Gooding Todero Academy

A boutique academy with tour DNA

Gooding Todero Academy is a small, focused training environment in Orlando’s Lake Nona community that blends two proven schools of player development. Australian coach Jay Gooding and Argentinian coach Jorge Todero met while serving as United States Tennis Association national coaches, then launched their own project to apply what they had refined on tour to a daily academy setting. Their aim is straightforward and ambitious at once, to provide high quality coaching with the clear goal of developing complete tennis players. With an address inside Lake Nona, Orlando’s sports and performance hub, the academy leverages a year-round training climate and an ecosystem built around elite athletics.

From the first session, the tone is unmistakable. Drills run with purpose, feedback is direct, and the ratio of ball strikes to idle time is conspicuously high. The founders describe GTA as boutique for a reason. The program is designed to stay small, keep standards high, and give each athlete more touches, more context, and more accountability. That philosophy attracts families who prefer hands-on coaching and consistent match play over a sprawling campus feel.

Where it sits and why that matters

Lake Nona sits southeast of downtown Orlando and a short drive from Orlando International Airport. The neighborhood was planned with sport, health, and education in mind, which means an athlete’s daily rhythm is not an afterthought. Within minutes of the academy you will find fields for conditioning blocks, fitness options, and the broader tennis scene that keeps matches and hitting partners within reach. Just down the road is the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, a useful anchor for competition, events, and a steady flow of visiting players.

For tennis families, the location has practical benefits. Players train outdoors nearly every week of the year, so surface adaptation and match-readiness do not stall for long off-seasons. Travel logistics are simple for both domestic and international athletes because the airport is close and tournament options across Florida are abundant. Parents looking at the broader family picture will also find strong schooling options for day students, a wide selection of short-term rentals and hotels for seasonal stays, and neighborhoods built for easy commutes. Small conveniences add up, from short drives to courts to the ability to fit academics around training without long gaps in the day.

Facilities and training surfaces

GTA’s home base in Lake Nona gives players dependable access to high quality hard and clay environments. The neighborhood’s Bath and Racquet Club includes four Har Tru green clay courts and three lighted championship hard courts with a cushioned surface, plus a modern fitness center with Technogym equipment, saunas, and recovery-oriented amenities. The wider district rounds out the training picture with a lakeside pool and large green spaces that work well for movement sessions and conditioning. Families regularly note that, beyond the courts, the environment supports a healthy daily rhythm, from walking paths for cooldowns to nearby options for sensible nutrition.

Because the academy keeps groups intentionally small, court time is dense and purposeful. Players do not spend practices waiting in long lines. Sessions weave between drilling, live ball work, serve and return scenarios, and scoring formats that expose habits under pressure. The court mix matters as well. Hard courts sharpen first-strike patterns and movement out of the corners, while green clay develops patience, height control, and defensive skills that travel well to faster surfaces.

On weather days, coaches shift to indoor learning rather than canceling wholesale. These blocks are built around match strategy, video review, scouting assignments, and mental training. By using film and guided discussion, the staff keeps momentum intact, so technical work integrates with tactical choices rather than living in a separate silo.

The staff and the philosophy

Two experienced tour coaches set the tone. Jay Gooding is an Australian former professional who has spent more than two decades coaching at elite levels, with personal coaching roles that included work with WTA players such as Louisa Chirico, Danielle Collins, and Daria Saville. Jorge Todero’s roots are in Argentina’s dirt-court tradition. As a long-time national coach and private coach, he has supported athletes who made their mark on both the Women’s Tennis Association and the Association of Tennis Professionals tours. Together they balance an Australian emphasis on structure, routines, and point construction with an Argentine focus on competitiveness, movement economy, and clay-court competence.

Several assistant and lead coaches round out the staff, including a director of tennis and a dedicated high performance lead. The academy emphasizes low player-to-coach ratios and hands-on feedback. Language versatility is another quiet advantage. With staff who can coach in English and Spanish, communication with international families flows smoothly and technical cues are more likely to land on the first try.

The philosophy is pragmatic. GTA trains players to win points in the patterns they are most likely to face at the next level, not to chase highlight shots. That means serving to patterns, learning return depth targets, building points with intelligent court positioning, and rehearsing responses to common stress points like break-point pressure or slow starts.

