your strategies against different opponents.
Improve Your Fitness
Besides your time spent practicing on the court, incorporate a fitness routine to improve your endurance, speed, strength, agility, and flexibility. Tennis requires bursts of speed during points and endurance to last through a match, so you can work on both of those aspects of your fitness with different running plans. You can also strength train to be able to hit with more power, and increasing your agility and flexibility will help prevent injuries.
Increase Mental Toughness
While physical fitness and skill are major parts of improving your tennis game, mental resilience is critical as well. Tennis is often compared to chess because you’re countering your opponent’s every move, and you have to do it on your own or with a partner, but no coach. Techniques such as visualization and breathing exercises can help you focus and manage stress before and during matches. Work on maintaining a positive mindset, and don’t give up even when you’re down.
Analyze Matches
If you are able to have your matches recorded, you can review them to analyze strategic errors. You can also get feedback from peers or coaches who watch your matches. Keep notes on what worked well and what didn’t to track your progress.
Conclusion
Improving your NTRP rating requires dedication and effort. Start by understanding the rating system and setting clear goals. To achieve your goals, practice regularly, consider hiring a coach, compete consistently, and work on your physical and mental fitness. Whether you win or lose, keep in mind that every match played is an opportunity to learn and improve. Stay focused and motivated, and work on becoming the best player you can be while celebrating small victories along the way.
