Inside An ATA College Prep Morning Practice

The ATA College Prep students take the courts at 7:45am for morning workouts every day. The group, typically led by ATA’s Head Coach Doug Davis, will practice until 9:30, when they grab some breakfast and transition to their first class at 9:45am.

While most will end the day with normal Academy practice from 4-7pm after a full day of classes, the morning practice presents an additional opportunity for the CP student-athletes to focus on specific goals and get individual attention.

Recently, morning practices have been structured with half the group in live-ball situations, while the other half works through three drill courts that are the same each day until the goal is met.

“There are foundational shots and patterns worked on the least in typical daily practice,” Coach Davis said. “We are focused on those shots and patterns that will benefit our players significantly, and we’re focused on them long enough so they can master them.”

The three drill-courts:

• 3-Shot Combo: Transition shot, with the first volley hit through the court and second volley angled off.

• Serving court

“Of course a serve court, because serving is just so important,” Davis said.

• Inside-Out Forehand Pattern court

“These are fundamentally important enough that we need to master them and we as coaches are dedicated to sticking with them until then,” Davis said.

Each court has a coach and typically no more than a handful of players at one time. This small ratio allows for the most possible individual attention and the fastest progress.

“We are starting to see results in tournaments,” Davis said.

Chase Bartlett, a senior at CP, agreed that the focused attention is paying off.

“I definitely feel better in transition specifically since focusing on it in practice,” Chase said. “I feel much more comfortable executing transitions and coming to the net recently. And, my inside-out forehand followed by drop shot is getting really good,” Chase said with a smirk as he headed to class.