How to Chart for Tennis Matches

Coaches, tennis pros and parents chart tennis matches to evaluate a player's performance. There is no one way to chart a tennis match. Typically, only the basic strokes are charted for junior and high school tennis matches. College and professional level matches may include additional information such as shot selection, service location and the type of shot that forced the error. Basic charting is a systematic way to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a player.

Things You'll Need

  • Graph paper
  • Pencil
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Instructions

    • 1

      Write at the top of a piece of graph paper the name of the person you are charting, the opponent's name, the date, time, place, final score and winner. If weather conditions are an issue, indicate this as well.

    • 2

      Make a chart with several sections to track "winners," "errors," "serves" and "returns." Write these section names on the left side of your chart, one for each section.

    • 3

      List under the "winners" section the types of winners you want to track. These might be shots such as "cross-court," "down-the-line" or "drop shots." Across the top of the chart write column headings for the strokes you want to track, such as "forehand," "backhand," "forehand volley," "backhand volley," "overhead" or "lob."

    • 4

      List under the "errors" section the types of errors you want to track. These might be "unforced errors for hitting the ball too long" and "unforced errors for hitting the ball into the net." Also list "forced errors" for the same two types. The same columns for the strokes used in the winners section will be used in this section.

    • 5

      Write under the "serves" section the types of serves: "good first," "good second" and "double fault." Across the top of this chart write the column headings "deuce," "ad" and "percentage." The deuce notation refers to serves that go cross-court from the right side of the court to the opponent's service box. Ad serves go cross-court from left to right.

    • 6

      List under the "returns" section the types of returns: "good forehand," "missed forehand," "good backhand" and "missed backhand." The same "deuce," "ad" and "percentage" column headings are used for this section.

    • 7

      Watch a tennis match with your chart in hand. Focus on the person whose match you are charting. For each point he serves, make a small tick mark in the appropriate box. For example, if he serves a good first serve from right to left, place a tick mark in the "deuce" box for "good first." If he double faults when serving from right to left, put a tick mark in the "ad" box for "double fault." Continue this for every point your player serves. If you want to calculate serving percentage, this information is necessary.

    • 8

      Make tick marks in the appropriate boxes for all the different winners. For example, if your player hits a winning down-the-line backhand, place a tick mark in that box under the heading "winners." Track the errors in a similar fashion.

    • 9

      Tally up the tick marks for each section to analyze and evaluate your player's performance.