I just got back from 3 days at the Saddlebrook Resort. I am a 50-yr old male, and my 14 year old son attended with me. I'm a 3.5 player and my son is going to try out for the high school team this spring.
Saddlebrook was recommended by a colleague who is a very competitive player in Russia whose son is a strong junior.
First, the tennis - in the adult program there were about 50 of us. The players were grouped well by ability, so I was always hitting with people at my level. There were 3 or 4 adults plus one pro on each court.
Instruction was excellent. Sean McQ. was the pro on my court for two of the three days and was superb. Very positive, fun, and offered a good assessment of my mechanics. A few tweaks plus lots of balls helped my forehand, volley, and doubles court positioning. We were video taped and another pro assessed our mechanics - very useful.
There is a half-day and full-day choice, I took the full day, which is 5 hours on the har-tru courts - 3 in the morning & 2 in the afternoon. That is a lot of tennis - be prepared with 2 tennis outfits per day, lots of sunscreen, Motrin, sunglasses, and hat(s). Be careful about blisters on feet or hands.
The other players were friendly and cooperative - we all played hard but...I just got back from 3 days at the Saddlebrook Resort. I am a 50-yr old male, and my 14 year old son attended with me. I'm a 3.5 player and my son is going to try out for the high school team this spring.
Saddlebrook was recommended by a colleague who is a very competitive player in Russia whose son is a strong junior.
First, the tennis - in the adult program there were about 50 of us. The players were grouped well by ability, so I was always hitting with people at my level. There were 3 or 4 adults plus one pro on each court.
Instruction was excellent. Sean McQ. was the pro on my court for two of the three days and was superb. Very positive, fun, and offered a good assessment of my mechanics. A few tweaks plus lots of balls helped my forehand, volley, and doubles court positioning. We were video taped and another pro assessed our mechanics - very useful.
There is a half-day and full-day choice, I took the full day, which is 5 hours on the har-tru courts - 3 in the morning & 2 in the afternoon. That is a lot of tennis - be prepared with 2 tennis outfits per day, lots of sunscreen, Motrin, sunglasses, and hat(s). Be careful about blisters on feet or hands.
The other players were friendly and cooperative - we all played hard but it was very constructive. No jerks, noone with attitude.
The food was actually quite good, and the hotel staff was very organized and accomodating. Generally we ate in the sports bar for dinner and had burgers. One night we ate in the steakhouse, which had great steaks but NYC prices - $49 for a 20 oz prime bone-in ribeye, for example. The morning offered a continental breakfast and a full breakfast. A bit expensive, but we weren't cooking. We had a one-bedroom suite, with living room & kitchenette - very clean and everything in good condition. I'll attach a few photos. Other people made their own meals in the room, which I would advise if you want to save money. Lunch we ate in one of the restaurants - for a tennis player the Cobb Salad is just the ticket - protein but not heavy. All of the food was very good - fresh, well-prepared. I travel quite a bit for business, all over the world, and there are few restaurants I would say this about.
My son attended the junior camp, and had a similar experience. The juniors had 1 pro for every 2 courts, that seemed to be the main difference. Again, my son reported that the other junior were good kids & had positive attitude. There were...More
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