As a young boy, my dream was always to become a top-ranked tennis player. In the boy’s 10s division, I reached a ranking of top 10 in SoCal, as well as top 50 in the boy’s 12s and 14s divisions. So what steps did I take to achieve these rankings, and what can you do to accomplish these goals yourself?
To keep it simple, the whole system is based on points. Whoever has the most points will have the number 1 ranking, the second most points will have the number 2 ranking, and so on.
So how do you attain these points?
There are different levels of tournaments, 1 through 7, which can get you points (level 1 tournaments will get you the most points while level 7 will get you the least). That being said, most players would only want to play level 1 and 2 tournaments, right? No, because level 1 and 2 tournaments have significantly higher skill levels than level 6 and 7 tournaments.
Also, higher-level tournaments tend to be national, in which you will play the top kids in the nation, and only a select few will make it, and lower-level tournaments are usually more local, with players from around the area.
So, what is my advice to those who want to increase their ranking? Find a level that suits you (usually level 6-7) and play a lot of tournaments until you win a couple. Then, continue by moving down a couple of levels (4-5), and repeat this process. As you play more tournaments and gain experience, you can make your way up in tournaments until you are skilled enough to play level 1’s and 2’s.
By this time, you will hopefully have a ranking that you are content with and be a top-ranked tennis junior.
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