LIVE on Atlanta Tennis Podcast :: Marcelo Ferreira of Windy Hill High Performance Tennis Academy

Join us LIVE at 1:30PM on Friday September 8th as we talk to Marcelo Ferreira of Windy Hill High Performance Tennis Academy

More about Marcelo: https://voyageatl.com/interview/meet-marcelo-ferreira-of-windy-hill-high-performance-tennis-academy/

Our High Performance Tennis Program at Windy Hill is totally designed for college preparation. After my years as a college coach and seeing the junior tennis industry from up close, I realized that there was a tremendous need for a truly comprehensive program offering more of a holistic approach in the development of athletes.

We focus thoroughly on discipline, accountability, selflessness, teamwork, professionalism and other values that are extremely important in life but I know firsthand that college coaches want to recruit players that understand the importance of playing for one another, embrace a disciplined approach towards their training and are committed to a high level of excellence.

We have designed a program which is undoubtedly different from what’s being offered out there right now.

With a 4 to 1 (player/coach) ratio, our players get high-quality coaching every day on a semi-private basis when a lot of the other academies have an 8 to 1 and sometimes even 12 to 1 ratio. That high ratio doesn’t really allow for proper technical and strategical work, hand and racquet feeding as well as the building of a strong connection with the players. Our athletes receive that type of coaching on a daily basis because of the low ratio we offer. We also limited the number of participants to only 20 players per program so we can remain super focused on each player and get them to feel part of a big family.

On top of the “boutique style” academy and the 4-1 ratio, we also have a complete fitness & recovery component as part of the program which has made it even more special. Two times a week, our kids have yoga and meditation sessions with one of the best yogis in the country, Andrew Housley, and for the other two days of training they go through a comprehensive strength and conditioning program which is run by our two high-performance fitness coaches Tiago Kulaif and Caroline Hargis. The sessions are extremely tennis specific and take place on our turf, indoor track, indoor and outdoor pool, pilates studio, weight room, bike studio and other amazing areas of the club depending on the focus of the session and the phase of the periodization the players are going through.

On top of our amazing tennis and fitness coaches, we also have in our staff a sports psychologist and mental performance coach, Ally Claytor, who meets with our group once every two weeks to work on their growth mindset, their overall mentality towards the game, ways for them to overcome their negative emotions as well as strategies to be successful in a team environment.

Another member of our staff is Alissa Allen, a top-level sports nutritionist, who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the professional tennis world after working closely with Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and others. Alissa was one of the top sports nutritionists/dieticians at IMG for a long time.

We are also super fortunate to have an awesome partnership with Emory Sports Medicine, athletic trainer Tony Tran and Dr. Neeru Jayanthi who is one of the top tennis medicine doctors in the country. Dr. J works closely with the ATP, WTA and ITF.

Dr. J and Tony come to Windy Hill to visit us once a week to check on our athletes to make sure that they are doing the right things to prevent injuries but also to follow up on the rehab of already injured athletes.

Last but for sure not least, our tennis coaching staff is one of the best in the business. I am fortunate to be able to rely on coaches that have lots of experience coaching in college or at the professional level and have also played on the tour.

Garrett Vinson – top ITF coach, ATP/WTA coach,  former assistant coach to Francis Tiafoe (worked on video strategical analysis)

Anthony Lee – former hitting partner/traveling coach to Scoville Jenkins (Top 190 ATP), Assistant Coach at Clemson and George Washington

Kerrie Cartwright – former number 1 player at Florida State, Bahamas Fed Cup Player, coached numerous top junior players and held coaching positions at some of the best high-performance academies in the country.

We offer 4 different high-performance programs at Windy Hill:

HP Home School:
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
1:30PM – 3:30PM ON COURT
3:30PM – 4:30PM FITNESS

Junior High Performance:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
3:30PM – 5:00PM ON COURT
5:00PM – 5:30PM FITNESS

HP After School:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
5:00PM – 7:00PM ON COURT
7:00PM – 8:00PM FITNESS

Full Time Program (Home & After School):
Monday
5:00PM – 7:00PM ON COURT
7:00PM – 8:00PM FITNESS

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
1:30PM – 3:30PM ON COURT
3:30PM – 4:30PM FITNESS
5:00PM – 7:00PM ON COURT