We get these questions with a high frequency; Parents want to know what we do at the academy and their kids are unaware of what it is like to be at our annual Tennis+School program. So, let’s go together and walk along a Monday in our student-athlete’s life so you can read and understand what it looks like.
With an early start, those students who are boarding in our onsite apartments set their alarm for 6 a.m., they have already made their bags the night before, so they just need to brush their teeth, get dressed, and be ready.
They get their bags and walk out at 6:15 a.m. At a slow pace, they walk to the clubhouse and head down to the locker rooms where they drop their bags and go up for breakfast. Breakfast is a tough choice but usually, some scrambled eggs, toast, some fresh-cut fruit, and a glass of juice sounds good to most of our group.
After breakfast, athletes put their shoes on, get their tennis staff ready, open their locker to grab the last things, and head to the front desk where there they can find a paper with their names and placement on the court. At 6:50 a.m. groups of athletes start going down to their assigned courts, they get together and start the warmup as a group. The warmup lasts for about 15 minutes and serves to make sure all the body has been activated and along with the stretch bands prevents them from getting injured.
Coaches already have balls on the court, so now it is time to go to their assigned court and start their court routines where they start their tennis warm-up with each other. Slowly moving to baseline, they are waiting to hear the scream to start, when that happens it is time for rotations. Rotations are life balls that have point play in them so once the end of the rotation call gets called, they move up and down in a lather depending if they win or lose, placing themselves on the group of that day based on their performance.
Once rotation finishes, groups get together, and the coach explains how the practice is going to go and what they will work on during the training time. Practices are planned following the ES Tennis teaching system that has 30% Controls, 30% Drills, and 30% Matchplay, the remaining 10% is up to the coach.
During the practice, coaches have 2 players per court and around 6 to 7 players per group. With several water breaks, the players have high-performance training with many learning opportunities led by coaches who have been trained under the same system and have plenty of experience in the field. After the 3 hours of play, athletes rush to the showers to get ready for school time.
They put on their sports uniform and go to our ES private American school onsite to start their day. Each day is an A or a B Day of classes where they are taught in small settings to help them be more attentive and learn better with a personalized approach. During the day they have 3 courses of 1:30’ each with 2 breaks in between the first one for lunch at the dining room with homemade daily food made by our kitchen staff and the last one a 10’ break to get a snack. Today students had AP US history, PreAP Biology and for A3 they had PreAP Geometry.
Once the clock indicates 4 p.m. it is time for their afternoon activities. On Mondays, they don’t have regular fitness in the afternoon, instead, they have hydro tennis in the first hour in which they do fitness at the pool to help them with mobility resistance, and strength, followed by a mental session happening at the dining room during the second hour.
During mental, they talk about different topics that affect them during their on-court performance and ways to solve them. Motivation, Goals, and Negative thoughts among others are covered during the sessions… Afterward, they enter their last shower of the day and head upstairs for a dinner break. Dinner is served in a buffet style as well; students have time to eat and rest until their last item on their schedule for the day which is study hall.
The last hour is dedicated to an hour of study that they have 3 times a week where they get to advance in their homework and exams among others. After their study hall, it is time to pack the bags and head home, a place where they can rest inside their house, get ready for the next day, or use their free time until curfew to walk around our campus with their friends to disconnect.
During the whole day, our student-athletes follow a rigorous schedule that allows them to train to develop their game and at the same time do academics to grow their knowledge, a mix to take the best of our student-athletes. It is a schedule that brings out the best in both sides helping them become unique individuals.
By the marketing department of the ES Florida,
