The Functional Tennis Match Journal Review

Written by: Jonas Eriksson | July 5, 2019
Functional Tennis Match Journal Review

I decided a while back to start taking my own tennis more seriously and properly track my matches to get the right insights from them. Being more aware of what you are doing in match play will surely help your results. That is why I started journaling. So here is my Functional Tennis Match Journal Review.

So what is the Functional Tennis Match Journal? Well, it is a notebook with pre-formatted sheets which will help you plan your match strategy and write down what happened after the match to keep track of how good you are at planning and implementing those plans. It is a really clever idea actually, one of those where you do a Rafa-smack-to-the-head and say to yourself, “why didn’t I think of this?”. That is really the only negative thing I have to say in this Functional Tennis Match Journal Review.

The Functional Tennis Match Journal Review – What is it? Functional Tennis Match Journal Review

In a time where most of us are used to doing everything on our mobile phones, it is kind of refreshing to write something down on paper and what the Functional Tennis Match Journal does well is that it gives you pretty much all the important things you need to think about in your strategy pre- and post-match and when you use it, it forces you to think about how you play a match. For some, this comes more natural than others. It might sound weird, but the reality is that for many players a tennis match is like a car accident. They play it, things go down and someone wins or loses. Most people don’t really have a plan or a set of plays ready. Planning your strategy and thinking around your game before, during and after a match is very helpful in becoming a better tennis player.

I have started to use the Functional Tennis Match Journal for every tournament match I play and if you are really serious about your tennis, it might also make sense to write down your practice matches. This really allows me to look back at the match and see how I executed my plan. For kids, this is an excellent activity to do together with your coach. Plan your match, play your match and analyze your match. This will teach a young tennis player to become more aware of what they and their opponents are doing on the tennis court and I am sure it will help their results in the long run.

The Functional Tennis Match Journal Review – Specs

Functional Tennis Match Journal Review

This what is included in the updated Functional Tennis Match Journal:

  • Journal up to 46 matches
  • Cue word stickers for your tennis racket
  • Goals section to track your goals
  • Notes section and court diagram to write down practice drills and playing patterns
  • Exclusive link to our pre-match/ practice warm-up routine videos
  • Includes protection pouch
  • Rear pocket in journal

This is how they describe the journal on the Functional Tennis website:

“This journal will help you improve your match focus by giving you a framework to plan and evaluate your matches and help guide your practice sessions. It gives you a common ground to sit down with your coach to analyze your match and take learnings onto the practice court and to ultimately improve.”

“The journal is aimed at players of all levels and ages but is extremely popular with juniors from all over the world.”

The Functional Tennis Match Journal Review – Summary

Functional Tennis Match Journal Review

I think the Functional Tennis Match Journal is a brilliant tool to grow as a tennis player. It teaches you to become much more aware of your game as well as your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Tennis is not about hitting the ball as hard as possible, it is a game of strategy and the Functional Tennis Match Journal helps to instill and strengthen that aspect of the game.

The only issue I have with the Functional Tennis Match Journal is that I did not come up with this brilliant idea!

Buy the Functional Tennis Match Journal here.

Do you analyze your matches? Please comment below!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

One comment

  1. Caesarian Time Warp

    By a strange Cesarean time warp
    Julius Caesar finds himself,
    with his legendary fruit tray,
    at Wimbledon, watching the finals.
    As he munches away at fruits
    he asks: ‘Aren’t those two going to fight?
    They are not wearing any armor.
    What strange weapons are they holding?
    Why the separation by a net?
    ‘This is not my cup of tea’ he shouts.
    ‘Such are the modern gladiators’
    says someone sitting next to him.
    ‘They fight at a proper distance
    throwing rubber balls across the net.
    They may fight for more than five hours,
    yet you do not see any blood,
    for they do not fight to kill
    but rather to make a killing!’
    Suddenly by another warp
    Julius Caesar finds himself
    at the Colosseum again.
    ‘This is my cup of tea’, he says.
    As he watches the splattering
    of the gladiators’ blood!

    Boghos L. Artinian

Jonas Eriksson

Jonas has been known as "tennis nerd" mainly for his obsessing about racquets and gear. Plays this beautiful sport almost every day.