The Racquets Club - La Manga Club

A modern rebirth inside one of Europe’s classic tennis resorts

If you know La Manga Club, you know it for scale, sunshine, and a sporting culture that has pulled in touring pros, national teams, and holidaying families for decades. The Racquets Club is the contemporary heart of that story. After a recent transformation, it now runs the resort’s tennis, padel, pickleball, and fitness under one roof, with a sharper focus on structured academies and player experience. The facility operates as an independent club inside the wider resort, so parents and players get the best of both worlds: serious coaching on professional clay courts, plus an easy resort lifestyle before and after sessions.

The tennis center here dates back to the early years of La Manga Club. The Racquets Club era is the latest chapter, marked by new padel courts, a rebuilt clubhouse and gym, refreshed programming, and a coaching culture that prioritizes small groups and clear progression. It feels more intimate than its physical size suggests, which is one reason repeat visitors describe it as a club rather than just a set of courts.

Why the setting matters

The Region of Murcia sits on Spain’s southeast coast, framed by the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean. The microclimate delivers around 300 days of sun a year with mild winters and warm, dry summers. For tennis, that means a long clay season with fewer rain disruptions, predictable ball height, and consistent bounce. Juniors can string together quality court time across school breaks, and adults can plan spring, summer, or autumn trips without worrying about weather cancellations. The resort itself is set near the Calblanque Natural Park and a short drive from Cartagena, so rest days can be active without feeling like you have left a training environment.

Facilities, surfaces, and the training ecosystem

• Courts: The Racquets Club advertises 26 tennis courts that are kept in top condition. Clay is the signature surface here and the default for academy sessions. The center has a tradition of hosting top level events and training camps, so the court maintenance standards and court changeover routines are professional. If you are preparing for European clay events, this is a practical base.
• Padel and pickleball: Ten floodlit padel courts sit at the heart of the club, and there are dedicated pickleball courts and social sessions. For families that split time between sports, that makes planning simple.
• Fitness hub: A two floor, fully air conditioned gym houses functional training zones, cardio studios, and a physio suite. It is set up for strength and conditioning blocks tied directly to the academies, with coaches coordinating off court sessions rather than treating fitness as an optional add on.
• Clubhouse, dining, and social spaces: La Terraza is the on site restaurant and La Caseta serves as the courtside coffee and smoothie stop. Both are courtside, which sounds like a minor detail but matters when you are fitting nutrition around double sessions.
• Pro shop and services: Stringing, grips, demo rackets, and pro shop essentials are on site. For traveling juniors, this reduces the stress of mid week string breaks or tension changes.
• Accommodation access: The club does not operate its own dorms. Instead, families book into the resort hotel or serviced apartments and villas on the property. That gives flexibility on budget and privacy while keeping walking distance to courts.

Who is on court and how they teach

The coaching team is international, with experience across British Lawn Tennis Association pathways and Spanish clay systems. Group ratios are published and enforced. The standard junior academy runs with a maximum of one coach to six players. The Pro Academy caps groups at one to four. Sessions are planned around themes rather than generic hitting. Mornings often emphasize technique and ball tolerance on clay. Afternoons shift toward patterns and match play, with coaches standing inside the baseline to direct tempo and tactical choices.

Communication is clear and consistent. Players get specific, bite size technical priorities, often one or two checkpoints per stroke rather than a list of five. On clay, you will see a heavy focus on contact height, spacing, and height over the net, with footwork patterns drilled at realistic rally speeds. Coaches encourage players to build points with heavy crosscourt and use the inside forehand when the ball sits short. Serve and return are not ignored, but the bias matches the surface: a higher premium on depth, height, and shape.

Programs, at a glance

• Adult Academy: Five mornings, usually Monday to Friday, two hours per day. Mixed by level after an on court assessment. The program focuses on repeatable technique under pressure, serve plus one choices, and doubles formations. It fits well for couples or groups building a tennis vacation around training blocks.
• Weekend Warriors: A compressed adult option that starts Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday lunchtime. Designed for players who want intensity without taking a full week off work.
• Midweek Academy: Ten hours across three days outside peak holiday periods. A smart option in shoulder seasons when flight prices are friendlier.
• Junior Academy: Five days, late morning blocks, with a one to six ratio. The curriculum mixes technical progressions and high rep basket work with roughly half the time allocated to scoring formats. Younger players learn with red, orange, or green balls on scaled courts. Teens move to full court clay.
• Red Ball Academy: One hour per day for children six and under. Emphasis on movement patterns, throwing and catching, and simplified grips that set up clean contact later.
• Pro Academy: Five days of high intensity training for advanced juniors, split into under 12 and under 15 categories, with a one to four ratio. Mornings are three hour technical blocks. Afternoon sessions center on tactical scenarios and match play. Strength and conditioning and sports psychology are integrated every day. Entry is suited to players regularly competing at regional or national level.
• Private lessons: Fifty five minute slots that can be added before or after academy sessions. Useful for targeted work on a specific stroke, return position, or serve routine.

High season for full programming is Easter, July, August, and the October school break. Outside those windows, adult and junior options still run, but the schedule condenses. Courts are busier in July and August, so advance booking is sensible.

