Tennis Lessons
Home to Dukes Meadows Regional Player Development Centre (a part funded LTA grant funded facility). We offer some of the best tennis lessons and tennis coaching in the country.
However, you don’t have to be a tennis superstar to join. The team are skilled at providing tennis coaching and tennis lessons to both adults and children, working with all levels from novices to professionals and will ensure that you can get the best out of your game!
Coaching Programme’s
Dukes Meadows offers fully comprehensive tennis lessons and coaching programmes tailored for both adults and children at our pay and play facility including:
- Private coaching
- Shared & group lessons
- Summer Holiday Camps 2022
- Adult courses & programmes
Find out more about our team
Simply click on the ‘bio’ link to read more
Neil Bamford
Tennis Director
Neil previously worked at Dukes Meadows from 2008-2012. He has been playing tennis since the age of 6 years old and was an outstanding young junior player, representing Great Britain at all ages from 12-18 years old. As a player Neil reached a career high Atp ranking 555 (2006) GB NO 8, and doubles ranking of 271 (2006).
He has also had the honor of competing at the All England Wimbledon Courts in 2005, 2006, and 2007, successfully qualifying for the main draw in doubles in 2005. Neil has also played at Queen’s Club, Roland Garros and other major tournaments.
Neil was previously working at Hazelwood Sports Club where he built up and managed a successful junior programme for 4 years.
Neil still competes on a regular basis representing Hertfordshire at Winter cup and Summer cup, where he holds the record for most matches won in a row in Group 1.
Neil is available for individual lessons and is happy to work with all ages and abilities.
Tiger Joyce
Assistant Head Coach
Assistant Head Coach
Level 3
Tiger Joyce started at Dukes Meadows after spending 5 years at David Lloyd Raynes Park and 2 years at Sutton tennis academy. In that time, he led the performance programme at Raynes Park, which included some of the best players in the region and country for 12 and under. Tiger is also the Surrey county cup coach for the 10 and under age group.
Joshua Dragone
Head of Athletic Development
Head of Athletic Development
Josh has a BSc in Sports Coaching & Performance and is currently studying towards his MSc in Strength & Conditioning at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Josh was previously Head of Strength & Conditioning at Swansea Tennis Academy where he worked with some of the best National junior players, including 3 UK No.1’s at Under 11’s & 12’s. Alongside this role, Josh also worked with Tennis Wales providing Strength & Conditioning support to players during national camps and creating educational resources for players, parents & coaches.
As well as his work in tennis Josh has previous experience in football with Cardiff City’s 1st team and Swansea City’s academy. He has also played a role in Snowsports Wales as an Athletic Development Advisor.
Favourite quote – “Don’t expect anything from anybody. Work hard, put your head down, be good at what you do and good stuff will happen.’’ – Deborah Meaden
George Coupland
Tennis Coach
George joined Dukes Meadows in April 2022 coming from Georgians Tennis Academy where he was Club Director. In his time there he built a programme from scratch to develop national and international level players.
Prior to that he achieved a No.1 U18 national ranking in the UK in 2008, then committed to Mississippi State University where he attended for 4 years. George then played professionally and achieved a career high of 575 ATP playing at Queens, Nottingham and challenger events.
After retiring from professional play, he coached at Cumberland LTC and Georgians Tennis Club. During this time he went back to university and qualified as a Physiotherapist.
My goal as a coach is to grow a player into the top 100 in the world. But also to give kids the skills and qualities to succeed in life, no matter what they choose to do.
Ben Clavering
Tennis Coach
Level 3
Ben started playing competitive tennis at aged 10. He trained here at Dukes Meadows where he was part of the LTAs AASE scheme. He competed to a junior national level, winning a series of LTA grade 3 tournaments and stopped playing competitive tennis aged 18 to pursue a career in coaching.
Ben holds an LTA level 3 coaching qualification and has been with us here at Dukes Meadows since 2014. During his coaching career he has worked and developed junior players, helping them win LTA grade 3 tournaments and seeing them gain Tennis Europe rankings.
