Selecting the Right State to Pursue my Tennis Passion
It became clear that if I wanted to take my tennis game to the next level, I would need to move out from the New Jersey / New York City area and relocate to where tennis is a way of life. And, where it doesn’t cost $100+ to book a court for an hour during the winter months (good old Manhattan). I spoke to a number of college tennis players, tennis pros at local clubs, and even attended the IMG Academy tennis program for adults in March. It became evident that Florida was the tennis hotbed that made the most sense for me.
Finding the Right “Academy”
My original plan was to attend three adult tennis programs a month. For example, one week I would visit IMG, then I’d spend a week at Saddlebrook, etcetera. Then, every fourth week I would hire a pro to teach me for 10-15 hours and I would focus a significant portion of that fourth week on physical conditioning. I attended the IMG Academy tennis program for adults for one week in March for vacation, while still employed, and quickly learned that I needed to revamp my plans. Although I had a great time attending the academy, meeting Nick Bollettieri, and getting good instruction from the pros, I realized that I needed to find younger competition.
Although I am 28 years old, and the youth academies focus on teenagers who are trying to compete at the college level or go pro, I was able to find a tennis academy willing to give me a shot. I expressed my commitment and love of the game, and the pros who ran the academy were willing to give me a chance.
Week at the Tennis Academy
Each week at the tennis academy is structured, loosely, as follows.
Monday – Friday
- 8:00 – 8:20 Stretching
- 8:20 – 8:30 Warm-up on court with partner
- 8:30 – 10:30 Drills
- 10:30 – 11:00 Court conditioning, run, or gym
- 12:30 – 2:30 Drills / Match play
Saturday
- 9:00 – 11:00 Drills / Match play
Update: August 27, 2020
Which Tennis Academies Did I Choose?
Many people have reached out to me wondering which tennis academies I chose to train at.
I spent the majority of my tennis training journey at Tough Tennis Academy, in Naples, Florida. While at Tough Tennis Academy, I received incredible instruction, working with each of their five main instructors (Vimal Patel, Jesse Witten, Evan Austin, Ronen Graziani, and Phillip Arndt). I also spent a few terrific weeks training at Inspiration Academy, in Bradenton, Florida, with Coach Ashley Hobson.
With good reason, at first, both academies were hesitant to have me, a 28/29 year old, training with kids who were mainly teenagers. But, after the coaches witnessed my positive attitude, work ethic, fitness level, and tennis skill level, they were happy to have me at their academies and treated me as if I had been attending for years. Each of the coaches truly cared about my development and demonstrated that they were invested in my progress. It was a pleasure training at these academies and I cannot say enough good things about the quality of these programs.
