Why keep track of your tennis scores? Some do it to be more self-aware or mindful, others do it for bragging rights or to memorialize their greatest (and worst) matches ever. While the reasons people choose to log their tennis scores may vary, tracking your results can provide insight into how you’re improving as a player and where you might need some help.
Tracking progress is made easy with an Excel spreadsheet, but if you prefer recording data differently there are various smartphone apps available to monitor your game. Whatever system you use, tracking the numbers will allow you to monitor your overall game performance over time so that any improvements or setbacks can be recognized and addressed accordingly.
But first, let’s take a look at how we can keep track of our tennis data using Microsoft Excel…
Tracking Tennis Scores with Excel (or other spreadsheet software)
The simplest way to start tracking your results is to create a single sheet within an Excel document dedicated solely to your scores. Here’s what you need:
– A computer with Microsoft Excel installed
– An internet connection (for accessing online tennis score websites)
Step One: Before you begin, it’s helpful to have the names and/or numbers that correspond with each category of information you plan on track. For example, if “points” are used as part of your scoring system, then every player should have ten points by default; if “games” are used instead, the game count will start at zero for everyone.
Step Two: Decide on the scoring system you’d like to use. We recommend something simple, so here are some examples to get you started:
– Single set match with players alternating games (called “Deuce”) after reaching 6-6 in scores
– Multi-set matches where players must win by two games (i.e., if they’re tied at 4-4 then they play a “Tiebreak Game” to determine who gets the most games in the set)
Now that there’s an overall plan of action, let’s step through how to score data can be recorded in Excel…
Entering Scores with Microsoft Excel
Step One: Open your brand new Excel document at this link.
Set the page’s name to “Tennis Scoresheet” by clicking the box next to the words ” Sheet 1 ” on the bottom left side of the screen and typing out a new name.
Step Two: Create a table that contains all of the information you’d like to keep track of for each match (e.g., names, scores, matches won/lost). Here are some examples:
At first glance, it may seem redundant to have both names and numbers recorded in these tables but consider what might happen if player A beats player B 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. If no information is given about who won each game, you won’t be able to tell who the winner is. Therefore, it’s better to create a table with both names and scores so that inferences can be drawn from your data.
Step Three: Now that there are two tables containing the necessary information (i.e., name vs game score), let’s set up some formulas which allow us to easily track player performance over time.
The simplest way to reference cells in Excel is by using the “A1” notation (i.e., cell A1 refers to whatever number or letter appears in the “cell A” box on each row of your spreadsheet). We’ll use this notation later on when creating formulas within these tables but for now let’s make it easy to quickly locate each player’s name and score during a match.
Simply click on the “Name” column header within either table, then hold down the “Shift key” while clicking on the “Game Score” column header. This will select all of your data for each individual player so that you can format it as desired (e.g., bold type).
Player Name
Now that there are two tables with information about each player in our match, let’s write some formulas which reference both tables together…
Step One: Open up Cell A1 within Table 1 by clicking on the box to its left. Then go to Home > Format > Conditional Formatting, where you’ll find a list of automatic formatting options. Under the “Highlight Cell Rules” category, look for a box labeled “Custom Format…” and click on the arrow to its right.
Table 1 – Custom Conditional Formatting
Step Two: In the first dropdown menu labeled “Cell Value Is,” select the option that says “Greater Than or Equal To…”. Then type 7 into the text box that says “Format Cells If Value Is.” After clicking OK, your entire table should now be highlighted in blue whenever there’s a score of 7-0 (i.e., two games up) during play.
Table 1 – Highlighted Scoresheet
Now we’ll set up Table 2 to match Table 1’s formatting by writing an appropriate formula…
Step One: Within Table 2, locate the box labeled “Name” and move your cursor over it until you see a small arrow (signifying that this is now a ‘dropdown menu’). Click on the arrow to its right, then select the option that says “Greater Than or Equal To…”
Table 2 – Conditional Formatting Option
Step Two: After clicking OK, highlight all of your data within Table 2. Now go back to Home > Format > Conditional Formatting and follow the same steps as before (i.e., under the “Highlight Cell Rules” category look for a box labeled “Custom Format…”, then find the option called “Cell Value Is” and click on it).
Table 2 – Custom Conditional Formatting
Step Three: Within this dropdown menu, select the option that says “Equal To…”, then type 7 into the text box that says “Format Cells If Value Is.” After clicking OK, your entire table should now be highlighted in blue whenever there’s a score of 7-0 (i.e., two games up) during play.
Table 2 – Highlighted Scoresheet
Now that both tables are set up to automatically highlight records of our matches (i.e., whenever anyone scores seven points), let’s write some formulas which allow us to easily refer to player names and their corresponding numbers.
Step One: Click on cell A2 within Table 1. From the toolbar along the top of your spreadsheet, select “Name > Define Name…” when you see the dropdown menu appear beneath this option.
Table 1 – New Name
Step Two : In the top text box labeled “Refers To,” write a formula that references both tables together (i.e., =”Table1!A$1:Z100″ & “Table2!A$1:Z100”). Click OK when finished to save this new name, then highlight any full row in either table by clicking its header once.
Table 1 – New Name
Step Three: Once all of your data is highlighted, click on the box in cell A2 which says “Formula” to reveal the formula that references both tables together. It should look like this: =” Table1!A$1:Z100″ & “Table2!A$1:Z100”.
Cell A2 – Formula
Now that we know how to reference both tables at once by separating each table’s corresponding player names and scores, let’s use a similar method for writing a couple more formulas…
One Step: Click on cell D4 within Table 1. Then go toolbar along the top of your spreadsheet and select Name > Define Name… when you see the dropdown menu appear beneath this option.