Junior summer camps 2024 are abundant, but finding the right one can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. If you're seeking a blend of top-notch training and unforgettable experiences, you're in the right place. These camps are real tennis experiences for performance players, perfect for juniors who love the game and want to compete at higher levels. Let's dive into three exceptional junior tennis academies that promise not only real skill but also a rich & fun tennis lifestyle.
Read MoreAs a Tennis Director in Spain it’s always smart to keep your ears open to what’s happening in the world of tennis training. Good coaches need to freshen & update their own skills & programs regularly. With such great coaches in Spain, I’d be a fool not to learn from them myself. Coaches talk. Whispers between coaches about the Rafa Nadal Academy seemed positive. I started doing my adult programs at the Nadal Academy and the facility is exceptional. So is the price tag. So what’s really under the surface? Is the Rafa Nadal Academy worth the price?
I hung out with former Rafa Nadal Academy coach, Francesco Mendo who spent a year at the academy from Italy. He’s ranked on the ATP, helps me with Indie Tenis adult programs but now dedicates his time to his studies.
Read MoreSo, diving into tennis, and grips are all the buzz, right? The whole, "What grip are you using?" and, "Look at these cool new grips," chatter can be a bit much, especially when you're just starting out. You don't want to admit you're a bit lost, but the confusion is real, and the context doesn't always help. No worries, though. Let's unravel the grip mystery right here.
Read MoreSummer tennis camps in 2023 are here again parents! The difference this year is that you’ve been hearing about the travel slowing down due to the scary economy. Telling you no one would travel & flights would be too expensive. It’s true flights are expensive. But I can tell you writing from this from the island of Mallorca, Spain, European tennis is on the move! So much so that currently the top training academies are requesting playing videos because they’re that full for their annual programs. They likely won’t request playing videos for entry during Summer months but the academies have suggested Summer 2023 is proving to be one of their most promising Summers in decades. Accommodations for Summer tennis camps are filling fast! It’s surprising a lot of parents just how limited spaces are, as I write this in early March.
Read MoreLaterality as a core concept gives importance to the different sides of our body and how we use them. In sport and tennis specifically there’s preference between right and left hand / right and left foot. Jofre Porta uses laterality a lot because obviously the foot and hand is the obvious one in a game like tennis. With that there’s obviously an effect on footwork within tennis for example which your dominant leg will affect your footwork and what you can do to prevent that. It’s all very nature & very biomechanical, so it’s something steeped in biology.
Read MoreTennis in spain is back in the spotlight thanks to Carlos Alcaraz. But has spanish tennis ever really slowed since the late 80’s? Growing up playing juniors back then, players went to 1 academy - Bolletteri’s in Florida. It was THE place for tough, intense - dynamic tennis training. Not IMG. I’m talking about Nick Bolletteri’s in Bradenton, Florida. You knew if a player went there they had Professional tennis on their radar. It seemed like any player who came out of there had a story to tell. OR became a pro player. It wasn’t just American kids either. It was the junior tennis academy known around the world where top players could reliably find the best sparring partners, period. If you know anything about junior tennis, you know a junior tennis academy is only as good as the lead coaches & players training there. As Bolleteri’s became a distant memory, so did American tennis. In came an avalanche of spanish super hero’s that dominated the Pro tour, certainly the men’s game. Tennis in spain got a huge marketing boom known as the “spanish system” in early 2000’s. It wasn’t true, but it sounded good. As it stands in late 2022, 6 men sit in the top 50 ATP. The top 2 players are spanish. With Nadal coming in behind Carlos Alcaraz. The spanish continue to excel in tennis training & competition making it the smartest place to test yourself anytime of year (including, Winter or preseason). Not to mention it’s a gorgeous country with terrific beaches, welcoming people and fair prices. Find out more about tennis in Spain …
Read MoreFinding a good tennis coach takes discernment. I hired a local tennis coach to look at my game when I was 31. I quickly lost 50 minutes of my time & $85 on a coach who didn’t give a shit about my tennis game. And I knew it. No corrections, no visuals, and 1 major tip after I pressed him why my balls soared past the green curtain on repeat. Turns out, I was in the wrong grip. Excuse me? 50 minutes & $85 later I find out I was in the wrong grip! I knew exactly what happened. I was an adult & not as interesting a prospect to coach as a junior. This particular coach figured shits & giggles tennis would pacify me. Little did he know my history in the game or that I was looking to potentially coach. I wanted my money & lessons taken as seriously as any junior they would develop. That underwhelming experience taught me so much. The game that made me feel special as a junior was lost on me as an adult. That experience drove me over the moon to develop an adults game towards becoming the player they wanted to be. At any age. At any level. The right tennis coach will get you where you want to go -as a team.
