Anyone who has ever played a sport knows that the off-season is where all the magic happens. It’s where skills are built, teams bond and champions are made.
Tennis is no different. The Texas Longhorns women’s tennis season doesn’t begin until January of the spring semester. In the meantime, the off-season is full of individual competitions and tournaments.
So far, the Longhorns have competed in the All-American Championships and various ITF tournaments nationwide. These tournaments aim to provide entry- and mid-level professional match experience that bridges the gap between junior tennis and the elite Women’s Tennis Association Tour.
The tournaments span five distinct prize-money and competition tiers, which allow players to step up in competitions as they improve. With about 600 events held across 65 countries each year, players can gain match experience and test their skills before competing at the highest levels.
During the off-season, many coaches and teams prioritize physical conditioning, rebuilding and performance analysis. With the Longhorns’ fierceness both on and off the court, Texas is focused on balancing that through injury prevention.
“(My role) is to make sure that all the players are … improving their skills, improving their health, all of those things,” head coach Howard Joffe said. “So that starting in January, we actually have a fierce and vicious team.”
The purpose of an off-season is to build skills and not force habits. In tennis, that means focusing on core strokes, footwork and ball control. The off-season also helps players identify and target weaknesses. In the individual tournaments the Longhorns will continue to participate in, the goal is to do their best and decide what’s going well and what needs work so they can soar when the season begins in the spring.
“These pro tournaments, they get WTA point rankings and stuff, but to me … the competing just shows me where they’re at,” Joffe said. “I’m taking notes to see where we’re at and what things need improvement, and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing here.”
For Oklahoma State transfer and junior Rose Marie Nijkamp, keeping up her mental health amid the constant traveling and playing is just as crucial as maintaining her physical health.
“I got a lot of matches in, and then I flew straight to Nashville to play the ITF,” Nijkamp said. “So I definitely felt it on my body. So that was kind of difficult to not give up mentally, … but I pushed through it, just taking it match by match.”
With upcoming ITF tournaments in Las Vegas and Oklahoma in the week to follow, the Longhorns are preparing to continue their off-season, improving their craft while remaining mentally and physically healthy.
