As they approach the last quarter of their season, the Wabash tennis team looks to upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference competition, hoping to hit their stride and finish the season strong. This week, The Bachelor caught up with Head Tennis Coach Daniel Bickett to learn their weekly practices and preparation for their matches.
As for any team that strives for success, the work towards their in-season goals start in the off-season.
“During the fall and early in the season, we are trying to instill some of the tenets of how we want to play the game, like doubles positioning and basic singles patterns of play,” said Bickett.
Once the broad-scale pieces are set in stone, the focus shifts to play and technique. “As we move later in the season, the emphasis turns more towards execution of specific shots, and adding additional shots into our game to grow the options we have in any given point,” said Bickett.
This execution is done into routines the team follows during the season. “A few things stay consistent from week to week no matter the time of year,” said Bickett. “Usually, our practices throughout the week follow a standard pattern.”
Monday’s main focus for Bickett is volume hitting. The athletes hit many shots and aim for their given targets, allowing them to improve rhythm and accuracy simultaneously.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are very similar and consist of many technical bits where a lot of the development is made. The ability of an athlete to focus on and apply these skills can be the difference between a 3-6 loss to a 5-4 win.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we emphasize finding competitive opportunities, growing their ability to improvise and think on the fly, countering good shots from our opponents, looking to take advantage of opportunities to attack, finishing at the net, and making the most of our serve, return and the next shots after of each of those,” said Bickett.
The aspects Coach Bickett emphasizes most depend on the areas of improvement needed in any given week.
Wednesdays are an off-day, allowing the athletes to recover physically, mentally and catch up on academics. This midway break helps the athletes be fresh for the back half of the week.
Fridays are pre-match prep, where the team scrimmages against each other, prioritizing playing points and visualization. Occasionally, Coach Bickett will change the daily schedule depending on how his athletes are doing and what he believes is best for his team.
“There are times we can deviate from this plan,” said Bickett. “I’ve had days where we haven’t hit a single ball, but rather focused on our team building. We’ve also had some days where the plan is a high-intensity hitting session where the goal is to sweat and connect with that part of us that was a kid who fell in love with the sport of tennis. When planning practice there’s a lot of factors that go into consideration, but at its core, I’m trying to look for how we get better, and what gets us in the proper mindset to compete in that upcoming match.”
The tennis team looks to apply their preparation to perfection this Friday, March 29 at Hanover College.