Belton is around the corner!

Big tournaments are coming up and we want to be prepared! We teach our players that there are 4 main ingredients to playing through a tournament successfully.

1. Start by making sure you are keeping the ball consistently deep. In your first match or 2 – work on making sure your groundstrokes are consistent and that you are keeping depth on them. This will make you hard to beat and will start to produce weaker shots from your opponent which leads to the next key ingredient –

2. Execute your weapons. When you do get that short ball that you have been working towards – have a plan and execute the shot accordingly. Many players overplay the short balls or get tight and don’t do enough with the ball. We constantly work on the execution of shots inside the baseline for this reason. It’s the difference between players who win trophies and those that don’t.

3. Conditioning!!! As you progress through the tournament and get a few tough matches under your belt, are you fit enough to go the distance?! We have already upped the ante at practice to get in our best shape now. Don’t wait until a week before the tournament to figure out that you can’t play a match without getting tired. Get in shape now and be ready for the hot days ahead!

4. Mental toughness. Are you mentally tough to fight all the way to the end and put in that final effort from top to bottom to finish what you started? Can you step up in the big moments and find the will to win!!! If you can build on these 4 ingredients as you play through the tournament – you will find yourself competing on the last day. Let’s go, Lions!!! Be there for the last match!!