Ranking of tennis academies

[tennisconsultcom]

I am writing an article about how to choose a tennis academy. I am interested in to hear your suggestions about possible criteria that could be useful for a development of the ranking of tennis academies.

I think about criteria like quality of coaches (background, existence of developed strong players, certification or special education), location, pricing, boarding, schooling, etc.? Any help will be very appreciated.

[treeman10]

Not sure if these would apply to rankings, but things in addition to above I would look into:

Location - proximity to things like beach or if its urban, quality of town
Do they do fitness? Individual or group oriented? Fitness plans/evals done? How much fitness? Where is it done (onsite or off).
Player development plans?
Player coach ratios?
# students attending/avg age & level
Mental Strength training part of curriculum?
Tournament travel support?
Tournament plan/schedule done?
Are the above included or considered extras?
What is schedule, how much time allocated to schoolwork. Is there emphasis on schoolwork?
Am I notified anytime my player is injured (boarding situation)
Nutrition education?
What are meals like at academy? (boarding)

Good luck with your research.

[db10s]

I personally play at L'Academie de tennis, but I don't board since I live 5 mins away. Feel free to ask questions.

[tennisconsultcom]

My friend with his son, 15 yo spent three years in a tennis academy in CA and then moved to Spain, to Bruguera Tennis Academy. He told me last week, "only now I understand what is real tennis academy". Everything at one location: courts, fitness, physio therapy, medical control, massage, school, boarding room, canteen. Price for tennis and fitness 1500 Euros/month, 6 days a week, no additional private lessons are needed.

Thank you for all suggestions, I will definitely use them.

[Milan]

Spain is great.....

[tennisconsultcom]

I wrote an article about top 5 tennis academies for junior tennis players. I considered only those academies which provide boarding and schooling for their students. Please read and leave your opinion.

[gavna]

Originally Posted by tennisconsultcom

My friend with his son, 15 yo spent three years in a tennis academy in CA and then moved to Spain, to Bruguera Tennis Academy. He told me last week, "only now I understand what is real tennis academy". Everything at one location: courts, fitness, physio therapy, medical control, massage, school, boarding room, canteen. Price for tennis and fitness 1500 Euros/month, 6 days a week, no additional private lessons are needed.

Thank you for all suggestions, I will definitely use them.

Current cost at Bruguera is way more than that.........player in residance is more like 2000€ per month then you must add food that's 20€+ per day (620€ avg mo.) then education cost for classes is over 4000€ per school year - close to 35,000€ per year.........

I've had two kids go thru academy's - one at Newks for 2 yrs then Sanchez/ Casal for 18 months and another at Newks for 3 years and 1 full year at IMG....

Full cost at IMG today closer to $80,000 that will include housing, tennis, food, board, fitness and schooling.......of course it's very common to get a discount based on kids development (trust me kids are recruited from other programs and offered deals) and how long you are there.

[Anyone4tennis?]

I would think that the ultimate measuring stick would be how successful any given academy has been at producing top professional players (ATP and WTA). If an academy has recently produced more than one or two players who are winning often on the ATP or WTA World Tour, then I would think that this should be considered and given the most weight when measuring up the academies.

Are you also considering looking at academies from other parts of the world like South America and Europe?

[tennisconsultcom]

Originally Posted by gavna

Current cost at Bruguera is way more than that.........player in residance is more like 2000€ per month then you must add food that's 20€+ per day (620€ avg mo.) then education cost for classes is over 4000€ per school year - close to 35,000€ per year.........

I've had two kids go thru academy's - one at Newks for 2 yrs then Sanchez/ Casal for 18 months and another at Newks for 3 years and 1 full year at IMG....

Full cost at IMG today closer to $80,000 that will include housing, tennis, food, board, fitness and schooling.......of course it's very common to get a discount based on kids development (trust me kids are recruited from other programs and offered deals) and how long you are there.

I wrote about the training program's cost only. Here they paid about $4K for this; there they pay 1,5K Euro.

Everybody knows that academies give good discounts for good players. I offered to parents use this for definition how good is their kid. If your kid is offered a good discount, it means coaches believe in his/her potential. If you pay a tag price, you are just a source of money.

[tennisconsultcom]

Originally Posted by Anyone4tennis?

I would think that the ultimate measuring stick would be how successful any given academy has been at producing top professional players (ATP and WTA). If an academy has recently produced more than one or two players who are winning often on the ATP or WTA World Tour, then I would think that this should be considered and given the most weight when measuring up the academies.

Are you also considering looking at academies from other parts of the world like South America and Europe?

I agree with you.

Yes, I will write about other academies.

