From the CLTA Website

Chris Lewit is known as a Prodigy Maker.
He specializes in high performance junior coaching:

- Expert in Spanish Training
- Expert in Technique and Biomechanics for Young Prodigies

Chris Lewit is a dynamic, innovative leader in the high-performance tennis community. After playing #1 for Cornell University and training and competing for several years on the professional tennis tour, Chris found his passion and calling as a developmental coach shaping the games of gifted junior players, serious adults, and other students willing to commit seriously to the study of tennis.

Chris is known for his unique qualities that make him highly sought after as a coach, not only for his unparalleled knowledge of the technical/tactical game but for his forceful intellect; rigorous academic mind; demanding, physical teaching style; and ability to motivate and inspire a diverse group of students. Chris has developed many top national junior players--many who are now competing on the pro circuit--and he has extensive experience building the foundations of prodigies, especially at very young ages.

TCB: Chris, When did you start playing tennis and did someone teach you?

CL: My dad was a part-time tennis pro and he taught me when I was 9 or 10. I started playing tournaments at age 13 and had my biggest moment the day I beat my dad for the first time.

TCB: Did you play in school?

CL: Very briefly in high school. I played no. 1 for Cornell before going off on the pro circuit. Injuries prevented me from being a full-time pro. Today I compete just in a few summer tournaments.

TCB: When did you start teaching tennis and have you been certified?

CL: I started teaching in College during summers when I was 18. Joined the PTR and then also the USPTA.

TCB: When was CLTA founded?

CL: After a multi-year internship at Gilad Bloom's tennis academy in New York, where I learned what it takes to be a high- performance coach, I decided to start my own academy 13 years ago.

TCB: Where is CLTA located?

CL: We work out of various clubs and courts in the New York City area and purchased a tennis club in Vermont, where we run the year-round academy and our summer camp. Our training location in Europe is at CLTA's sister academy, Bruguera, in Barcelona. I want to turn the Vermont location into an international destination for high-performance players, especially for young proteges.

TCB: Are there other teaching professionals in your organization?

CL: Yes, we employ part time coaches and counselors at the summer camps.

TCB: Who are your students?

CL: We teach mainly high-performance juniors. Kids that are really serious about tennis.

TCB: What are the challenges for you at CLTA?

CL: In New York the biggest challenge is fierce competition. Small, independent organizations such as mine have a hard time competing in the high performance space. I work with the most promising kids for many years, knowing they will eventually be scooped up by organizations that are better funded. The situation is different in Vermont, although the competition for tennis camps is fierce, as well. We're competing in Vermont nationally and internationally. One of our advantages is the use of Spanish teaching philosophies I learned from Lluis Bruguera in Barcelona, Spain. I spent 12 years in Spain and we're using lots of the same methods our Spanish sister academy is teaching. We take the best of these methods and even improve on some.

TCB: Where do you want to take CLTA in the coming years? Do you have plans for the future?

CL: I want to build our Vermont location into a known year-round learning center for coaches and players. Like a high- performance institute for advanced tennis studies where you can learn about the Spanish principles of high-performance tennis. Our workshops started this year already and we are able to provide PTR and USPTA Continued Education Units. Our new project: creating online courses for coaches.

TCB: Thank you, Chris Lewit.