Anastasiia Pavlyukova
Project Four
Rouge Draft
11. 12. 2015
For my final project, I chose Wimbledon movie as my main source. While I was
watching this movie, I observed that it has a lot of inaccuracies about attitude, hard-working and
sportmanship in professional tennis. This movie is about the one of the four Grand Slem
Tournamets, the most important tournaments in professional tennis - Wimbledon, which is very
famous fot it's strict and conservative rules. Wimbledon is also the only tennis tournament,
which has required dress code- white tennis outfit. The main character- British professional
tennis player- Peter Colt. His possition is one hundred nineteens in the world rating, but few
years before he was eleventh in the world. But Peter's behaviour and attitude is like his position
is one thousand one hundred and nineteen. In professional tennis, being in Top 150 is pretty
good and successful, and it needs a lot of practicies and serious attitude. Profeccional tennis
players' practice lasts around six or seven hours a day in summary, including tennis practises and
conditionings. But Peter Colt was practicing aroun and hour, maybe one hour and a half once a
day, or even in two days. According to the movie a lot of tennis players were not serious enough
before such an important and serious tournament as Wimbledon, which prize fund in 2015 raised
up to fourty million dollars. They even allowed themselves to drink alcohol at nights before their
games, which is absolutly impossible in professional tennis. Most of the players were also
traveling without their coaches, but in profeccional tennis athletes always travel to the
tournament with theit coaches, espesially for such great and vital. One female tennis even
allowed herself to argue with the refferee during her game and also being very rude to him. Such
behaviour is impossimble in professional tennis, it is not agains the rules, so in real tennis she
would get a game pennalty.
My father, who is a professional tennis player, have been to Wimbledon tournament in 2012
with his athletes. He told me that this is the most strict for it's rules and tennis rules in general,
and arguimg with the referee is something unacceptable. Despite what the Wimbledon movie
says, I want to prove the importance of serious attitude, sportmanship, and hard-working in
communication in professional tennis.
One tennis player said that the attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference
between tennis success and tennis failure. I strongly believe, that serious attiude is one of crusial
things on your way to professionalism. Whether you want to slog it out at the Grand Slam, or
one day join the champions in the ATP World Tour; Dreaming of becoming a professional tennis
player is one thing, but achieving it is another. There are four steps how to become a
professional.
Step number one is practice. Practice is the only way to get better at tennis, and you have
to be fairly good and talented to compete even locally. Psychologists say that it takes about five
years, or one thousand hours to become an expert at something mainly involving
sports. Establish a schedule for yourself that engages you as many times a week as you need to
improve. Many pre-professional players train six days a week for several hours a day.
Step number two is find a coach or a mentor. Even if you practice rigorously, there is
only so much you can learn on your own. Find someone who can help guide your training,
whether it is a paid coach or a casual mentor (though you will eventually need to move to a paid
coach if you really want to go pro). Having someone else guide your training means that you'll
be pushed harder to improve. It won't be any easy process, but your payoff will be greater in the
end. Pay close attention to the advice you receive while you're training. If you really want
something to become a part of your technique, make it into a mantra that you repeat (aloud or in
your head) as you play.
Step number three is to start playing in tournaments. To compete in the US, you'll have
to join the United States Tennis Association (USTA). (If you don't live in the US, search online
for your country's competitive tennis organization). Participating in tournaments, leagues, team
tennis and other activities allows you to accumulate points to attain a ranking. After you gain
really good rankings in the United States, you will be invited to play in worldwide tournaments
U.S. Open, or Wimbledon.
Step number four is- Decide when to turn pro. Your coach, as well as the officials at the
USTA, can help you choose the best time to do this. Weigh the decision carefully, and enjoy
your success!