Read MoreI'm a tennis director for adults. I place junior tennis players in the right tennis training academy for both American & international families. Being independent means I don't have to talk about any 1 junior academy. I vet each academy hard (for years actually) and then meet families for academies. I believe it’s as important to vet the best online school program for student athletes. More specifically here, junior tennis players. Student-athletes CAN have a flexible, less stressful & time saving life using the right online school program that suits their lifestyle & sport. And as the the stigma of online school fades off into the sunset, tennis players & student-athletes are taking full advantage of a private online education. Taking this practical approach to an players lifestyle & education let's athletes keep going. It’s certainly time to be having the discussion.
Read MoreLeague tennis is THE perfect excuse to wear cute matchy-matchy outfits (if you’re into that sorta thing 😉)and get adult players out on court. If you’re a newer player, experienced, young or old, the more players the game has, the more opportunities you have. League tennis gives you a reason to play more tennis. Period. There’s zero excuse around age because it’s offered to over 18, over 40 and over 55. It gives you a reason to improve and put your tennis lessons to work. To play with more confidence, get invited to more socials, or travel with your teammates. And if competition was something you did in your youth, now you have a whole new reason to compete. League tennis gives you an opportunity to test your tennis chops - for real.
Read MoreWhen I put myself in the shoes of a beginner tennis player my head spins. There’s a lot to break down, including the tennis strings in your racket. From how to play tennis to the gear involved, it’s impossible to keep things simple when you compare yourself to your favorite touring pro. While you may want to know what they play with or how they hit the ball, it’s overkill in the beginning and leads to frustration. Gear overwhelm will lead you into a financial mistake. If you’re learning to drive, do you need a Ferrari? Same idea. Keep tennis strings, simple. In this post I speak to tennis coach, Mark Sansait. Mark’s transparent & over the moon on his YouTube channel about tennis strings. Together we keep you aware of only what you need to know at the beginner stages around tennis strings. You’ll learn the basic lingo, find some great string options, and how to ultimately save money replacing your tennis strings. It’s a big deal to pop your 1st set of strings! A real badge of honor for a tennis player. From there it gets annoying & expensive if you’re not careful.
Read MoreIf you already play tennis, you know tennis is the best sport for adults looking for an exciting & healthy way to grow older. If you’re a new player curiously lurking how to get started, prepare to be courted - hard! Adults looking for an athletic charge, a way to improve yourself & engage in friendly competition with other adults will agree, tennis is the best sport. THE sport that offers adults; movement, momentum, connections & longevity. 4 things that motivate adults on the road to a long, fun life. You don’t have to compete to enjoy tennis. It’s beauty are the ways the sport connects people, organically. The fact that it’s played year round helps maintain those connections. Adults can play the sport into old age. The added longevity tennis adds to an adults lifespan is the sweet spot. A game that’s ever evolving, just like you.
Read MoreThe cost of lessons, a certified coach, private lessons or group clinics you can find anywhere, in any country and I´ll show you where to look. The important thing is to get out and play. A new lifestyle is waiting. It’s fun, exciting and if you play your cards right, involves you in an action packed lifestyle. When adults come to play tennis in Mallorca on holiday, they always leave with new travel buddies in tow. Having had a great time with new international tennis friends that last a lifetime. Mallorca, Spain is destination travel at it’s finest. An island for active adults looking to improve their tennis games & explore a new side of themselves in a destination so beautiful, natural and welcoming they naturally change for the better.
Read MoreSo here you are learning to play tennis and you’ve reached the serve. You’ve heard ALL about the difficulties & importance of the serve. And it really IS an important tennis shot. What makes it difficult for beginners is using the continental grip. Most beginners try to pull a fast one & revert back to the forehand eastern grip. Don’t do it! You’ll put yourself in a straight jacket out the gate! If you use the wrong grip you’ll have zero variety, lack power and won’t have as much fun! Why? Because all the hype around how hard the serve is will come true. Build your beginner serve using the continental grip, simple progressions, a dose of patience, and you’ll be great!