[dannythomas]

Personally I think the Academy thing is sometimes over blown in its importance. If you can find a good coach to work with your kid , arrange and observe practice matches and bring in other kids sometimes to keep the practices fresh and challenging, plus incorporating fitness and conditioning ( or use a separate fitness coach ) and then go to tournaments , that may be better for a large percentage of kids.
A lot of the Academies do not even have the lead coaches doing 1:1 and leave all the drilling to the other coaches who are basically ball machines with the same tedious drills every day, matches against the same kids all the time and standardized programs for everyone. The Academies push the line that kids need to practice 6 hours every day and give up regular school because it is in their interest to sell those models.
There are some very good ones but if you sre going down that route I would ask :
1. Do all the kids have their own individualized programs ? That is technically , tactically and in fitness
2. Does the lead coach take part in the academy or does he do private lessons during Academy time ? What is the coach : students ratio ?
3. Are the younger kids given access to the top coaches in the Academy or do they focus only on the older kids ?
4. Do they insist kids attend their in house school or suggest home schooling ? Do they allow kids to participate who are in regular school or wish to do the Academy half days only ?
5. Do they attend tournaments and periodically watch kids through entire matches ?
6. What pro players and top juniors were trained at the Academy ?
7. What is the background, qualifications and experience of ALL of the Academy coaches ?

[dannythomas]

Originally Posted by tennisconsultcom

I wrote an article about top 5 tennis academies for junior tennis players. I considered only those academies which provide boarding and schooling for their students. Please read and leave your opinion.

Just to clarify did you only include Academies which offer boarding and schooling because thats what you think kids should do, or did you also include the ones that encourage kids to attend regular school, point out the pitfalls of having no life outside tennis and advise that it is a very low percentage of kids that actually make it ? If they don't do that they are in it for the money not the welfare of the students. Of course it's fine to offer boarding and schooling as options but neither should be pushed at the expense of other alternatives

[tennisconsultcom]

Originally Posted by dannythomas

Personally I think the Academy thing is sometimes over blown in its importance. If you can find a good coach to work with your kid , arrange and observe practice matches and bring in other kids sometimes to keep the practices fresh and challenging, plus incorporating fitness and conditioning ( or use a separate fitness coach ) and then go to tournaments , that may be better for a large percentage of kids.
A lot of the Academies do not even have the lead coaches doing 1:1 and leave all the drilling to the other coaches who are basically ball machines with the same tedious drills every day, matches against the same kids all the time and standardized programs for everyone. The Academies push the line that kids need to practice 6 hours every day and give up regular school because it is in their interest to sell those models.
There are some very good ones but if you sre going down that route I would ask :
1. Do all the kids have their own individualized programs ? That is technically , tactically and in fitness
2. Does the lead coach take part in the academy or does he do private lessons during Academy time ? What is the coach : students ratio ?
3. Are the younger kids given access to the top coaches in the Academy or do they focus only on the older kids ?
4. Do they insist kids attend their in house school or suggest home schooling ? Do they allow kids to participate who are in regular school or wish to do the Academy half days only ?
5. Do they attend tournaments and periodically watch kids through entire matches ?
6. What pro players and top juniors were trained at the Academy ?
7. What is the background, qualifications and experience of ALL of the Academy coaches ?

Great questions. And what are your answers? I think a few academies in the world meet these requirements.

I always tell to parents "all you need is a good coach who can work with your kid and develop him/her as a player.

[tennisconsultcom]

Originally Posted by dannythomas

Just to clarify did you only include Academies which offer boarding and schooling because thats what you think kids should do, or did you also include the ones that encourage kids to attend regular school, point out the pitfalls of having no life outside tennis and advise that it is a very low percentage of kids that actually make it ? If they don't do that they are in it for the money not the welfare of the students. Of course it's fine to offer boarding and schooling as options but neither should be pushed at the expense of other alternatives

Yes, in this article I considered only academies that provide full service: training, boarding and schooling.

If we talk about "junior player development center", where kids play tennis after regular school, I think that Woodbridge Tennis Club is the best place in the world. Look at top 10 seniors on tennisrecruiting: three of them (Gage Brymer, Tyler Lu and Stefan Menichella) from the same school and all play tennis with the same coaches. I know these players well because my kid plays with them for high school tennis team.

[2ndtimearound]

I'd simply like to read the article when finished.

As my screen name states, I'm doing a 2nd term in Junior tennis. I took my son and daughter all the way thru and now I am involved with a co-workers kids. Its interested all the changes that have occurred since getting away from the tournaments side of the sport. I still play recreationally, however, that's an entirely different scenario.