Always stretch your muscles and warm up before playing a big game. Spend the time to find
good coaches. Bad coaches are out there, believe it or not (from personal experience). Your time
will be paid back when you get superb coaching. Take care of your body. You only have one. If
you are injured, rest until you're fully healed. Be prepared to adjust. Your game is affected more
than you think when you play on a different surface. Try to practice on all of them so you can be
ready with a plan if your game is not built for that surface type. Remember that being
competitive is good, but becoming over-competitive and stressed out is counterproductive. Chill
out and take a break when you are losing badly or having a bad season. Get good equipment.
Rafael Nadal does not play with strings that are made out of plastic and racquets that are out of
junk. Get fairly good equipment, so you will have less to worry about on the court. Practice
frequently and well. Nothing is more vital to your tennis career than hours of practice. Get some
muscle so you can smash the ball, and do hard hits. Have a desire to be the best.
The difference between the top players in the world and everyone else is mainly strokes,
footwork, strategy and the mental game. But what most people don’t realize is that these
differences start in the way you practice and play tennis. Watch any pro tennis player ranked in
the top 100 and examine the way they practice. Chances are, if you have the opportunity to
watch their practice – you will be stunned at the level of intensity and commitment they possess
on every single shot they hit.
Professional tennis players should practice the way they want to play. It is no secret, but the
way you practice will directly translate into how you play your matches. If you practice with
50% intensity, then it’ll certainly be difficult to kick it up to high gear when it comes to a real
match. The reason for this is that you are training your brain and your muscle memory as to how
your body will react and perform in certain situations on the tennis court. If you are practicing
with 50% intensity, your body will be used to that type of intensity, and consequently be
unprepared for a more contested and competitive match. This is why the pros seem to be in “the
zone” so often, and it is not unusual to see them achieve 5+ shot rallys on every point. Since they
practice the way they want to play, this type of high performance play is a natural part of their
body’s expectations.
Every single pro or future pro should always remember that Planning is Essential. If you are
going to commit to practice, then you should have an exact plan as to what you are going to
accomplish during that practice session. Most players go into a practice session without a plan,
so they end up hitting a bunch of balls around, spraying a few shots here and there, and nothing
really gets accomplished. Let’s say you want to improve your forehand. Then you should plan on
having you and your partner agree to practice some drills to isolate the forehand shot, and the
particular aspects of that forehand shot you wish to improve on. Crosscourt drills, baseline to
volley drills, crosscourt/down the line alternating drills are some examples. As a professional
tennis player you should get out of “hitting mode” and into “focus mode”. There are two types of
modes that you can have when you practice. Most players, even (semi-pros) make the mistake of
being in “hitting mode” with no goal in mind for that particular session. Instead, what you should
do is isolate exact areas of your game that needs to be improved on. There should be no such
thing as just ‘hitting’ because, certainly, there has to be an area of your game that needs to be
improved upon.
Also, make sure all of the logistics are in place. Tennis is a difficult game in that it requires
you to be fit, healthy and agile. If you want to play well on the tennis court, you generally need
to be feeling well physically, mentally and even emotionally. Even small hitches in your daily
life can drastically affect your performance on the tennis court. Whether it’s a recent breakup,
financial problems, or a certain havoc in your life, any negative thoughts will undoubtedly find
its way into hindering your practice or match session. Make it a point to eliminate all distractions
outside of the tennis court and in your daily life. Getting rid of toxic people in your life can be a
good first step, if such persons exist in your life. If you want to play better tennis, 100% of your
mind has to be in the sport, or else, you’ll only be playing at half of your true ability.
Every professional tennis player should develop a player’s routine. Every elite tennis player
will have something in common. They usually possess some kind of unique and very systematic
routine that they engage in before every match or tournament. This usually starts in the
preparation of their equipment, the food that they eat the day before, clothing, accessories and
even the activities that they do the day before a tennis match.
Tennis is a gentelmenly game and it has royalty roots. The true precursor to the game we
play today originated in thirteenth century France. The game was started by monks playing in
monastery courtyards. They would take sticks or their hands and bat a wooden ball back and
forth. As the Middle Ages came to a close, “royal” or “real” tennis was adopted by the royalty.