Ben coaches on our junior tennis programme and is available for individual coaching of all levels. He is excited for all challenges here at Dukes Meadows.
Samm Butler
Tennis Coach
Level 3
Samm started playing tennis at the age of 4. At the age of 12 he left home to take up tennis full-time. At the age of 15 he began to compete internationally. He reached 130th on the ITF junior tour, competed at Junior Wimbledon singles & doubles and won the U18 National Championships (2013). Off the back of this he was selected to be the hitting partner at the O2 World Tour Finals & was selected to train with the GB Davis Cup team for their 2014 tie against the USA.
He went on to receive a scholarship at SMU, a top 25 division 1 university, graduating in 2017. He then played for one year on the professional circuit reaching a career high ATP ranking of 810.
In the past year Samm has gained experience at the pro level as a travelling coach for Liam Broady and at a development level coaching at Reigate LTC with county & regional players, transferring the skills he learnt from his playing background into coaching. Samm is a level 3 coach open to coaching players of all ages who have a desire to compete on a regular basis
Enrique Vidal
Tennis Coach
Level 3
Enrique has been playing tennis from very early age and trained here at Dukes Meadows as a junior, he has experience playing in both the UK and Spain.
He is a former national champion and UK No1 at both U16 and U18 level.
He has been coaching since 2015 and hold an LTA level 3 qualification.
Vidi Demireva
Tennis Coach
Vidi has over 10 years of experience coaching in England, Bulgaria and Ireland where she has had roles from a hitting partner to an Assistant Head Coach.
Vidi has been coaching across the UK for the past 8 years and has now settled at Dukes Meadows. She has experience in the under 12′ category and has been leading Orange and Green squads in various clubs across London.
Vidi has a Masters in Psychology and is currently working with players aged 14 and under to help improve their mental game in the Richmond area.
Vidi enjoys working with all ages and abilities.
Alex Jhun
Tennis Coach
Alex began playing tennis at the age of 9 in Raynes Park. He went on to compete at county, regional and National level by the age of 12 before reaching a high of number 1 in the UK for U16. He turned pro at the age of 17 and reached a career high ranking of 1034 ATP singles and 983 ATP doubles.
Alex had the opportunity to be a practise partner for Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals and has a vast experience of training with top ATP and WTA players. Alex also competed at Queens Club ATP 250 in 2014 and won his first pro title at Shrewsbury $25,000 in September 2019.
Alex joined Dukes Meadows at the end of 2020 and is open to working with players of all ages who have a desire to compete regularly.
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” Arthur Ashe
Jack Morris
Tennis Coach
Performance coach
Level 4
Jack started playing tennis aged 7 and has over 12 years of coaching experience as well as experience working as a level 4 performance coach since 2013. He joined Dukes as part of the regional coaching team in June 2019. Previous to that, Jack coached at The Parklangley Club as part of the performance team helping to develop some of the best 10u and 12u players in the region to compete at National level as well to representing their respective counties. In addition to this, he also works as part of the coaching team for the 12u Surrey county squad.
“As well as my passion for tennis I am also a keen golfer and enjoy cricket and cycling”.
Ruaridh Macleod
Tennis Coach
Senior Performance Coach
Level 4
As a junior Ruaridh competed to an international level from age 10-14 where he competed in key world events in each age group. He was ranked as highly as number 1 in the UK and represented GB in European events.
He has coached full time for the best part of the last decade and in that time has worked at multiple levels from club to national/international level juniors.
More recently he has been responsible for leading on the Local Player Development Centre (LPDC) programme and delivering within the Regional Player Development Centre (RPDC) in Stirling, Scotland whilst working with players individually. He also ran district/county training for 3 years before moving to London in June 2021.
He also has experience in travelling at Tennis Europe and ITF level and has co run multiple international camps in Beijing, China.
