One of the greatest things about Florida is the beautiful weather, even during the winter months. While there are many full-time residents, many of Florida’s winter residents flock to their vacation homes from the northern half of the country when the weather turns. Many do it in the name of better weather and not wanting to shovel snow, while others want a place where they can be active all year long.

What better way to spend the winter months than perfecting your tennis game?

Florida is unique. It’s one of two places in the United States that is truly a mecca for tennis. There are opportunities to watch and play tennis everywhere. There are thousands of tennis clubs around the state, the USTA National Campus in Orlando, the Miami Open in late March, and over twenty tennis academies.

While you might think tennis academies are strictly for juniors, academies often offer a fully adult program and day camps. Here are five top adult tennis programs to keep you active during those long winter months.

Emilio Sanchez Academy

The ES Academy is located in Naples, Florida. It offers the complete package for adults and juniors: thirty-eight tennis courts, a tennis club, a restaurant, a cafeteria, a school, accommodations, a pool, and a performance training center.

ES Academy loves training adult players who want to improve their tennis level. Their programs are personalized and perfect for a player who wants a high-performance atmosphere. With four players to one coach per court, you’ll receive specialized feedback and instruction from the tennis academy coaches.

There are  three adult programs at ES Academy:

• Gold Program – This Monday through Friday program gives you two hours of on-court training and one hour of personal physical training.
• Bronze Weekly Program – Another Monday through Friday program that encompasses ten hours of on-court training, two hours per day.
• Silver 2–Day Program – Offered any two days between Monday and Friday. You’ll receive four hours of on-court training and two hours of physical training.

IMG Academy

Before it was IMG, it was known as Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, one of the country’s best-known academies. Bollettieri’s is located in Bradenton and is famous for developing many tennis champions: Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Tommy Haas, and the Williams sisters.

And the academy has opened its legendary doors to adult players. They pride themselves on providing their adult players with the same level of tennis training and expert coaching that their juniors and top professional players receive.

They offer three all-inclusive tennis packages and daily packages ranging from one day to five days. There’s far too much information to tell you here; visit their website to see all the details.

Here’s a sample schedule for what a typical day would look like at IMG Academy:

• 8 AM: Warmup/Evaluation
• 10 AM – 12 PM: Tennis Training
• 12:30 – 1:45 PM: Lunch
• 2 – 4 PM: Tennis Training

If you want to feel like you’re getting the full tennis academy experience, IMG Academy is a safe bet. And it doesn’t hurt that they were ranked as one of the top ten adult tennis camps by Tennis Resorts Online.

USTA National Campus

Located in Orlando, the USTA National Campus is often called the Home of American Tennis. It’s not only a huge training facility for up-and-coming professional American players, but it’s also open to the public for match play, private lessons, and clinics.

It houses twenty league courts, thirty-two HarTru courts, sixteen family courts, twelve collegiate courts, twenty-six courts with PlaySight technology, and four pickleball hard courts. It’s a tennis haven for every type of player.

They have over eleven different weekly classes:

• Tennis 101
• Tennis 102
• Cardio Tennis
• Cardio Fit
• Novice Cardio
• Advanced Drill Session
• Doubles Live Ball
• Singles Live Ball
• Innovation Clinics
• Singles Training
• Doubles Training

They also have a variety adult tennis camps:

• Premier Adult Tennis Camps: They offer a Monday-Wednesday structure or weekends only. Room accommodation is included in the camp price. If you’re interested, the Spring 2023 schedule is available.
• 3-Day Adult Camps: Players should have an NTRP rating ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 – players are grouped according to level. If you need your tennis fix ASAP, they still have three scheduled camps in December.

Saddlebrook Resort

Saddlebrook Resort might not be a tennis academy, but it’s one of the Tampa resorts tennis enthusiasts flocks to because their adult programs are demanding and intense. You will develop your stamina, speed, agility, and endurance while incorporating your natural style of play.

What’s the best part of tennis training in a luxury resort? You can reward yourself at the pools and restaurants afterwards.

There tennis program includes a buffet-style breakfast, five hours of tennis instruction, and an optional tennis event of the day. Their adult tennis program runs year-round, and they have private lessons if you feel like you need more one-on-one attention.

For more information about their program, visit their website.

Omni Amelia Island Resort

Another beautiful resort, this time on Amelia Island, offers adult tennis programs designed for maximum enjoyment and improvement. The resort can accommodate individuals, couples, and entire teams for their camps – make sure you call ahead.

They offer two- and three-day camps, which include a daily two-hour clinic and a private lesson. The resort also offers something called “Ladies Retreats,” which is a 5-day camp with tennis instruction, match play, competitions, dining experience, and entertainment.

If you’re not of the camping sort, the resort also has daily clinics:

• Instruction & Drills
• Strategy & Drills
• Beginner Clinics
• Tennis 301
• Monday Night Lights
• Sip-N-Serve
• 105 Doubles & Bubbles
• Men’s Open Clinic
• Fast Feed Clinic
• Men’s Social Night

The Baseline

I had to hide my credit card while writing this article because I was tempted to book a flight to Florida for the winter. For the lucky ones living in Florida, you truly have an all-you-can-eat tennis buffet at your fingertips.

If you give any of these a try, let us know what programs and clinics you enjoyed (or already have enjoyed!).