Here's what others have had to say about IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
"Sent our son for the year long program. The good: a lot of drilling daily, fitness daily, if you become injured there is physical therapist on hand, great workout room, school is stone throws away from dorms (except H.S. aged kids have a long walk.) Nice pool, outings on the weekends and evenings.
The bad: no supervision for kids. There are so called "mentors" that go around checking off kids names and remind them to tidy up their room and do homework then they stop by at curfew to make sure kids are in bed. Other than that the kids are all on their own. The dorms are dirty, outdated, small and there is no plan on updating them any time soon. My child and his friends did not like the food. Some of the kids have foul mouths and when we visited, the younger groups were very emotional - yelling at each other, cursing. Also, much too expensive. You get your hours of tennis in but not the place to leave a child on their own."—J.S., Int., August 2010
"Brought my two kids and a friend (ages 7 to 11) for a week at the Bollettieri Academy with high expectations. They were not met. One son won every match he played, but was not offered a more advanced grouping. One son was brought to tears by a bullying and unhappy teaching pro. Our friend fared best with respect to tennis, but refused to stay at camp and cried herself to sleep the first few nights. She finally came to my hotel to sleep on the floor. She (at age 11) had been placed alone in a dorm and was scared and lonely.
The video analysis was short and not helpful. The on-court coaching was pretty good and certainly intense, but I have seen better results at other tennis academies.
The pool was kind of ugly, the kids refused to eat the cafeteria food, and there are no other activities for the kids or adults on-site. It's not a resort--it's a place to work on your tennis game. But even that is, in my opinion, quite overrated. We spent a small fortune compared even to European Tennis excursions and did not feel it was money well spent."—H.H., Adv., June 2009
"We had the pleasure to be involved in the camp @ Bolletieri camp. The personnel were kind, professional and most importantly very experienced in their expert domain. My son @ 8yrs. old was touched and his understanding was advanced. The experience was fun, educational and effective. Wish to repeat it."—M.R., Low Int., November 2007
"Bollettieri's Academy is crearly the best Academy in thw whole world, it is so excellent, the accomodations are really good, the food is delicious, about the campus it is really big, and beautiful. The coaches are wowww, i cant believe that i was there, the services really good, it is the best academy. Go there, live there and train there"—R.P., Int., September 2007
""—M.G., Beg., September 2007
""—T.A., Beg., September 2007
"4 me my 2 weeks at bolletteri` s capmus was the best time of my life!!!
first 4 days I was dieing it was pritty hard,i was in soooooo much pain!!
but then afer one week everything was perfect!!! coaches are great !!! people everything there is not one bad thing about it :) hmm maybe food might be lil better but its still ok :) so ya Im looking forword 2 go back there I ant wait:)"—N.F., Adv. Int., February 2007
"The week of camp I attended at Bolletieri's showed me that they place no emphasis on students who are there for a brief period of time, but rather they just use the revenue they create to support their full-time students. There is very little to no mixing between full time and visiting students regardless of level.
I was on the top junior court, yet none of the players posed a challenge to me. There were about 7 kids and one pro per court, and the courts were divided by gender. Also, friends I have who are nationally ranked in the top 20 could not be promised that they would be allowed to play against academy students.
The visiting students spent hours running each day due to lack of court ability and staff. We were also bussed thirty minutes away each afternoon(without the knowledge of our parents), during time we were supposed to be playing, to play at an alternate location not owned by Bollettieri's. At that location, there were 40 kids and only 2 pro's, and all we did was play tiebreaks and basically entertain ourselves. The only challenging part of this experience was the outrageous amount of fitness we had to do, but my tennis did not improve at all.
The area surrounding the complex is not very nice or accomodating to tourists, so when you are there you feel very isolated and there is nothing to do after the day's programs are over at 4. I would definitely not return."—C.R., Adv., November 2006
"I have been to Bollettieri and Saddlebrook (twice) and Saddlebrook is the clear winner. Bollettieri somewhat resembled a prison camp. The instructors couldn't care less, and my sister, who has won USTA tournaments, was placed on a court with people learning how to play tennis. I thought that the instruction was poor and overall, Saddlebrook taught you a lot in a fun way."—A.R., Adv., November 2006
"On the whole battle between Hopman and Bolletieri I think the choice is clear. I've been to both. I attended Hopman Academy at Saddlebrook and particiapted in the Accelerated Program at IMG and the choice is pretty clear, IMG. Saddlebrooks nice and the accomadations might be a little better. However, IMG knocks teh socks of the competition if you want to an competitive enviroment, have fun, and become exponentially better. The only place else that I've been to that can compare would be my time in Arizona and Colorado with Dennis Ralston but thats a completly different story. All in all IMG Bolletierri is the place to be, mainly because of Mauricio woooaaaahhhh!"—A.W., Pro, November 2006
"Third time here. Each time the program has decreased. Academy has lost concentration on tennis. Academy has become a business with no effort at quality. Disappointed. I Will not be back."—F.M., Adv., August 2006
Tennis Resorts Online has secured a 10% discount on any short time junior camp you book at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy. The discount applies to lodging and meals as well. To get it, phone toll-free 800-872-6425 and mention this discount code: U_NY4252.
Not sure what you want? Send an online brochure request. *Note: May not be combined with other discounts.
Nick Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in 1978 as a full-time tennis boarding school that combined intensive tennis training with an academic curriculum. Since then it has become world-renowned for its work with such notable touring pros as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Boris Becker, Anna Kournikova, Tommy Haas, The Williams sisters, and countless others. There are two aspects to the junior program: a year-round live-in academy, whose students combine training with academic studies at one of three local prep schools (including one on the NBTA grounds itself); and a drop-in program often over school holidays or the summer to train from a single day to a week or more, either as a boarding student staying in the academy villas and dining in the student dining room, or as a non-boarding student staying elsewhere. Whatever the option chosen, the approach to training is the same. It begins with the biomechanical aspects of strokes, emphasizing proper technique and avoiding competition until the fundamentals are established. Once those are established then the work proceeds to preparation for competition, with work on strategy and tactics, and then to competition itself. Campers who come for short periods get a distilled version of this overall approach.
Season: Year-round
Ages: 8-22
Rates and Reservations
Weekly rates are for 5 1/2 days of tennis instruction (Sunday arrival, Saturday departure). Those on the boarding package also receive 6 nights of lodging and meals, while non-boarders receive tennis and lunches.
Weekly Camps: to May 23, 2010
Boarding: $1,510-$1,760/week. Non-boarding: $1,260-$1,510/week
Summer Camps: May 30-Aug. 29, 2010
Boarding: $1,585-$1,985/week. Non-boarding: $1,335-$1,735/week
IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy
5500 34th St. W. Bradenton, FL 34210