June 2016 - Ollie and Ciaran Train in Spain

Appeti Tennis School pupils Ollie and Ciaran headed off to Spain for a week’s training at the Juan Carlos Ferrero- Equelite Tennis Academy.

The Juan Carlos Ferrero- Equelite Tennis Academy was founded 1995 and is one of the best in Spain for training young players, having produced several national male and female champions. The Academy has 20 courts of all kind of surfaces and a large number of facilities including a paddle court, gym, football field, swimming pools and golf course. The Academy, where its players can live and study, offers a large number of programs and tournaments for players of all levels.

Juan Carlos Ferrero is a French Open Champion, reached the final of U.S. Open and won 3 Davis Cups. These results led him to be the number 1 in the world during 2003.

So, naturally the boys were really excited. As was Tim who joined the boys out in Spain for the early part of the week. Tim commented “this was a fantastic learning experience. I was able to work together with coaches from a different country, seeing what techniques they use to develop a player. Interesting to see the "Spanish way" of coaching and which aspects of the game they focus on. Their discipline and work rate is still very high just like ours at Appeti Tennis.”

The week at the Academy focussed on 3 hours of technical training and 3 hours of physical training every day with fun activities built in such as swimming, golf and beach volleyball. Both boys worked really hard and quickly got into the routine. They had the chance to train on all surfaces, clay, hard, artificial grass.

Even with such a demanding schedule both boys did really well and Tim was extremely pleased with both their attitudes and their performances. Both Ollie and Ciaran were promoted from the Summer Camp to train with the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy players, who were training full time.

The Academy emphasises the development of skills not only in sport but also in the social and educational aspects and both Ollie and Ciaran were able to demonstrate this to a high level. This was an amazing opportunity for Ollie and Ciaran to meet and practice with players from all over the world.

Both boys commented on how the fantastic atmosphere was, the amazing facilities, the chance to meet different players and how good the food was, particularly breakfast!!

We hope they've taken lots away from their experience, tactically, physically and mentally to use in the future.

Click here to see photos from The Trip.