Training groups/Academies

paulisi · Tennis legend

Training groups/Academies

RJA · Hall of fame

Bath Academy (not exhaustive)

Miles Bugby
Richard Gabb
Toby Martin

Lisa Whybourn
Sam Murray

steven · Tennis legend

Bolton Academy (a longer list!)

Ashley Hewitt
George Morgan
Clay Crawford

Georgia Craven
Sabrina Federici

... and a bunch of younger players

Nottingham Performance Academy

(from their recent tweets)

Dan Evans
Shakeel Manji
Marcus Walters
Joe Woolley
Robert Leck

Freya Christie
Ceire Mullins
Livvy Tomkins

& a bunch of younger players playing Tennis Europe events

Halton Tennis Centre

Katy Dunne

Josh · Challenger level

Mel South is at Bath too

steven · Tennis legend

Manisha Foster is now at Soto, apparently

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Gosling

korriban · Challenger level

Bob the Ball Boy. I'm guessing you may know your stuff!

Just a few questions from an interested outsider.

If a player were affiliated to the NTC, but not a Team Aegon member, so from your list the likes of Neil Pauffley, Alex Ward, Dan Smethurst, Anna Smith, Sabrina Bamburac......they go to the NTC to train, but what do they have to actually pay for and what is, in effect, gifted to them.......

Travel to the NTC and back

Coaching and other people who advise (eg fitness, medical, etc)

Fitness equipment

Medical and recovery facilities

Tennis balls, stringing, other ancilliary costs

Food and drink

Tennis equipment (racquets, clothing, footwear, bags, etc)

......I presume that all of this has to be paid for by the players, even if it might be subsidised.

-- Edited by korriban on Monday 13th of May 2013 03:01:50 PM

Bob the Ball Boy · Junior player

NTC:

Andy- base
Kyle Edmund
Liam Broady
Dan Evans
Oli Golding
James Marsalek
Dan Smethurst
Neil Pauffley
Luke Bambridge
Alex Ward
Jonny O'Mara
Cameron Norrie
Dom Inglot
Lewis Burton

Laura/Heather/Anne- base
Jo Konta
Tara Moore
Anna Smith
Pippa Horn
Sabrina Bamburac
Harriet Dart
Katie Boulter
Lana Rush

(im sure I have missed more than a couple + plenty more access players)

Bath:

Toby Martin
Richard Gabb
Scott Clayton

Lisa Whybourn
Sam Murray
Mel South
Fran Stephenson
Beth Askew
Brigit Folland

+ lots of juniors + university programme (cornish/walker/starling)

Gosling:

Ed Corrie
David Rice

+ younger players

Bolton/Nottingham/Halton- as above to the best of my knowledge

Others:

Naomi Broady- Mouratoglou/Manchester privately
Jess Ren- Virgin Active Riverside, Chiswick
Jade Windley- was at Brighton but think she has moved recently (although still with the same coach)

Can't really comment on a lot of the older guys as they tend to spend most of the time travelling and don't really have a set base + use NTC when it suits. Slabinsky and a few other London based seniors were training at Dukes Meadow but I can't confirm that is still the case

In addition to Jess Ren, there is a group of guys at Riverside including James Ireland, Oli Hudson, Adam Skalsky, Adam Thornton Brown, Alex Jhun- but in a seperate academy to Jess & may be moving to another location

steven · Tennis legend

Thanks, that's quite a comprehensive list!

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

When I spoke to Slabba a few weeks ago in Alicante, he told me he was now based here in Spain. I think he may have mentioned Gijon. It was certainly in Northern Spain as he was regularly travelling across the border to play French league tennis with his coach and doubles partner Ferran "Ace" Ventura.

