How to Prepare for Winter League - Conor Twomey

Here is the second article from our Resident Tennis Coach.

Having spent a long time working in a sports shop and trying to convince people of the importance of the right gear/equipment, I think this is a very important article for all players to read.

As we are now in winter league season, here are 5 simple tips to improve your game.

1. Your bag and more importantly what's in it!

Change of gear

Spare grips

Spare racket

Spare shock absorber

Hat

Wine gums / Jaffa cakes / banana

Water (minimum 2 litres)

Towel

Spare socks

Anti - inflammatory

Gel/ tablets

Plasters

This should cover every eventuality on court. FAIL TO PREPARE, prepare to fail.

2. Your footwear.
The amount of times I see people with the incorrect footwear is frightening. Personally, for stability and durability I've always liked Babolat footwear. Wilson is my favourite for comfort. I recommend every player wear proper tennis shoes as grip, comfort and ankle stability are so important.

3. Clothing.
Clothing has come so far today that the days of cotton shirts and shorts are well gone.  I strongly recommend some form of material with cooling features, Climacool, in summer and a good baselayer in winter.
I recommend the Under Armour Baselayer range (Cold Gear) as it's very high quality and light but it is expensive.
Make sure you check that it's Cold Gear and not clima cool .

4. Hydration.
If you only drink when your thirsty it TOO LATE. Little and often is the best advise. Drink on every changeover and make it habitual. I've seen ties go on over 4 hours and that's a long time so keep hydrated. Dehydration has a dramatic effect on performance. Considering most matches are on Sundays and people have a glass of wine or 6 on a Saturday ...... hydration is important.

5. Finally and most importantly...... turn up on time and hopefully, at the right venue. I have seen teams turn up at different venues at the same time and people get the times wrong. Nothing worse for your performance than turning up late and stressed. Arrive early, chill out and look forward to the match ahead.

Of course there will be people out there who remember playing Winter league against me and they are saying.... I had no bag and dodgy runners and wearing a soccer shirt and army shorts and ham sandwiches for energy.
I wish someone had given me this advise.

Conor.