This year my high school team went here. The fields are AMAZING. From what I here the trainnig is top of the line. The livng areas(dorm rooms) are very nice too. Many of the top child athletes in the world train there expecially tennis, football, s****r and baseball. A kid from my baseball team is paying to train and play there this summer. The only downside is the high amount of money required to go.
IMG Academy started as Nick Boliteri's tennis camp. Boliteri was the preiminant tennis trainer in the world in his time. You would recognize many of his students as all time tennis greats. IMG bought him out and developed the campus into an all sports training center.
A friend looked into sending her tennis stud to school there. Not including travel to tournaments around the country and world, it was 45K a year.
Their baseball training center is great. The year round school baseball team isn't that great.
* Impossible is just a degree of difficulty *
Posts: 4455 | Location: Mid-Atlantic | Registered: October 29, 2007
We received an invitation also and I found the price listed onthis Forum on a post by Frank Martin entitled "2008 Baseball Camp Schedules" posted on January 24th. The listed price is $3500 on this post and it will take you to their site with more info.
Posts: 277 | Location: South Texas | Registered: January 14, 2008
gamedayAdvantagebaseball provides personal baseball instruction to players of all ages in the Bradenton/Sarasota area. Visit our website for more information.
Our son (2005 grad) spent one summer there. I can say that the Director, Ken Bolek, is a fine batting instructor - the best I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them - teaching pro-style mechanics and hitting. He still (to my knowledge) instructs several MLB players, most prominently Kenny Lofton.
Bradenton in the summer is very hot and it rains every day, count on it at about 4-5pm. However, the program works around that. The IPI training is rigorous and very well done. They develop an individualized nutritional program for your son, measure his body fat percent with a program to get it to an optimal level, teach weight training for baseball, and speed work. They also instruct in all aspects of defense, footwork, principles (cutoffs, etc), and baserunning. There are about 35 instructional games using wood bats, daily during the week, DHs on Saturdays.
The competitive level is not what our son had playing for the Central Florida Renegades, but for a younger player (frosh/soph) from the North it can be a huge advantage when he comes home for the HS season. One does not attend the IMG summer program for the competitive level of play.
Be aware, for liability reasons IMG is run like a prison, with strict rules on entry and exit; the players live in a seedy dorm on 26th Street West in Bradenton, but our son said the food was good and there is a lot of it. All told, in my view worth the money if you go in with the right attitude and for the right reason.
Posts: 1261 | Location: Shorewood, IL and Longboat Key, FL | Registered: January 06, 2003
I did not say that. My view is the instructional level is at a level, from top to bottom, that a young player from the North who does not get out year round, will realize a significant boost in his skills and confidence that will help separate him from his peers back home in fall ball. That is, if he is willing to continue to put in the work and employ what he learns at IMG. It does not come without hard work.
I think your response was quite childish.
Posts: 1261 | Location: Shorewood, IL and Longboat Key, FL | Registered: January 06, 2003
I HATE TO CONTINUE THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS CAMP BUT I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ALSO. I HAVE A JUNIOR THIS YEAR WHO IS INTERESTED IN ATTENDING THE FLORIDA CAMP. HE PLAYS VARSITY BASEBALL AND FOR A CLUB TEAM IN SO CALIF DURING THE SUMMER. I WOULD LIKE YOUR BEST OPINION OF WHETHER HE SHOULD ATTEND THIS CAMP, OR STAY HOME AND PLAY CLUB BALL. WHAT CALIBER OF PLAYERS ATTEND? CAN HE PLAY ON THE COLLEGE LEVEL TEAM? OR... WOULD HE BETTER OFF ATTENDING COLLEGE SCOUT CAMPS, BLAYING HERE AND WORKING OUT ON HIS OWN? I APPRECIATE YOU HONEST COMMENTS,
Posts: 3 | Location: SAN DIEGO | Registered: February 20, 2008
OMG: No matter how this is spun, the perception remains is TAR bonked the young northern players.
Well sir, my younger player, from up north, played in Bradenton, lived in the housing (did not know any better), learned very little about the skill level on the field, however his learning and knowledge base was exponential in the following:
- Being on his own (for the first time)
- Preparation for college life
- Diet
- Daily Conditioning and Stretching
- An enabler toward competing vs the talent in the ACC
- Working part-time to fray the costs of the summer ball
- Time Management
- Financial Planning
I think your response is simply....wrong
Regards Bear
Posts: 1918 | Location: Fairland, Maryland USA | Registered: December 26, 2002
If your guy is on a competetive travel team playing the big tournaments, like east cobb, I would play with the summer team, if he has not committed to a college program yet. If he is not concerned about recruitment and can instead work on development and improving his skill sets and work out routine, then the IMG program may work well for him.
Get a good pitch to hit!
Posts: 1577 | Location: Sunshine State | Registered: January 03, 2006
My son went to a winter camp at IMG and spent a summer there after his sophomore year. We live in an area where there is no premier summer team or competition. He went there for the work ethic. they work very hard. about 4-5 hours a day on baseball and strength and conditioning. They also work on the mental aspect of the game. The competition was good, but not outstanding. Coaches all have lots of experience and I think my son improved a lot. He was already a good hitter, but defensively he learned a lot. He loved his coach and still stays in contact with him. Living arrangements: its a dorm, they are teenage boys. Son didn't mind at all. He had the time of his life, despite the "strict" rules. I will say, I spent 4 weeks there and I was pretty free to take my son and some of his friends out and about. The boys parents just had to sign a note that they could leave with me. They also have good food and access to a pool on the IMG campus. Sunday night dinner is a must because that's when "the new group of tennis and s****r girls check in". I agree with Bear also on his points. It was invaluable for my son to be on his own and it does rain about every day for an hour or so. He stays in touch with some of the boys and even stayed with one when he went to a pg showcase in Atlanta. He has also run into IMG guys while at camps at Coastal Carolina and other showcases.
An expert at anything was once a beginner.
Posts: 316 | Location: South | Registered: July 05, 2007
Originally posted by TARatko: quote: We all know how those cold weather kids suck I think your response was quite childish.
Bear: I did not say those "cold weather kids suck". To the contrary, read my second post:
quote:
I did not say that. My view is the instructional level is at a level, from top to bottom, such that a young player from the North who does not get out year round, will realize a significant boost in his skills and confidence that will help separate him from his peers back home in fall ball. That is, if he is willing to continue to put in the work and employ what he learns at IMG. It does not come without hard work
Somehow you confused what one poster said with what I did. I was supportive, not degrading. Read the last sentence.
Posts: 1261 | Location: Shorewood, IL and Longboat Key, FL | Registered: January 06, 2003
My son attended the winter camp for the last three years, enjoyed it a lot and felt that it was well worth his time from an instructional perspective.
I'm not out of order! You're out of order! The whole freakin' system is out of order! You want the truth? You want the truth?! You can't HANDLE the truth!
Posts: 1523 | Location: Cambridge, MA | Registered: January 03, 2003
