Travel scout Jens reports from the autumn tennis camp at the PMTR Tennis Academy in Mülheim

In our 2022 Advent calendar, behind door number 20, we had hidden 4-day tennis camp at the PMTR Tennis Academy our autumn camp travel scout – perfectly timed for the start of the indoor season. Jens tells us exactly what daily life at PMTR was like in his detailed camp report. Like all reports from our travel scouts, we are more than happy to publish Jens's report as well. His report is particularly special because, as a player "of advanced tennis age (50+)," Jens really enjoyed training with the young players at the professional camp. He rose to the challenge, gave it his all, and draws a thoroughly positive conclusion from his "camp adventure." Thank you, Jens, for your feedback, and we wish you all the best and continued success!

And from now on, we'll let Jens speak

"If someone – especially someone of advanced tennis age (50+) – is looking for a real challenge to their playing and physical performance, then I can highly recommend the "Pro Camp" for "competitive players" at the PMTR Tennis Academy in Mülheim an der Ruhr! Upon arrival, I realized it was primarily an autumn holiday camp for school children in North Rhine-Westphalia, as I ended up in a group with three players under 20 – but that was exactly the challenge I was looking for 😊"

Alternatively, there were also three other camps for teenagers and an adult group for intermediate players at the same time, all following a similar program. The indoor facility in Mülheim, with its two rebound courts and two carpet courts, is well-maintained and, at the end of court 1, conceals a well-equipped "gym" behind a curtain.

Each of the four days began with an hour-long "warm-up" with athletic trainer Alex Schneider. "Warm-up" is an understatement, though, as I could have easily taken a full hour's break afterward. Alex is a professional personal trainer and really pays attention to the right mix of cardio, mobility, and strength exercises. Even for someone who does a little mobility and strength training at home every day, the program was challenging. But the young players at PMTR were already familiar with it, as they do it regularly alongside their tennis training – something I haven't seen at many tennis schools. I was able to pick up a lot of new tips for my future athletic training at home!

After that, without a break, we went to Romanus Ostermann for 1.5 hours of intensive tennis training, covering all the basic strokes and various game situations. I've never practiced as many serves as I did during those days. In the afternoon, there was another short warm-up session with Alex, followed by two hours of tennis with Bjaerne. To finish, we each did 15-20 minutes of stretching, which isn't standard practice at many training camps, but really should be! All the PMTR coaches I met were professional, had excellent drills, and offered valuable teaching tips that I'll try to implement better in the future.

The only thing that didn't meet my expectations was the lunchtime snack in the adjacent restaurant, which in my opinion wasn't the right, balanced athlete's food (pizza, potato wedges with meatballs, 2x pasta with thin sauce), but of course the tennis school can't do much about that.

My conclusion:

Overall, I can only say that the long journey was absolutely worth it for this "camp adventure" and that I was pushed to my physical limits by this daily program. There's no better preparation for the winter indoor season! I highly recommend the PMTR team!

Are you also interested in a tennis camp at the PMTR Tennis Academy in Mülheim an der Ruhr?

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