If you’re going to play tennis with other people you’re going to have to serve. Put the idea of power aside for now and let’s get you comfortable building a consistent & reliable serve. {Serve rules included}
A lot of beginner players ask me on an adult camp 2 questions when it's time to learn the backhand. Why is a two-handed backhand better than 1. And what grip do I use? The backhand seems to throw people when it’s time to turn away from the forehand. But you should know the backhand may be your more intuitive, easier shot over the forehand - it was mine. This is your next step before you’re out there rallying balls. Once you’re rallying balls, you’re officially playing tennis! As always, tennis isn’t something to be learned but experienced. So be sure to get out on court and feel a ball on the strings. That’s the only way to learn this game. Especially the 2-hand backhand!
Read MoreThe overhead smash is the last tennis core tennis stroke you´ll learn as a beginner. Best to learn this one after learning the serve since the motions are identical. The smash is more a psychological thriller than anything. When you’re comfortable and confident to use a true overhead smash to end a point, it’s effortless. When you’re first learning the overhead smash, it’s bizarre to see that spiraling green ball pummeling down at you. It’s a shot that needs your timing to be clean, coordination on point and you’ll want hit it to the open court. If the thought of an overhead makes you queasy- there’s options. These options help you keep going when you’re getting started in tennis. I always fire off some big lobs to test these options with new players on a tennis holiday.
Ready for a change of scenery? It’s time we move you from the baseline where you’ve been hitting groundstrokes (forehand & backhands) to the net where you’ll only hit balls out of the air, called volleys. A place that feels more intense because your closer to the action, literally. You’ll have less time to react, no time to swing. You’ll end points quickly up at net. Using nothing more than the sensation of high 5’ing someone with gusto! And you’ll use THE CONTINENTAL grip on your forehand & backhand volley.
Read MoreTennis players love time on court hitting tennis balls likely as hard as possible! They get smacked over and over again at tennis classes, private lessons, tennis holidays, & tournaments all around the world. The moment the bounce threatens your game out goes the durable trio to the trash can. When we should all be recycling tennis balls. This international game you love so much is taking a massive toll on the planet. Problem is, most don’t have a clue. And with all DIY’ers out there, this should be right up a tennis players alley. Lucky for us, some have already taken initiatives to make it easy for us to recycle court side. Will you help take this on?
Read MoreWhen I was playing junior tennis as a kid the only place to go back in the 80’s was, you guessed it, Nick Bollettieri’s Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It was an international sparring playground with THE BEST American kids and International players. Any threat you’d come up against in tournaments you likely already trained with. I wound up going a different way, but it was a known fact that if you wanted to become a professional player you lived and trained with other tennis players. That tennis lifestyle was the linchpin to higher rankings! Because players are highly motivated around competition. Today is no different. There’s just more options.
An annual tennis training program gives young tennis players year round professional guidance to advance high performance players tennis, studies, tournament schedule & travel packaged for a players goals. Meals, intensive training, small school classes, mental & physical preparation, English lessons, periodization planning included.
Read MoreSince 2012 I've been hosting adult tennis holidays in Mallorca, Spain. The sun shines almost 300 days per year. The clay courts slow the ball perfectly so you can improve your game. International players add dimension to each others daily tennis experiences. Professional tennis events hosted on Mallorca offer tennis lovers a dreamy week of sophistication and tennis excellence. And the number of eye dropping beaches to enjoy after tennis make it the perfect tennis escape on a sensational Mediterranean island.
What could go wrong? Well, to have the best tennis experience during your visit to the island - location is everything! Take it from me. Someone’s whose made my fair share of mistakes.
It´s no secret that not all high school tennis coaches come with a tennis background. And not all high school tennis programs rival this one. But for parents & players interested in what a proactive tennis culture can do for student-athletes, on & off court, we sit down with the Nations Coach of the Year (2021), Ryan Knarr.
Ryan gives us an inside look at how his team thrives. The positives of playing high school tennis, the right mindset and the team values he instills in his players. The right coach - player connection will always be of enormous value to a tennis player. Players will always remember that coach who cared to bring out their very best. And Ryan’s players are reaping the rewards alongside those blissful team moments they´ll have for a lifetime.
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