College Athletes & Coaches LOVE us!
I started working with Martin the summer after my junior year in high school. He immediately gave me an evaluation of my strengths and weaknesses and what I needed to change off the bat. We then went on to training four hours a day along with physical training for the next two months, in preparation for tournaments. Throughout the time that I got to know Martin, we became closer and had experiences that we still laugh and joke about to this day. Not only was he a great tennis coach but also a great chef! Martin cared so much about me, and really wanted to develop me as a player but also as a person. He took interest in my life to make sure not just the tennis aspect was good but also my emotional and social aspect of growing up. Without him, I would have never reached my goals in tennis and in life. When it came to recruiting and going off to college, he really helped with talking to coaches and pushing me to the best school I could go to. Now that I've been studying at Indiana University for two years, I still call Martin a few times a month to discuss how I'm playing in practice, as well as matches. During summer breaks I love to go down to Miami Beach and train to get feedback as well as improve my game. His new academy is filled with great coaches and is a great environment for upcoming junior players! I love being apart of the academy and am excited to see its development!
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- Madison Appel, Indiana University
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I grew up playing competitive tennis in Southwest Florida. I had always known that I wanted to play Division 1 tennis at the highest level and needed to prepare the right way in order for this dream to become a reality. I met Martin Van Daalen right before the summer of my junior year when I was coming off of multiple injuries. For those of you who want to play college tennis, you know this is a crucial time as you start to get recruited by college coaches. Naturally, this was a very stressful time for me as I had a lot of pressure to perform this coming year. Martin was able to help me during my time of need not only with my physical game but also my mental game. I was able to reach number 2 in Florida and top 30 in the nation and was recruited by coaches all over the country as Martin has a vast network and a good relationship with many of these coaches. I ultimately ended up committing to the University of Florida under Martin’s guidance. Playing at the University of Florida has been one of the best experiences of my life. I was ranked top 100 collegiately in both singles and doubles, part of a team top 5 in the nation, reached the elite 8 in the NCAA tournament, and was apart of a team that won the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship. None of this would have been possible without Martin.
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- Josh Wardell, University of Florida
Martin Van Daalen played an instrumental role regarding the success of my tennis career. With a very
strong coaching background, Martin is able to portray his message to his students in a unique, custom-
to-the-student way. With his even keel, “take it easy” mentality, Martin gave me some of the push
necessary to become a scholarship collegiate tennis player for the University of Florida. Collegiate tennis
is some of the most fun I’ve had as a tennis player. Going to school at the early age of 17, I played
number 6 as a freshman. Remembering some of the useful tools Coach Van Daalen gave me as a junior, I
was able to work my way up the lineup to eventually playing number 1 as a senior. Thank you for
everything MVD!
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- Spencer Newman, University of Florida
Coming soon!
- Rodney Harmon, Head Coach Georgia Tech
Coming soon!
- Bryan Shelton, Head Coach University of Florida