Tony Franco Tennis

Tony is an excellent coach. He has a superb ability of analyzing your game, picking up on any issues with your strokes and showing you an easy way to improve. He sort of breaks it down into easy to follow steps and you are left amazed on how quickly you managed to pick it up. I’ve hit some of my best forehands with this guy. Also, he manages to make it a really fun experience by throwing in combination shots so you are not bored doing the same thing repeatedly. Definitely going to see him regularly from now on.

Tony works you hard and is quick to see what needs improving in your game. I’m a solid player but I realized I had a lot to work on after the first lesson! Good for all levels from beginners to advanced players working on specific skills

Tony is inspiring. At each of the cardio clinics he is always very encouraging yet also pushes us to our limits. I feel my tennis and cardio endurance have both improved a bunch from attending his clinics. Plus they’re fun!

My friend and I have had the pleasure of taking lessons with Tony for several months now. Though we started playing tennis over ten years ago, we were instantly pushed in the right direction by Tony’s intuitive and supportive teaching style. He is able to work with the the good (and bad) techniques we had ingrained in us already, and as a result I can safely say that my game has never been better. His lessons have become one of the highlights of my week.
In short, an all-​around excellent guy whose patience, support, and physicality will definitely improve your game.

Tony rocks. Totally, totally rocks.
Though I’ve done a lot of other sports over the years, I’d been really eager to take up tennis, but I was largely starting from scratch. I started taking lessons once a week from Tony with a friend who recommended him, and it has been fantastic. From the beginning, he made lessons completely fun, engaging, and very, very positive. He made me feel like a champ even though I was just getting a handle on the basics, and had great techniques and tips for helping me get decent at those basics. He kept lessons incredibly varied and engaging. Tennis lesson became the absolute highlight of my week.
I’ve improved dramatically over the year and Tony has raised the level and nuance of his coaching right along with me, increasing my range both in types of shots in my arsenal, and game strategy. He’s good in so many ways, but I think the thing that impresses me the most is his ability to watch and analyze what I’m doing or not doing, and make suggestions that enable me to get it, and make a change to improve my play.
I’ve watched him work with kids, with teens, people my age (50) and older people, and he seems to know just how to interact with everyone to inspire and motivate them. I’ve taken solo lessons, group lessons, and done his cardio class, and all of them have been fabulous.
Suffice to say, I’m a total Tony fan and would highly recommend him to any and everyone interested in tennis.

I have been taking cardio tennis classes with Tony in Berkeley and Oakland for the past year and it’s been fantastic! My overall fitness level has never been better, and I’ve developed some strong skills and game strategy, having basically started as an advanced beginner last year. Finally, I can actually get most of my serves in now, and even get some heat on some of them!
We also have had our elementary school-​aged children taking small group classes from him with another set of children weekly for the past 6 months and their tennis has also taken off. It takes a special amount of patience and enthusiasm to deal with children who are starting off hitting the balls all over and out of the court, and he makes it fun for them and also keeps some good discipline and focus during the lesson. My husband finally was able to make a Sunday session, and he said it was one of the best work-​outs he’s had in a long time.
Tony has the ability to feed balls at every speed, angle and spin to help develop the varying levels of competence in his class. He knows when to speed up the class to give folks the cardio they are looking for, or slow it down to help develop or correct skills. I highly recommend him and his classes!

I have taken several cardio clinics with Tony and really need to make time in my schedule for more consistent participation. They’re really fun, great workouts, and my game improves quite a bit each time. The drills are diverse and comprehensive, and Tony’s advice on improving one’s game is always simple and effective. The clinics have gotten me really excited about playing competitively again. Clinic size is small: just right for getting a hard workout but enough people to make it extra fun.

Teaching classes that are effective and fun is a challenge with any activity, and Tony is a natural. I’ve done cardio tennis with several coaches and can say with confidence his is the best, partly because it feels very personalized despite being a group class. Tony is also a legitimate tennis pro, which for an exercise class is a huge plus — as an intermediate player I definitely feel my game is getting better, versus just hitting some balls while running around. I’m sure his individual lessons and/​or group clinics are worth attending as well.

