Why Choose NATA?
Simple! "OUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION"The North American Tennis Academy's reputation in the tennis industry is widely known, over half of our students come from referrals alone! Every new player is welcomed with a personal interview that walks each parent/player through the process of establishing whether we are the right academy for their needs. From the onset this close relationship through our admissions director sets the tone and guarantees nearly instant answers to questions, helping you make one of the most important decisions in your child's tennis career. Following your decision, you will still continue to receive communication through a spirit of inclusion from NATA on planning, process and achievements your child experiences.
COACHING COMMITMENT. The NATA coaching staff is committed to excellence! We strive not to meet your child's expectations, but exceed them. After all, if we don't excel, then how can your child excel? We are committed and dedicated to bringing each player a "Personalized Coaching Solution." We continuously grow and develop our training programs by understanding and adapting to the present and future trends in the tennis world. We strive to meet and exceed your expectations as a tennis parent in every way possible!
STUDENT CONNECTIVITY. We are a small academy and always will be! In order to truly cultivate each player's growth and development ratios must be kept to an ideal state 4:1. We encourage player diaries to help shape players tennis mind set, coping skills and positive healthy attitudes.
TRUST. Unlike many other tennis academy's, many NATA coaches are parents first enabling us to make split second decisions that would reflect your parenting beliefs and as parent's first and a coaches second keep our players on task which is so important in our culture today. Typical tennis pro's today making the transition to becoming a coach find it hard to "unload psychologically" meaning "they" are still the center of their universe. One of the hallmark qualities Ripley looks for in a coach is their ability to take themselves out of the center of their universe and place your child first.
THE PROGRAM. Our philosophy is to work with the each student's short, medium and long term goals and backward chain each of them, establishing priorities, with laser focused intensity that reinforce tennis ethics. We believe that every player must have a master plan and we train from the same sheet of music. The most effective way to reach each goal is through quality over quantity. Research has proven a program blending the combination of volume and intensity periodised over a training period is the most effective method of training. Ripley has been well trained in "periodisation" as part of Tennis Canada's Coaching staff from the early to late nineties when the concept was widely used and integrated the system into the Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in 2001.
THE SYSTEM. Our system respects the technical, tactical, physical and psychological components of a player development combined with tournament scheduling.
Managing these player components is crucial to developing a complete athlete able to make complex decisions in the pressure of competition.
PERIODISATION. Periodisation allows us to plan ahead and to anticipate possible contingencies that may surface during training and competition. In the elite game, it is largely governed by medium and short term goals related to the competitions in which our player's participate. The nature of the super series, designates, state and ITF tours, where some uncertainty (injuries, illnesses, physical or mental form of the player, competition results, match times and durations, etc) is commonplace makes it necessary to continuously review and adapt the training and competition plan. Similar flexibility is also important in handling the varied physiological demands of competition, where different surfaces, opponents, and formats (3-5 sets) can all affect the intensity and duration of physical effort.
Periodisation's adaptability to the goals NATA set's and the individual characteristics of the player make it an excellent tool to facilitate the control of training. Thus, the improvement or deterioration of a player's form can be attributed to the work performed and changes can be made accordingly. "Periodisation drives the modification of training using well established criteria based on the continuous evaluation of training progress."