That's why tennis has so many behavior rules, including restraining of emotions, which we call
sportmanship. One American professional tennis player said, that for him sportmanship is when
a gut walks off the tennis court and you really cannot tell whether he won or lost, when he
carries himself with pride either way.
Some people define good sportsmanship as the 'golden rule' of sports – in other words,
treating the people you play with and against as you'd like to be treated yourself. You
demonstrate good sportsmanship when you show respect for yourself, your teammates, and your
opponents, for the coaches on both sides, and for the referees, judges, and other officials.
But sportsmanship isn't just reserved for the people on the court. Supporters and parents also
need to be aware of how they behave during competition. Sportsmanship is a style and an
attitude, and it can have a positive influence on everyone around you.
Win or Lose, Sportsmanship Helps You Get ThroughIn the last few years, taunting, trashtalking, gloating, and cheap shots have become all too common in sports. You've probably seen
athletes who take their own successes too seriously, by celebrate a goal with a prolonged victory
dance or constantly brag about their abilities. This is the exact opposite of what sportsmanship is
all about. This kind of behavior might make you feel tough or intimidating to an opponent, but
keep in mind it can also cause you to lose the match. Plenty of games have been lost to penalties
gathered from 'unsportsmanlike conduct'. Good sportsmanship takes maturity and courage –
when you work really hard at a port, it's not easy to admit you made a bad play or that someone
has more skills than you. In competition, as in life, you may not always win but you can learn
When you win, the trick is to be a gracious and generous winner. Good sportsmanship means
acknowledging victories without humiliating opponents, being quietly proud of success, and
letting victories speak for themselves. Even if you win by a landslide, good sportsmanship means
still finding ways to compliment your opponents.
There are several types how you can improve your sportmanship. Learn as much as you
can about your sport. Play by its rules. Show up for practice, work hard, and realize that on a
team, everyone deserves a chance to play. Talk politely and act courteously toward everyone
before, during, and after games and events. That includes your teammates, your opponents, your
coaches and their coaches, the officials presiding over the game, and even spectators (who can
sometimes be loud about their opinions). Stay cool. Even if others are losing their tempers, it
doesn't mean you have to. Remind yourself that no matter how hard you've practiced and played,
it is, after all, just a game. Avoid settling disputes with violence. If you're in a difficult situation
or someone's threatening you, seek help immediately from your coach or from an official.
Remember, too, that if you respond with violence you could get penalized, which could hurt
your chances of winning. Cheer your team mates on with positive statements – and avoid
trashtalking the other team. Acknowledge and applaud good plays, even when someone on the
other team makes them. When officials make a call, accept it gracefully even if it goes against
you. Remember that referees may not be right every time – but they're people who are doing
their best, just as you are. Whether you win or lose, congratulate your opponents on a game well
played.
Sometimes in tennis we have to deal with the poor court etiquette. This can happen at
small tennis tournaments, not at the tournamets like Wimbledon of course. At small and not
professional tennis tournaments some players can allow themselves bad and disrespectfull
attitude with their opponents, referes and audience. But I think tennis players should behave
despite the size, importance and prize fund of the tournament they participate. Real professionals
always behave at the tournaments, at their tennis practices, and even out off court. There are ten
rules, which will help the tennis players to avoid the poor court etiquette. First rule is thou shalt
wear eye protection while playing. Second rule is thou shalt change thy uniform and/or
equipment when they affect play. Third rule is thou shalt be willing to replay when disputes
arise. Rule number four is thou shalt contribute a new ball to a game- at least occasionally. Fifth
rule is thou shalt not overstay try time on a court, even though thou continue to win. Rule
number six is thou shalt not challenge on a court with competiton that is too superior or too
inferior to thine ability. Rule number seven is thou shalt not discuss disadvantages thou suffer
before, during or after a game. Rule number eight is thou shalt not intentionally hurt an
opponent. Rule number nine is thou shalt not disparage an opponent's win over three. Rule
number ten thou shalt not take more than a reasonable number of rest periods.