NEWS!  MIKA LOWRANCE WAS NAMED ALL AMERICAN

Congratulations Mika

"where other programs fall short we succeed"

PLAYER ExPECTATIONS

Through Ripley’s knowledge and experience and considered to be in the top 1% of developmental coaches in the world, there are two cultures of the TPA program he finds instrumental for the continued growth of it's players. These cultures differ from other junior programs around the area and even the country. We find these cultures fit in with our overall philosophy beginning with the idea we do not believe any special equipment, money or gurus will take the place of hard work and dedication. The  following expectations are sometimes misunderstood but they are honest and produce players who are tougher mentally.

Inspiring  Athletes vs Motivating them

We spend  considerable time vetting each player who wishes to train with us through a series of interviews that establish a culture that day in and day out you are responsible for bringing the drive and motivation to train smart and hard even when you don’t feel like putting forth the effort, requiring players to dig real deep within. TPA's primary responsibility is to inspire each player through world class training, ATP/WTA player stories, analogies, understanding  the players learning style through NLP (Neuro- Linguistic Programming.

“Musical” Coaches Expectation

We do not support or believe in the “musical” coaches philosophy. We never have and never will. Players and their parents interested in enrolling in the TPA  program should also realize this. The use of multiple coaches is of no benefit to our program or to the players we coach. We want the players to listen to one voice in their development.

It is important to realize on court you need to be able to trust the players around you; their attitudes toward practice, their competitive spirit and the overall integrity of the program needs to be protected. This is why TPA Development is by invitation only and is intended for dedicated tournament tennis players. Players of  TPA and their accomplishments become our culture, history and tradition.

Here are some of the focal points of this program:

    •    Players in this program are required to make the commitment of time and effort to be the best they can be.

    •    We want junior tennis players who are trying to attain a state, sectional or national ranking.

    •    During TPA sessions play strategies are emphasized in structured games and match-play.

    •    We believe the youngsters’ minds should also be consciously stressed, allowed to recover and compensate. Hence, we are one of the few programs that schedule in rest period and dedicate to the best players the best hours of the day and week for practice.

    •    TPA provides a total learning environment where private lessons provide individual attention and the drill sessions reinforce the skills learned in the private lessons.

    •    Drills and match play situations are varied throughout the year long program with new movements and combinations.

    •    We apply pressure at practice and strive to make the training more difficult to keep the player guessing.

    •    We believe in attention to detail. For us little things matter so we will go back and repeat things over and again in practice sessions until we are able to get them right.

    •    A main objective of TPA is to train with the same commitment we take into competition. We teach to our students the only outcome of value is that which is realized by utterly committing all of one’s resources to the task at hand.

    •    Tournaments are scheduled to provide coaching and match analysis.

    •    Over time, careful emphasis on a strong foundation allows players to reach higher points with their games.

We find talented tennis players to be fairly common in North Carolina. Young tennis players who can combine the focus, concentration and physical talents are less prevalent. These are the skills we strive to develop for our players in the TPA program. But if you are not willing to give it everything you have, to go until there is nothing left to give, then this is probably not the best program suited for you.