Bob the Ball Boy · Junior player

the way its run essentially means the players dont pay anything to actually train there i.e. they dont pay the coaches, or for fitness training, physio etc etc

instead they just don't receive any of their allocated funding (which admittedly wouldn't be very much for the names you mentioned) and get discretionary international travel assistance when they want to go to tournaments abroad.

travelling in the UK is paid for by the players, but sometimes the LTA pay for hotel rooms etc at tournaments (or you just share with a team aegon player and problem solved). helps, slightly, that official hotels often give players cheap rates. food/drink also paid for by the players.

for those that don't live in london, the LTA pay for accommodation during training in the form of host families for the juniors, or sometimes players stay at the NTC overnight. I don't think they are as generous with the older players.... and if they were to change their policy on letting out their rooms (it is rumoured they are thinking about only letting them out during camps for juniors) then this could potentially become a massive issue for Smethurst/Ward etc who don't live locally

most of the players can string themselves or pay another player peanuts to do it for them on a machine inside the NTC. Rumour is Liam Broady offers the best rates haha! If they have to pay for restrings at tournaments they normally pay for it themselves.

tennis equipment is always at the player's expense. unless, of course, they are sponsored. that's the same for team aegon though.

I think the most interesting thing about this system is that is gives the players there a huge financial advantage over anyone based outside of the NTC, thereby giving some players pretty much no option but to train there- which may not be the right thing for their development.

Also important to note- the LTA are very picky about who gets to train there and who doesn't- I could go on for hours about how ridiculous this is in terms of lowering participation numbers, adding pressure to the 'selected few', and how the centre has the highest turnover rate than anywhere else I have heard of... but my point in regards to your question is that they wouldn't have players training there if they weren't willing to back them financially. So, whilst they aren't on a full ride, they get significant backing from the LTA and this financial support + the new(ish) bonus scheme in futures and challengers ensures that these players can survive a lot longer than they would if they weren't. Sounds good, but in reality these players still aren't earning much money as their winnings pretty much go to living expenses such as food and travel... it's just about enough to survive on tour & had this bonus scheme not been implemented I think a lot of these guys would be seriously struggling financially

korriban · Challenger level

Thank you BTBB. Having read that (your words and the stuff between the lines), I'm still not sure whether the NTC is a good thing or not, net net. The implication around the high turnover rates is worrying, given the obvious financial and (I presume) technical/coaching support advantages of training there vs other locations.......unless the approach/standard of coaching itself is perhaps an issue [I have no idea].

One thing I have noticed, although it may be a complete coincidence or an issue of timing (which will right itself over time), is that the younger NTC/La Manga men's training group in general hasn't started the year very well. James Marsalek (until last week, but it was a very very weak field), Liam Broady, Alex Ward, Dan Smethurst (OK but not great), Oli Golding, Neil Pauffley, Luke Bambridge, Lewis Burton.......none of them have made any significant gains (in terms of results) and in some cases appear to have gone backwards. [Kyle I would regard differently, as early indications are that he might be more of a "special" player, irrespective of where/with whom he trains......I hope so anyway].

.......whereas some of the younger men's players outside this group (Marcus Willis, Tom Farqhuarson, Ed Corrie, Ashley Hewitt) are the ones who seem to have broken through, and created big impressions this year. They seem to be more consistent, serial winners where SF or better is becoming the norm, rather than a "good" week.

I find it ironic that will all the financial/technical/people resources at their disposal at the NTC, the names we are talking about week in week out as doing well are primarily NOT from this training group! Am I missing something?

RJA · Hall of fame

I am increasingly of the opinion that the NTC is an expensive, baldy located, white elephant. I would have much rather seen the money spent on a number of smaller facilities located around the country.

philwrig · Hall of fame

As is usually the case, the NTC works for some people but not others.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Interesting.

Sorry if this is obvious but do you know if it's open to the public ? i.e. like a club where you can turn up and have a look round to see if you like it ? I'd be curious to see it.

I know nothing about the NTC (as is obvious from the above!!) but, in general, and having watched and been involved with funding programs/systems for elite juniors, I strongly believe that a purely result-based, top two only sort of system for 15-18 year olds is completely wrong and ineffective.

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Tuesday 14th of May 2013 09:45:29 AM