Please post a link to the article when completed if possible.

[Anyone4tennis?]

Originally Posted by tennisconsultcom

Yes, I will write about other academies.

I look forward to reading your work. Best wishes!

[dannythomas]

Originally Posted by dannythomas

Personally I think the Academy thing is sometimes over blown in its importance. If you can find a good coach to work with your kid , arrange and observe practice matches and bring in other kids sometimes to keep the practices fresh and challenging, plus incorporating fitness and conditioning ( or use a separate fitness coach ) and then go to tournaments , that may be better for a large percentage of kids.
A lot of the Academies do not even have the lead coaches doing 1:1 and leave all the drilling to the other coaches who are basically ball machines with the same tedious drills every day, matches against the same kids all the time and standardized programs for everyone. The Academies push the line that kids need to practice 6 hours every day and give up regular school because it is in their interest to sell those models.
There are some very good ones but if you sre going down that route I would ask :
1. Do all the kids have their own individualized programs ? That is technically , tactically and in fitness . YES EVERY KID HAS ONE WHICH IS EXPLAINED TO PARENTS AND KIDS BEFORE IMPLEMENTION AND REVIEWED AND DISCUSSED AT LEAST MONTHLY
2. Does the lead coach take part in the academy or does he do private lessons during Academy time ? What is the coach : students ratio ? HE IS iNVOLVED ON THE COURT IN ACADEMY TIME AND DOES NO PRIVATE LESSONS AT THAT TIME.COACH STUDENT RATIO NEVER EXCEEDS 4:1 AND IS USUALLY LESS .
3. Are the younger kids given access to the top coaches in the Academy or do they focus only on the older kids ? THE COACHES GIVE EQUAL ATTENTION TO ALL STUDENTS AND IF ANYTHING WE GIVE MORE TO THE YOUGER STUDENTS WHO HAVEN'T YET GROOVED THEIR STROKES. OFTEN THE EMPHASIS WITH OLDER KIDS IS MORE ON STRATEGY WITHOUT FORGETTING TECHNIQUE
4. Do they insist kids attend their in house school or suggest home schooling ? Do they allow kids to participate who are in regular school or wish to do the Academy half days only ? WE ARE OPEN TO BOTH AND GIVE BOTH EQUAL ATTENTION . WE DO NOT IMPOSE OUR OWN SCHOOLING OR HOME SCHOOLING AND WE ADVISE ALL PARENTS THAT IT MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT THING FOR MANY ESPECIALLY THE YOUNGER KIDS
5. Do they attend tournaments and periodically watch kids through entire matches ? YES WE WATCH AT LEAST ONE WHOLE MATCH PER CHILD PER MONTH AND FOR MANY TOURNAMENTS AT LEAST ONE COACH WATCHES ALL OF OUR PLAYERS THOUGH THAT WILL BE BY ROTATION
6. What pro players and top juniors were trained at the Academy ? WE HAVE COACHED MANY . SEE OUR WEBSITE UNDER " OUR PlAYERS "
7. What is the background, qualifications and experience of ALL of the Academy coaches ?THE DETAILED REsUMES Of OUR LEAD COACH. ...... AND HIS 2 SENIOR ASSISTANTS ........ AND............ CAN BE SEEN ON OUR WEBSITE UNDER " OUR COACHES " WHERE YOU WILL ALSO SEE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXPERENCE LEVEL AND QUALIFICATIONS WE REQUIRE AND THE IN HOUSE TRAINING WE GIVE TO OUR COACHES ON AN ONGOING BASIS
SHOULD YOU REQUIRE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT ANY ASPECT OF THE ACADEMY PLEASE DO CALL ME AT ANY TIME.

............................ ACADEMY DIRECTOR

Tennis consult I have marked off the " preferred " answers to my own questions above

[dannythomas]

Originally Posted by tennisconsultcom

Great questions. And what are your answers? I think a few academies in the world meet these requirements.

I always tell to parents "all you need is a good coach who can work with your kid and develop him/her as a player.

Glad to hear your advice which is best for most but see my separate post with answers

[tennisconsultcom]

Originally Posted by dannythomas

Tennis consult I have marked off the " preferred " answers to my own questions above

dannythomas you made good job. Just one more question: do you know an academy that meets ALL these demands?

I don't know.

[dannythomas]

The only ones I can comment on are the ones in South Florida. The answer also depends on whether having private lessons with the head coach is important to the student and if it is what it is they are looking for from those lessons, mostly tactical or strategic ? And the amounts these cost varies so much from 1 to the other. Anything from $100 to $400 per hour and how self motivated is the student ?