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Hilton Head Island, SC — For the first time since its inception, PTR’s Professional Development Weekend was held outside its normal environs on Hilton Head Island, SC. The Hyatt Grand Cypress in Orlando FL, provided an ideal locale with its own tennis facility replete with covered stadium seating, as well as a beautifully situated beach tennis court adjacent to a private lake. Fifty-four percent of the participants hailed from Florida, but folks traveled from as far as California and England to attend.

The setting was terrific enough, but the real star of the show was the caliber of the presenters who packed tremendous and varied educational opportunities into one weekend. After a welcome by PTR CEO Dan Santorum, the on court and classroom sessions got underway. Among the speakers were such notables as Pat Etcheberry, Rodney Harmon, Daniel Spatz, Doug Cash, Anne Davis, Anne Pankhurst, Michele Krause, Jorge Capestany… the list goes on. Doug Booth and the USTA Florida staff were on hand to help pros incorporate QuickStart Tennis in their programs

Attendees learned the gamut from Integrating Technique, Tactics and Strategy into Your Teaching, to Coaching League Doubles, to Accelerating Your Professional Career by Developing Off Court Skills, to Creative Programming. How to Take Advanced Juniors to the Highest Level, Fundamentals of Movement Training and Conditioning for Advanced Players, as well as Embracing Social Media and Technology as a Tennis Pro were also covered.

Cardio Tennis Masters were on hand to get everyone’s blood pumping and there was time allotted for networking and socializing too. It wouldn’t be a PTR event without some fun in the mix, now would it? Beach tennis was a blast, with Jhonnatan Medina and Ricardo Mezo capturing the championship title. With 25 entrants, the two Fast Feed Contest winners, Hans Römer and Maria Lopez, won free registration to the PTR International Tennis Symposium coming up in February on Hilton Head Island. (The Symposium is like PDW on steroids!)

At breakfast Saturday morning, PTR had a Resource Center featuring Club & Resort Tennis Services, DecoTurf, Etcheberry Experience, Lee Tennis Products and the popular and portable TRX Suspension Training System. PDW participants gathered product information and posed questions pertinent to their club or facility.

“We were pleased to be out in the field and see so many members who we had not met before. We feel it’s important to stay in touch with our members on a personal basis,” said Santorum.

PTR is the largest global organization of tennis teaching professionals with more than 14,000 members in 122 countries. It has the greatest percentage of multicultural and women members of any such organization. PTR is dedicated to educating, certifying and servicing tennis teachers and coaches around the world in order to grow the game.