In his best-selling book “The Secrets of Spanish Tennis,” author and respected high performance tennis coach Chris Lewit discusses and shares with readers the secrets that have made Spain one of the most successful tennis nations in the world the last 25 years.
As part of his book, Lewit provides information and summaries of all of the leading Spanish tennis academies, including the academy founded by Lluis Bruguera and his son Sergi, the two-time French Open champion. The academy, called “Bruguera Top Team,” is located in Barcelona and surprisingly has more hard courts (9) than clay courts (7), which emphasizes the Spanish focus recently on excelling on faster surfaces.
Garbine Muguruza, who had her breakthrough career result at Wimbledon in 2015, is one of the recent success stories of players who have trained with Bruguera at his academy.
The following is the summary on Bruguera Top Team as seen in Lewit’s book. Other academy summaries, as well as philosophies, attitudes, drills and training methods are also featured in the book, based on Lewit’s eight years of study in Spain. The book, published by New Chapter Media, is available for sale and download here on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559491/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_RB-Nvb1DXHXYW
Bruguera Top Team
Location: Santa Coloma de Cervelló, in the hilly west suburbs of Barcelona, about 15-20 min from the Barcelona International Airport and 20-25 min by train to Barcelona center.
Website for more information: www.brugueratennis.com
Description/Philosophy: Bruguera Top Team, founded in 1986 by Sergi Bruguera and his father and coach Lluis Bruguera, is one of the oldest and most successful Spanish academies. Situated in the charming and humble small hill town of Santa Coloma de Cervelló, with views to the Mediterranean overlooking Barcelona, Bruguera’s is one of the only academies probably in the world 100 percent dedicated to serious junior training. They don’t offer any adult programming and there is no adult membership at the club. This is part of Lluis Bruguera’s vision and his passion for junior development—the club and its facilities only exist for the juniors. The club has a mixture of good quality red clay and Green Set hard courts all terraced on multiple levels, which makes viewing convenient. The facilities themselves are aging and are definitely due for an upgrade or renovation soon, so don’t expect luxury accommodations. Some visitors say the club reminds them of an old-school spit and sawdust boxing gym, and this analogy seems apt to me. The physical structures, dorms and locker rooms, and gym are very minimalist and need updating, but for whatever the club lacks in luxury and modern touches, the academy makes up for with positive energy and friendliness. The training is also the most inexpensive of all the academies that I visited in the Barcelona area, which makes for a good cost/benefit equation. Lluis Bruguera is the technical guru of the academy and a passionate leader on court, while the day-to-day operations are run by his family member, Xavier Torner, who would probably give you the shirt off his back to make your stay a happy one.
Fernando Luna, one of Lluis’s students and a former top 30 ATP player, leads the staff of coaches, and he is also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet—a class act. At Bruguera, it seems that the coaches and staff have mastered the art of hospitality and friendliness, which makes any stay here pleasant for the athletes and their coaches and families.
Lluis believes in a very positive and minimally critical style of coaching, and his experienced staff, many who have been with Lluis for decades or longer, do a great job following the proven system and keeping the positive energy and comments flowing. This positive approach is probably why Bruguera’s is very popular with younger players who need more encouragement. With so many long-term staff members, this family owned and run business, as an entity, really seems to treat visitors like part of the family, like they are good old friends come home.
Lluis and his staff have created a proven system that has propelled more than 15 players into the top 100 on the professional tour. The academy philosophy and system is the method that Lluis created in the 1980s that helped revolutionize tennis in Spain, and while the system has evolved, many of the same drills are still being used today. Like many Spanish programs, in the morning the coaches typically work a lot on the groundstrokes and other technical areas using a lot of hand feeding methods, and then the players play points and sets in the afternoon.
The typical daily schedule is three hours 15 minutes of tennis in the morning and afternoon and two hours 45 minutes of physical training. Lluis believes strongly that players do not concentrate well over three hours per session and that “quality is more important than quantity.”
Salvador Sosa, a legendary trainer who has traveled and trained many top ATP players, such as Ivan Ljubičić and Alex Correjta, anchors the fitness and conditioning staff. As with other Spanish academies that have large summer camps, sometimes the fitness is not taken as seriously by some of the recreational part-timers visiting the program.
Fitness tends to be a combination of running, stretching, and gym work. Once or twice a week, students are challenged to run to the top of the steep mountain on which the club is built—a grueling fitness exercise that builds stamina and the capacity to suffer.
The students range from tournament beginner 9 and 10-year-olds to top ITF players and touring pros. On my last visit, a good Spanish 10-year-old and a top 300 ATP pro could be seen training on adjacent courts.
In the busy times of the summer, the academy accepts sometimes over 100 players and in July they will sometimes rent out additional courts to accommodate the extra students. Bruguera believes in a two or three player per court ratio for the training system for its older players. Sometimes younger players are four to a court during busy weeks.
Full-time boarding players, of which there are about 45 during the school year plus 30 additional local afterschool players, work very intensely both on and off the court. Bruguera’s players work hard but also play hard—there is a nice, healthy balance. The academy is a cheerful place where everyone pushes themselves hard and then jumps in the pool to relax and play before dinner.
Facilities: 16 courts (7 clay, 9 hard), Pool, On-site Supervised Housing, Gym, restaurant/cafe, hotels nearby.
Services: Psychologist available, Physio and Massage, Medical arrangement with Spanish Davis Cup Sport Medicine doctor. Private lessons are not part of the philosophy here and thus not offered (but groups are small and they will work extra to help your player during the regular program; Lluis believes the regular program is good enough that most players do not need a private lesson), School facilities and tutors on-site.
Cost: About 850 Euros per week. For latest prices please contact by email: info@brugueratennis.com
Best Match For: All players at all levels; Bruguera’s friendly coaches make this an especially positive place for younger players, but they have the experience to train top national and international standard players as well—just don’t expect any fancy equipment or luxury accommodations.
