Realistically, How Good Do You Need to Be to Play Varsity High School Tennis?

Tennis is not the most popular sport in America, so the quality and competitiveness of teams can be very inconsistent. In sports like track, volleyball, and football, the tryout process usually sees coaches evaluate raw talent and decide whether the player can match the learning curve fast enough to stay on the team. Because the learning curve in tennis is considerably longer, tennis coaches expect players to be relatively complete before they try out. Players with less than 1 year of experience are unlikely to earn a starting position on the team if they do not possess competent topspin groundstrokes, volleys, and serves as well as match experience and a decent working knowledge of singles and doubles strategy.

How Does HS Tennis Work?

In California and most other parts of the US, high school tennis matches feature 7 matches: 4 singles matches and 3 doubles matches. In some east coast areas such as New York, team play may only feature 5 matches (2 singles, 3 doubles). The team with the most wins overall wins the meet. Most matches are played in a best of three sets format with no-ad scoring and with a 10-point tiebreaker in place of a third set.

There are 10 starting positions on a team (plus usually 2-5 substitutes), and during a meet, coaches determine the line-up. Usually, the most skilled player is the number one singles player and the least skilled pair plays number 3 doubles. However, coaches often alter lineups to secure specific wins after scouting the other team. For example, coaches might switch the number 2 and number 3 singles players against a team that has a very strong number 2. By doing that, the coach secures a likely victory in the number 3 slot by sacrificing a probable loss at number 2.

What do tryouts and practices look like?

The tryout process is completely up to the coach of the team. Most of the time, tryouts feature simple drills where the coach can evaluate a player’s groundstroke mechanics, serves, and experience. At very competitive schools, coaches may have a minimum UTR requirement - usually 2 for girls and 4 for boys - for players to attend the tryout. Few schools are this competitive, but the ones that are may have a multi-day tryout and require players to play matches against each other on the first day.

After tryouts, the players that make the team will continue to jostle for their spot in the line-up. Typically, practices will involve conditioning exercises and a lot of match play so the coach can try different combinations of players for doubles. After two weeks of practice, the coach will have a good idea of the players’ strengths and weaknesses and where they belong in the lineup.

Why play high school tennis?

High school tennis is a great extracurricular for college applications as well as a fun way to make lasting friendships through high school. For a lot of players, team tennis is the ideal competitive environment. The fact is, most players are not good enough to compete in singles tournaments, but high school matches - particularly doubles - is mainly comprised of players that are barely below the skill requirements to compete in tournaments. For tournament level players, the top 2 or 3 spots of singles and the number one spot in doubles usually features a higher caliber of competition.

Are there any downsides?

Yes, there are two potential downsides, but most players are willing to look past them. First, tennis can take up a significant amount of time, and this can be a problem for players that struggle to maintain high academic standards. Players that have more rigorous classes late in the afternoon (eg. science and math) may need to make time for tutoring in the late evenings to catch up.

Second, most high school coaches are not going to teach players very much. Especially when the school has a tight budget, coaches are usually hired from within the school to be glorified chaperones. Legitimate coaches that are brought on board can be way more insightful, but their hands may be tied because they have to deal with so many players. All this means that players that want to continue to develop during the season should still seek private instruction at least once per week.