This week’s Tuesday training post focuses on the calendar. For most recreational players, this time of year is the closest tennis has to an outdoor season. Colder weather, shorter days, travel, vacations and family obligations naturally cause many players to limit their playing time. While there may be a few casual fall season playoff games and local Tri-Level League games, December is our downtime for most recreational participants.
I have noticed that many players do not resume serious tennis training until after the New Year. One reason for that is that the annual tradition of New Year’s resolutions makes January the perfect starting point, and in many ways it is. There is nothing wrong with synchronizing renewed focus with the start of the calendar. However, the spring tennis season is coming very quickly. There isn’t much time to work on your game as league schedules, tournaments and competitive obligations weigh on you.
That’s why I think it’s a good practice to think of December as preparation for the goal-setting season. This is the ideal time to experiment, test ideas and evaluate what will ultimately determine your official tennis goals for 2026. Players can use this period to try new strength routines, explore mobility exercises, hire a coach for an assessment lesson, change racquets, or conduct on-court experiments such as changing service targets or working on new scoring patterns. Others could dedicate themselves to cardio exercises, revisit injury prevention routines, or finally watch unwatched video footage of in-person matches from 2025 and clean out that camera roll. The key is to start January with momentum rather than from a standstill.
This idea extends far beyond just tennis. In personal development, an otherwise wasted month can yield a performance advantage. While many people wander around the holidays thinking that serious improvement efforts will begin with new goals and resolutions in the new year, there is an opportunity to start in January rather than rushing right into it. December offers space, perspective and space to prepare for the New Year, in which serious goal agreements are made.
I would like to recognize that rest and recovery also have an essential place in every player’s tennis calendar. Breaks are limited and necessary, but even rest benefits from intention. Doom scrolling on social media will not improve on-field performance. Targeted recovery could be possible. Yoga, meditation, gentle mobility exercises or simply unplugging can help reset the mind and body in a way that can support better tennis in the new year.
The people who perform at the highest levels, both in tennis and in life, make smart use of the time that others overlook. December is the biggest block of unstructured time you’ll have all year, and it offers enormous untapped potential. Think of the next month as your tennis preseason. Invest in it purposefully. Use it to clarify goals, test ideas, and build momentum so you enter 2026 prepared and confident, and with some progress under your belt.
#December #tennis #preseason