Programs at a glance

GTA organizes its programs around how much a player can commit and what the competitive calendar demands. The entry point is an assessment, which clarifies a player’s current level, workload tolerance, and goals. From there, the staff recommend a track and weekly volume.

• Full Time Academy. The day program for serious juniors who complete school online. Typical training blocks run Monday through Friday, 9 to 11 a.m. for technical and tactical work, then 1 to 3 p.m. for situational drilling and match play. Strength and mobility sessions bracket the on-court windows. Assessments are required before joining so workloads can be individualized.

• Varsity Academy. A focused after-school option aimed at players who compete for their high school teams or who need structured daily improvement without leaving traditional school. Sessions generally fall on weekday afternoons with optional weekend slots for supervised match play.

• Junior Varsity. Designed for green ball and developing yellow ball players who are transitioning toward tournament play. The emphasis is on clean mechanics under pressure, patterns of play, and improving decision-making.

• Future Stars. A 10 and under pathway that uses age-appropriate balls, racquets, and court sizes to build sound mechanics and footwork without overloading growing bodies. It is a practical entry point for young athletes in the Lake Nona area.

• Adult Clinics. For parents and local players who want solid instruction, purposeful drilling, and doubles strategy. Adult programming reinforces the academy’s fundamentals while keeping the atmosphere welcoming.

• Supervised Match Play. Recurring sessions that allow coaches to assess habits under scoreboard pressure and give immediate, specific feedback. These blocks are sometimes open to outside players for a fee.

Seasonal intensives appear around common competition windows, especially when regional tournaments cluster in Florida. The academy’s size is an asset here. Coaches can quickly add or adjust sessions to give athletes more match reps without diluting the quality of the groups.

How they train, from technique to tactics and the mind

Technical development focuses on efficient, repeatable swings that hold up at speed. The staff uses video analysis to spot mechanical leaks, then integrates technical cues back into live-ball drilling so changes stick at full tempo. On serve and return, players learn to hit patterns they can rely on across score states and surfaces, with clear targets for body, T, and wide serves, and return shapes that neutralize pace or exploit short serves.

Tactically, sessions progress from cooperative patterns to competitive games and then to match play with a coach roving. Players learn to build points with a playing identity, whether that means a baseline first striker, an all-court counterpuncher, or a clay-savvy grinder. Coaches regularly stop play to rehearse situational choices, such as answering heavy kick on green clay, switching length when a forehand breaks down, or closing time and space at net.

Physical preparation is woven through the week using the on-site fitness resources. Warm ups emphasize mobility, sprint mechanics, and movement patterns specific to hard and clay. On-court conditioning focuses on repeat sprint ability and directional speed rather than long slow runs. Recovery is not an afterthought. Players are taught routines for cooldowns, hydration, sleep hygiene, and tournament-day nutrition so they can handle back-to-back match days.

The mental component is practical. Rather than abstract slogans, the staff teaches routines players can execute, such as between-point breathing, serve selection checklists, reset scripts, and momentum changers. Match journals and scouting sheets are standard tools. After supervised match play, players receive concise notes and, when useful, video clips that anchor the lesson.

Education matters in the full-time track. Because full-time athletes complete academics online, the academy encourages families to place class blocks around training windows so cognitive work and physical work complement each other. For college-bound players, staff help with realistic planning, from video reels and coach outreach to mapping competitive results to roster opportunities and scholarship timelines. Families comparing options often review peer programs like Fink Tennis Academy and Phoenix Tennis Academy to benchmark schedules, travel expectations, and placement outcomes before finalizing a plan.

Track record and role models

Although the academy is boutique, the coaching pedigrees are not. Jay Gooding has served as a national coach and personal coach for professionals, contributing during Danielle Collins’s rise, supporting Louisa Chirico during her top 60 singles ranking years, and guiding Daria Saville during her return from injury. Jorge Todero’s coaching history includes leadership roles with Argentine national teams and work with professionals who competed across North America and Europe. The point for parents is not to confuse individual tour results with academy output, but to understand the coaching lens that shapes daily training. Players receive tour-tested drills, clear match habits, and a competitive standard that reflects what wins points at the next level.