I recently moved to Oakland and was looking for a new cardio tennis class. I happened to try Tony’s class right after I moved and absolutely love it! I look forward to going every week. Tony does an amazing job at improving tennis skills, providing agood cardio workout, and making it fun! I highly recommend you try it out and see for yourself!

Tony is incredible. He is great about explaining the techniques in words that new players can intuitively understand. I liked how quickly he recognized my strengths and my weaknesses and helped me hone my game instead of completely reworking everything.
Tony is also great at making the conditioning portion of the lesson fun and exciting. If somebody can convince me to work to exhaustion with a smile plastered on my face, they’re incredible. I repeat, Tony is incredible.

I’ve gone through many tennis lessons with various instructors so far while playing on the USTA leagues: It’s important to continue to take lessons for tune-​ups and to minimize bad habits that’s difficult to get rid off later. Similarly, there are various styles of teaching, as well as conflicting and outdated instructions from various eras of tennis, that’s difficult to undo later.
Tony was a collegiate tennis player and continues to compete in tournaments currently. It’s excellent since when I take the «Men’s Clinic» with him, all the experience and the latest technique that he’s seeing, are being transfer to me. Having to feed many balls in a day and seeing the same bad forms repetitively, some tennis instructors are just jaded and does not do any correction (except to mumble to themselves). Others, they just talk or correct non-​stop, thinking that is what tennis instruction is all about. Since Tony was a collegiate player himself, he intuitively knows when to correct, what to say, how much to say, and when to stop nagging. Furthermore, Tony is easy approachable should you have any specific tennis related issue or feedback.
The men’s clinic is kept to 6 students to 1 instructor ratio, and the balls used are in decent shape. Tony’s group drills are reverent but as with any tennis group lesson, the quality is highly depending on the skill level of your fellow students that showed up. Nevertheless, Tony usually does a good job of keeping the energy and the rhythm flowing. What’s especially good is how he spent the time during the group lesson, pulling each student aside and works on any specific area of weakness individually for 5 – 10 minutes per your request. I do find great value with his men’s clinic.
If the class size is larger than 6, he does have other assistant instructors. They are equally talented. One occasion, I was able to play a set of double with one of the assistant instructor as my partner. It was a great experience to practice in a game situation and instantaneously getting feedback.
Give Tony Franco Tennis a try and elevate your tennis game to a higher level.

Tony was awesome. He managed to combine a fantastic workout and a very informative lesson and made it all really fun. He’s a cool guy who really loves tennis and enjoys teaching it. He does a good job of adapting to each individual’s strengths to help them develop their own unique, effective game. In only an hour, he helped me develop a more consistent, aggressive forehand as well as a real backhand that is quickly becoming one of my better shots. I’ll definitely be taking more lessons from him as well as recommending him to my friends.

I joined a tennis club a few years back not because I wanted to play tennis but the club had a swimming pool that was underused. Over time I thought it might be fun to learn to play tennis so I look a lesson from Tony. I thought I’d take a few lessons just to learn how to hit the ball over the net. I didn’t know I would become obsessed with tennis. I totally agree with the other reviewer, he’s a total rock star tennis instructor. He makes it fun and light (even when you’re huffing and puffing and sweating and cursing) but also has deep tennis knowledge to notice the little changes you need to make to improve your form/​stroke. He’s also become the instructor for my husband and my children. My daughter has some learning disabilities and physical activities don’t come easy for her but she loved taking lessons from Tony. He’s patient and doesn’t make you feel bad when you hit the ball over the fence and onto a parked car (I know from many personal experiences). I take weekly private lessons and cardio lessons from Tony and would recommend him for all tennis levels.

Tony is a rock star. Literally my entire family takes lessons with him, and they all adore him, even the cranky teenager. He is a master of making you work hard and have fun at the same time. Not sure how he does that, but he does. Wish I had more time to work with Tony myself…