12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players

Whenever I play a USTA Level 1 tournament, I pay close attention to what the very best players in each division do in order to compete successfully at that level. Throughout my years of playing those events, I have discovered that there are a set of habits and practices that almost all of the top players consistently exhibit. This holiday weekend I am sharing their secrets. Armed with this knowledge, we can all make 2023 the year of being the best player we can possibly be.

1. Offcourt Training

The very best players put in a lot of work away from the tennis court. They lift weights and are oriented around tennis-specific functional moves. That includes an explosive first step and agility training. They pay attention to their core and work on flexibility. I have also observed that the best players work on balance which is required to stay upright and avoid injury.

If all your tennis training occurs on court during practice matches and drills you are selling yourself short. Some very basic investments in the gym could make a significant difference in on-court performance. We can’t all hit a 120-mile-per-hour serve. However, anyone can hit the gym to maximize what we can do capability-wise.

All the best players put in the work in the gym without exception.

2. Nutrition/Food as Fuel

I am not a nutritionist, nor will I tell people what they should and should not eat in conjunction with tennis training and competition. However, I have noticed that the very best players have a sharp awareness of the foods that enhance or detract from on-court performance. There is tremendous variation in what players regularly consume the night before, the morning of, and while on court during a match.

If you are maintaining a player development journal, that is a very natural place to evaluate nutrition or food consumption as a potential root cause for training sessions and competition identified as either sluggish or high energy. Identifying the foods that cause variation in performance is only half the battle. The very best players have the discipline to eat the things that support high performance.

3. Seek Outside Perspectives

It Is a fact that many of the very best tennis players are also highly respected coaches. I have yet to find one of the elite players who think that they are above working with a coach. Another way to gain outside perspective is by using video for objective evidence of what is happening with stroke mechanics and point composition.

I have also noticed that at a Senior Level 1 tournament, competitors frequently talk at length following the conclusion of each match. While there are certainly bitter rivals that would never share observations with each other, in general I have found that the senior tennis community is open and forthcoming about breaking down matches with each other.

At the root of this practice is a community of people that love tennis. They are happy to see the level of performance elevated across the board.

4. Long Term Planning Horizons

The very best players typically take a long-term perspective about their personal development as well as playing calendar. You will not overhear one of these top players sharing “tips” or quick fixes. They are willing to tear a stroke down completely and commit to temporarily low performance while learning how to use the shot effectively in competition. When the stakes are low, they are perfectly willing to lose the battle to improve the long-term prospects of winning the war.

If you listen to these players talk about their tennis competition calendar, you will likely see a long-term plan established very early in the year. Those big events are interspersed with periodized training blocks.

Habits 5-12

Tomorrow I will divulge habits 4 through 8 and Sunday’s post will detail habits 9 through 12. Throughout 2023, on the first Friday of each month, I plan to do a long-form deep dive into one of the habits. I am super excited about this project for 2023.