GTA athletes, particularly in the varsity and junior varsity tiers, benefit from frequent contact with that standard. When the pro calendar swings through Florida, the staff bring fresh scouting lessons back to the academy, which keeps the training playbook current rather than generic.

Culture and community

GTA’s culture is deliberate, small, and supportive. The academy mixes intensity with a team feel by having coaches and players encourage one another during scoring games and match play. Standards are high, but the atmosphere is not joyless. Competition days have a clear structure, and athletes are expected to show up prepared with hydration, equipment, and an intention for the session.

Regular community involvement reinforces that spirit. The program has hosted sessions with organizations such as Love Serving Autism, which welcomes families and players with different needs into the game and gives GTA juniors a chance to volunteer and learn empathy. Parents often comment on the visibility of the coaching staff. Because groups are small, coaches see the details. When a player’s footwork slips late in the week, or a return pattern breaks under pressure, someone notices quickly and addresses it.

Communication with families is straightforward. After the assessment, expectations are written down, and progress is revisited on a predictable cadence. When travel schedules tighten or school workloads spike, the staff adjust volumes without losing the throughline of the development plan.

Costs and accessibility

Pricing is not posted publicly for the full-time or after-school tracks. Placement begins with an assessment, then the staff set the weekly schedule and quote fees accordingly. Families should expect to discuss goals, school logistics, and competition plans during that process. Supervised match play that is open to outside players typically carries a separate entry fee. Scholarships and financial aid are not listed online, so interested families should ask directly during the evaluation stage.

For housing, GTA is a non-boarding program. That said, Lake Nona offers many practical options, from short-term rentals and hotels to longer leases, and the commute from most of them is minutes rather than hours. For international families, the short drive from Orlando International Airport reduces travel friction. The overall picture is efficient, especially for athletes who thrive with a stable home base rather than long stretches away at a boarding campus.

What makes it different

• Two-country coaching DNA. Australian structure and routines paired with Argentine competitiveness and movement give the program a clear identity.
• Real tour habits. Video analysis, match routines, and tactical frameworks are drawn from the staff’s current and past work on tour.
• Small, high-contact groups. The academy stays intentionally boutique, which boosts touches per session and accelerates feedback loops.
• Surface variety. Players train on both high quality hard and green clay, which encourages complete development and adaptability.
• Location advantages. Lake Nona’s ecosystem is saturated with tennis and performance resources, and Florida’s climate supports year-round outdoor work.

Looking ahead

GTA’s model is built for depth rather than scale. Expect the academy to continue refining its full-time track, expand supervised match play to keep competitive reps aligned with training gains, and deepen its college placement support as graduating classes grow. With the Orlando tennis scene hosting frequent tournaments, and with the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona nearby, the staff are well placed to keep building a training calendar that lines up with real competition.

The founders also emphasize coach development. As the program adds assistants, the methodology is documented and rehearsed so that every court reflects the same standards, from the first basket warm up to the last return game of the day. That internal consistency is often the weak spot at larger academies; GTA treats it as a core strength to protect.

Who will thrive here

Choose Gooding Todero Academy if you want a small, hands-on program in a serious tennis neighborhood, run by coaches who have spent years on tour and in national development. It suits juniors who crave detailed feedback and consistent match play, families who prefer a non-boarding setup with strong local housing and schooling options, and players who value training on both hard and clay. Athletes who respond well to routines, film study, and accountable practice environments tend to accelerate here.

If you are looking for a large, campus-style boarding academy or a program that publishes set tuition tiers, this is not that. If you need anonymity inside a big group, you will not find it. But if you want a boutique team that watches closely, teaches habits that hold up in real matches, and leverages Lake Nona’s ecosystem day after day, GTA is worth a close look.

The bottom line

Gooding Todero Academy pairs the efficiency of small groups with the perspective of coaches who have lived at the professional level. The location keeps training and competition convenient, the court mix builds adaptable players, and the program’s size ensures athletes receive usable feedback every week. For families seeking high contact coaching, real match habits, and a clear plan from assessment to competition, GTA offers a focused path that feels both personal and performance driven.