Moving to Georgia...need help....

[TCF]

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[Soianka]

Another good one is Jeff Wilson in Alpharetta.

He was travelling with Irina Falconi on the WTA for a time though...not sure if he is still doing that.

Otherwise, he has a nice small academy with lots of personal attention.

I would definitely go with Greg Amerson though of Lifetime Tennis if I were you.

[ga tennis]

Originally Posted by TCF

Tell you what.....let my girl get to 10 years old, then we will come up and you arrange for every single one of Heath's students who are 10-11 at that time to play her.

You might be surprised to find that Heath is not the only one able to develop great players.

I know you can develop a great player. I got faith in ya.

[TCF]

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[drfrankfree]

Originally Posted by ga tennis

Really? Only one kid there hits two forehands. Have u been out to see what hes doing or is this information someone told you?

Yep, I've been out there. I've seen the Strive kids play and if I recall correctly, it's Heath's daughter who hits the 2 forehands. So, by logic, I'm assuming that's his method. I'm not saying it is good or bad. It may be the next big thing but it IS unorthodox. I also agree with other posters that $250 is waaaaaayyyy too much for a private for a 9 year old. There are plenty of other coaches in the ATL with a better record for developing juniors than Heath. Tori Hawkins at Windward, for example, has every bit as sterling of a resume as Heath at 25% of the price. That;s not to say Heath isn't a great coach. He obviously is. I just argue that he is $180/hr better than the next guy. Especially when talking about a 9 year old.

[drfrankfree]

I'll just post a quick follow up to my post above. I know Heath will respond with his bio including his wife, Ashley Harkleroad, and a list of pros he has worked with. Heath is a great coach and I hope he is not offended by my presenting facts. His methods may very well produce the next "big thing" in tennis. In response to the OPs original question, I will just present this: 1n the 2013 class, Windward has 6 girls in the top 200 in the nation, 4 in the top 100. In the 2014 class, there are 4 Windward girls in the top 100, in the 2015 class there are 4 top 200, and so on. Just looking at the recent success, I, as a tennis parent find no compelling argument to spend 4x for a private lesson over someone who is constantly and presently producing top 100 talent. I don't mean to offend Heath at all.

[jctennis]

Battle2Victory,
I agree with drfrankfree's suggestion about Jeff Weaver at ACE Academy in Norcross.

About Windward Tennis Academy, in addition to Torrey, there are other very good coaches. Will Wright and Henry Darko. Their academy is very highly reputed for girls as drfrankfree mentioned. There are some very good younger girls as well in their day time program.

I would suggest you to try out all academies suggested here. Spend some time when these coaches take private lessons for other kids, talk to them about what you want from them for your daughter and make your decision.

Good Luck!

[Nastase]

There are so many options in ATL. Please try out multiple options and find the program and coach that fits your kid on mutilple levels. TAS, Lifetime, Windward, CC of the South, ACE, ATA, Old Towne, and others all offer decent programs...but are each different culturally. I like some of the coaching recommendations here, but there are a couple recommended here (and maybe 100 coaches in ATL) that I would not have my kid in front of.

[High Rustler]

OP, having read the thread I'd ad Ashley Hobson Gwinett & Snellville; and Diaz at Harrison Tennis center to the earlier list. UTA produces a lot of talent as well, and i think it is all at Blackburn these days, but I'm not sure. All of these are north atlanta, if you are on the southside I really can't help.

While you will no doubt find fanatics for every one of these pros (my kids see one on that list), I beleive that any on the list will get you where you are going just fine. I'd look hard at the one located closest to you as commute has a lot to do with quality of life here. Personally, I've found that in the larger academies (Windward & lifetime for example) it's easy to get wrapped up in how many they have at the top. The real question is how do they handle the next tier?

I ran track in high school and college (D1) and speak from that background.

[ga tennis]

op i would like to know how your search went??