The spring tennis season is in full swing as players take to the courts in preparation for fall. Spring is all about practicing and improving so that players can be more competitive when the longer, more serious fall season comes around.
In spring, the tennis season is not long at all, only lasting four or five weeks with practices after school every day. This being said, the spring season is not long and is more of a focus on getting back in shape after the long, frigid Wyoming winter.
“Spring is way more relaxed and less competitive, it’s more about working on skills,” sophomore Bailee Allred said. “Fall is way more competitive and there are a lot more tournaments.”
This season is about improving; at practices coaches focus on new skills, and expounding on basics. The main idea is to learn new shots and develop overall gameplay, especially for those gunning for a varsity spot next fall.
“If kids have things they need to work on, we work on those things,” Spanish teacher and assistant tennis coach Mr. Brandon Preator said. “We get them lots and lots of repetitions.”
Even during the summer, players spend time tweaking their game outside of practice. Training can also serve as an excuse to hang out with friends. Preparation doesn’t have to be all work, no play. It’s easy to improve and simultaneously have a blast with your friends.
“I also spend lots and lots of time on the court during the summer,” junior Ryli Belliston said. “Whether it’s just casual play with friends or playing sets to get in the right mindset and ability for fall.”
This doesn’t mean that the spring season isn’t competitive though. There aren’t many competitions, only one in Casper and one or two in Cody. However, players take the few tournaments very seriously.
“I did really well during the Casper tournament, or meet, or whatever you wanna call it. I only lost once,” freshman Memphis Solberg said. “There’s another competition in Cody on Saturday [4 May, 2024] I need to be ready for. I need to practice all my shots, mostly serving though.”
Again, spring tennis is about progress, so coaches don’t focus on basic drills, especially because most of the players are returning from the previous fall season. These players are trying to refine their shots to be a bigger threat on the courts.
“We mostly have returning players that played in the fall, so there are very few beginning kinds of drills that we had to do this spring,” Preator said. “Everybody is improving a lot. I really like how things are starting to shape up for next fall.”
A well rounded player will always be successful on the court; one really good shot isn’t enough to be competitive. Progression is all about meticulously refining bits and pieces of a shot. Completely re-evaluating the game only leads to more confusion and struggle.
“My goal for spring tennis is to round out my skills,” Belliston said. “I want to improve in the little areas, such as serving and ground strokes.”
Preparation for the fall season doesn’t just happen during the spring season. The entire summer is used as time to hone in versatility on the court in order to take advantage of opportunities that will appear later.
“Living in Wyoming, we don’t have many opportunities during the winter,” Preator said. “It’s exciting to see so many young players out this spring, putting in the work to try to make those top 16 varsity spots. It could be very interesting this fall.”