How players are developed here

• Technical: The clay environment builds repeatable swing shapes and contact points. Coaches reinforce spacing on the forehand and a true Eastern to semi Western grip for a higher contact. Backhands are taught with a clear separation between rally height and line drives. Volleys get daily work, especially first volley depth. On serve, there is real time feedback on toss consistency and leg drive, with targets that focus on depth and height rather than aces.
• Tactical: Drills are designed to force decisions. You will see corridors and zones marked on court for depth and angle. Pattern work is layered. For example, a crosscourt forehand tolerance drill evolves into crosscourt plus inside in, then into a three ball sequence that begins with a neutral ball and ends with a defensive scramble. Players learn when to lift, when to drive, and how to recover to a position that protects the backhand.
• Physical: The fitness hub allows strength and conditioning staff to run proper athletic warm ups, movement mechanics, and progressive strength for teens. Expect medicine ball work for rotational power, isometric holds for shoulder and hip stability, and footwork ladders used sparingly to cue rhythm rather than mindless speed.
• Mental: The program introduces simple routines for between points and changeovers. Juniors write down two controllable goals at the start of the week. Coaches are comfortable talking about match nerves, and scrimmage sets are used to practice scoreboard resilience.
• Education: Since The Racquets Club is embedded in a resort rather than a boarding school, academics are not delivered in house. For long stays, families coordinate remote learning with their home schools. Staff can help map training blocks around study windows, but formal tutoring is not part of the offer.

Events, visiting teams, and track record

This venue has a long history with elite training camps and international ties on its courts. Over the years the resort has hosted Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup ties and has welcomed national squads and touring pros for clay season blocks. The Racquets Club continues that tradition on a refreshed footprint. Parents should read this not as a promise of star sightings every week, but as a sign that the courts, lighting, and player flow meet the standards serious teams expect.

Life at the club

The day begins early with coffee at La Caseta and morning academy blocks across adjacent courts that create a noticeable but controlled buzz. The restaurant terrace overlooks the action, which is handy for parents who want to watch without hovering. The pro shop is next to reception, so stringing and court bookings slot easily between sessions. Padel courts act as a social hub late afternoon. In July and August, the club runs tennis socials and seasonal activities, which softens the edges for juniors who do better when the week includes friends and fun outside their training cohort.

For families, the resort’s non tennis options reduce friction. There is golf, spa, beach access, and bike routes. That matters if one parent plays and the other does not. It also matters in the final 24 hours before a flight when you want to keep legs moving but not overdo it on court.

Costs and how to plan

Published pricing is transparent. As a guide, adult five day academies sit in the low to mid hundreds of euros for ten hours of group training. Midweek and weekend formats are priced per night if bundled with accommodation. Junior academies run from entry level Red Ball blocks for the youngest players up to performance priced Pro Academy weeks. Private lessons are billed per fifty five minute session, with a small discount for a pack of ten. Floodlight fees apply during evening play. High season is roughly from late March through October, with peak weeks in July and August. Families booking two consecutive weeks often receive modest discounts. Property owners on resort can access resident rates, and there are sibling discounts during some seasons. Scholarships are not advertised as a formal program, so if financial assistance is a priority, contact the club directly.

What makes it different

• Clay first, but flexible: Many Spanish academies are clay only. La Manga’s tradition is clay centric, yet the center also manages other surfaces, which helps when a junior competes on a mix of clay and hard courts through the year.
• Resort integration: The absence of dorms is a feature, not a bug, for families who want privacy and control over mealtimes and sleep routines. Daily logistics are simple because everything is walkable.
• Real ratios and clear schedules: One to six for juniors, one to four for performance, with published hours. Parents can plan work calls or sightseeing around predictable blocks.
• Multi racket ecosystem: Padel and pickleball are not distractions here. They are programmed. For siblings or mixed level family groups, that reduces the chance that a non tennis player feels sidelined.

Among Spanish peers like Bruguera Tennis Academy, The Racquets Club stands out for its resort embedded model. It gives families a private base and the ability to scale training up or down without sacrificing coaching quality or court standards.

How it compares to bigger name academies

• Versus Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Mallorca: Nadal Academy runs a year round boarding model with an in house school and a deep performance pipeline. The Racquets Club is not a boarding school. It excels for concentrated holiday blocks, family trips with high quality training, and clay preparation weeks, not for full time residential development.
• Versus Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in the south of France: Mouratoglou is a large scale, media heavy campus with boarding and frequent showcase events. The Racquets Club feels more like a high performing club inside a resort. It is smaller, simpler to navigate, and easier to blend with a family holiday.

If a player needs daily monitored academics and a twelve month live in pathway, the bigger boarding academies are a better fit. If a player wants quality clay reps, excellent coaching ratios, and a relaxed but serious setting that works for parents and siblings, The Racquets Club offers strong value.

Future outlook and vision

The current trajectory is steady investment in facilities and programming. The recent additions of padel and pickleball courts, the expanded fitness hub, and the seasonal Pro Academy blocks point to a model that can scale up during peak periods without losing quality. Expect incremental improvements rather than flashy gimmicks, with attention to maintenance and coach development. The mission is clear: keep court standards high, refine the curriculum, and make it easier for families and traveling players to plan reliable, productive training weeks.

Conclusion: who will thrive here

Choose The Racquets Club if you value high quality clay court training in a resort setting, clear coaching ratios, and flexible programs you can fit around a family trip. It is ideal for juniors who want a focused week or two in Easter, summer, or October, for adults who want to combine tennis with sun and relaxation, and for performance minded players seeking a reliable clay block without committing to a boarding school. It is less suited to families who want full time residential schooling or a year round junior tournament team managed by the academy. For most traveling players, it hits a practical sweet spot between serious training and a holiday you can tailor to everyone in the group.