Dobsha Tennis Academy : Play to learn not the other way around

Eric Dobsha moves from court to court at his humble junior tennis academy in Tampa Florida. He improves his players tournament results from constantly making his players play matches. From watching his players in pressure situations he easily pinpoints exactly where they need skill development at his very under the radar performance academy. In just 4 yrs. since he launched Dobsha Tennis he’s made incredible strides on his own in Tampa. How'd he develop his player pool academy so quickly? Word of mouth mainly. Followed by his own innate intensity, connection to his players & match play over technique training philosophy has clearly set Dobsha Academy apart.

Intensity, connection & match play

Eric Dobsha had an intense & results driven junior career. He took home a gold or silver ball for each age category. He made competing his focus & won by out competing his opponents. His intensity, athleticism & physicality also helped him. Eric's a big guy. He stands at 6'3 with a wide base. He's intimidating when you first see him. And he's ok with that.

Dobsha thrives on match play if I haven’t driven that aspect home enough. He likes to win and he's good at it. It helps that he also understands young tennis players and the opposing dynamics they face in junior tennis. Whether it be a player's grades dropping, or their social & personal needs, Eric’s the big brother players keep in their back pocket. He’s got an impeccable eye on what each player’s mental state is in a match - how to turn a negative attitude around and keep kids focus in the game.

Best of all Dobsha's academy is where players come to learn to compete. Not learn the foundations of tennis, but how to play tennis!

He decided to go into coaching after working with Coaches he loved as a kid. Coaches he was close to and felt a connection towards. That experience led him early on to want to become a lead performance coach.

What keeps him in coaching is the competition he puts on himself. He'll tell you personally he gets better at coaching every year. He loves the process of getting a player to perform at their best. He's efficient at improving players in matches thereby results and he can do 3x as much in a lesson now as he did in his 20's. So it's the process he loves.

Pro Tip:

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Technique vs. Match Play

At Dobsha Tennis Academy they don't stress technique, basket drills, hand feeds on repeat. Here they teach & stress as much about tactic, match play and shot selection as much as technique.

He’s clear to point out that while technique is a big part of tennis, there's many ways to hit the ball, and one size doesn’t fit all. When he's doing a lesson and working on technique, obviously there isn’t the same amount of pressure a player feels like in matches. He feels that without seeing players perform it’s harder to see what a player actually needs work on technically. So they play to learn here and not learn to play. From that perspective, he identifies immediately what a player needs towards their unique game.

“Play to Learn not Learn to Play”

— Eric Dobsha

Match play informs his coaching staff what technique players need to drill down on and they take it from there and then throw the player back in match play to see if improvements been made. If not, back to the drawing board - on repeat. Until those shots that were breaking down - no longer are.

When he does talk technique he’s promotes and early backswing, preparation, contact point at waist, finish, being balanced & footwork. But doesn’t go crazy on things like grip, racket lag, he keeps the core fundamentals front & center.

Dobsha Tennis Mental Landscape

Meet Eric Dobsha. Tampa’s winning Coach of Florida’s top juniors

Mentally he approaches kids by getting to know who they are. And understanding what motivates them inside. From there he changes the narrative by talking other mentalities players can adopt to change their own inner voice.

The mindset & attitudes of his players is paramount for Eric. He develops a relationship with them and understanding what makes them tick! Eric talks so much with players he's adept at understanding what their inner voice is saying to them and challenges it just so. From there he'll point towards a different perspective so his players can adopt & thrive in matches.

Giving a player a new way of looking at some aspect of their game or a competitor they're fearful to face is Dobsha's specialty. Because he knows his players so well, he knows the best approach or what to say to pull out a player's hunger to win.

Players are constantly challenged at Dobsha tennis. Eric's consistently shakes things up to find new ways to challenge his players mentally. He likes watching how they respond to changes in daily training routines much like they'd do in a match when momentum swings. It also helps keep his players & coaching team fresh.

Every week players are challenged with match play so when players enter tournaments they're match ready! Most academies drill a lot without the pressure in practice that they see in matches. Most of those players fold in tournaments early because they're not prepared mentally for matches. Dobsha tennis is a novel concept to most junior competition academies.

Pool of Players at Dobsha Tennis Academy

In the last 2 years, 8 kids have graduated from the program and gone on to play college tennis. This year he had 4 GIRLS! One will play for Colgate, Western Michigan, St. Leo & Holy Cross on scholarship.

If you’re in the program long enough you'll see college coaches cruising the grounds looking for future players. Coaches come to Dobsha academy to see what's coming up in junior tennis. Dobsha Academy doesn't need to hire college scholarship services since college coaches come to them.

This academy has only been around for 4 years and they're 12 deep into their college program for graduation. Eric's coached over 100 kids in his 25 year career that have gone on to play college programs. Between the strong pool of players & Eric's playing background they have strong relationships with coaches. His players are recognized & plucked for college tennis right from their home courts. That's a huge bonus for any kid looking towards college tennis. Have top coaches come to you!

European Players vs. American Players

Eric & I talk a lot about European kids gaining entry into college tennis scholarships over the Americans. The reason being, they're maturity is higher. They're disciplined and work harder. Europeans are less spoiled where Americans can be picky about how they're being coached. Or are more difficult to deal with when they don't get their way.

European kids tend to be easier to work with. They roll with the punches and have been through more hardships than American kids. Europeans recognize the golden opportunity they have in front of them and they take advantage of it. American kids can be entitled. They might see the grass as greener on the other side instead of taking the advantages they have right in front of them.

Dobsha Tennis Coaching Staff

It's always good to know how long the coaching staff remains with an academy or how long it takes for them to use it to quickly move on. At Dobsha's Academy his entire coaching staff has been with him for over 3 years to which means they're happy & that’s why they stay. His coaches are treated with respect, autonomy and Dobsha PAYS them well.

Eric's big on family and wants his environment of coaches to feel like family and not commodities. He wants his pro's to feel that they're not working for somebody but with somebody. All coaches are in charge of making decisions not Dobsha Academy. Eric often asks coaches to make decisions for him. Dobsha gives them room to grow and let's them do what they do best - coach high level competitors. This has cultivated an excellent culture because when Coaches feel valued why leave?

One of the biggest reasons an academy struggles is because kids like a certain coach and then that coach isn't happy, looks for another job & leaves and so do the players. For this Eric stresses having happy pros and getting them what they want to be there.

How Dobsha Tennis Academy got such a high level player pool so fast?

Word of mouth put Dobsha Tennis Academy on the map of Florida tennis, FAST.

The coaching staff at Dobsha tennis also has a very strong performance background along with top certifications. Between colleagues & word of mouth around high level tournaments, players talk and the success of Dobsha tennis grew quickly and organically.

Dobsha tennis academy doesn't need to recruit. They don't have to call on kids training at other academies to lure them over. The morals and ethics under Eric are solid. Bigger heavily marketed tennis academies near by have already tried buying him out after just 4 yrs. for his player pool alone.

Coaches like myself, send players who’ve outgrown their current training program and need deeper training go to Dobsha because they excell giving players real results. Here kids have the right performance pool they need to train for the big tournaments the likes of, Eddie Herr. Word of mouth & Eric Dobsha’s unique tennis reputation is likely the main reason why the top kids find themselves at Dobsha Tennis Academy.

Are you ready to try Dobsha tennis Academy? When you’re ready, contact me at Rhonda@indietenis.com and we’ll find you a spot!

Dobsha Tennis Academy, playing to the beat of their own drum & winning