Victoria Lapthorne
Tennis Coach
Tennis Coach
Victoria started playing tennis when she was 8 and had a successful junior career where she regularly competed at Junior National Championships and won a Senior Women’s British Tour when she was 17. She studied at the University of Bath from 2018-2021 where she captained the Women’s 1st Team while securing her undergraduate degree in Sports Performance.
After graduating, Vic began coaching in Bath in the performance set-up at the university as well as in local schools in the surrounding area, before moving to Dukes at the start of 2022. Vic is an extremely friendly, passionate coach who is open to working with players of any age and any level from mini tennis to performance players.
“Forget perfect practice and instead focus on giving a perfect effort. When you focus on the effort and the process, the results will take care of themselves” – Alistair McCaw
Alex Douglas
Tennis Coach
Alex started playing tennis at 18 and obtained his Level 1 and 2 coaching qualifications before enrolling at Sheffield Hallam University in 2015. At university, Alex played Men’s 1st & 2nd team tennis at BUCS and ran player development before graduating in 2021 with a Bachelor’s in Sports Engineering.
Alex has been coaching for 8 years and has experience delivering sessions for all age groups, specialising in mini and junior tennis. Alex previously worked at the Hallamshire Club, Sheffield, from 2015-2020, and also held the role of Head Coach at Rustlings Tennis Club from 2017 to 2019 during this period.
Alex is currently completing his Level 3 coaching qualification, and continues to play competitively on the British circuit. Alex is happy and available to work with players of all ages and abilities in both a coaching and hitting capacity.
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up”
Cameron Smith
Tennis Coach
Cameron started coaching full-time at the age of 16, when he left school to pursue a career in the tennis industry.
Cameron moved to Dukes Meadows in April 2022. Prior to that, he worked in Aberdeen, Scotland for 4 years as a lead coach and LPDC coach. During his time in Aberdeen, Cameron completed a two-year Tennis Scotland coaching apprenticeship as part of his coaching development.
Cameron has experience coaching players all ages and abilities.
Ryan Storrie
Tennis Coach
Ryan had an outstanding junior career, reaching 25th on the ITF world junior tour and 1st in the UK. He won multiple ITF’s and defeated players such as Felix Alliasime & Alex De Minaur. Ryan has competed and trained with the very best players in the world; Murray, Del Potro, Cilic, Tsitsipas, Edmund, Norrie & Evans. He has also represented Great Britain in team competitions and competed in the Junior Grand Slams.
During Ryan’s first year as a professional, he reached a career high ATP ranking of 626 at 19 years old and competed in men’s Wimbledon. He has won two $15k pro titles and a $25k doubles title.
Ryan stopped playing professionally in 2022. He currently has his level 1 coaching qualification and is in the process of doing his level 3, followed by level 4. Ryan has benefitted by learning from top coaches Brian Teacher & Nick Brown.
Ryan is passionate about tennis, loves helping other players improve and looks forward to working with you.
Fraser Russell
Strength and conditioning Coach
Fraser joined Dukes Meadows as an S&C intern in September 2019 and is now part of the S&C team. Having previously worked with a high-performance rowing centre, Fraser coached the S&C for both the U23 men’s and women’s squads. During his time there they reached success at national and international competitions.
Fraser has previously represented Great Britain and placed 13th at the Junior World Rowing Championships. After finishing his A-levels, Fraser achieved a degree in Sports Coaching Science at St Mary’s University and is currently enrolled for a Master’s in Applied Strength and Conditioning.
In addition to this experience, Fraser has also coached a wide range of Junior to Under 23 athletes at Hampton School, LVS Ascot and Imperial College.
Fraser has a passion for high performance sport, “empowering the athletes to think” whilst promoting team work and a safe environment that allows players to make mistakes and progress.
Daniel Engley
Tennis/ Strength and Conditioning Coach
Level 3
Daniel joined Dukes Meadows in September 2018. He started playing tennis at the age of 7. He played competitively for a number of years as well as playing football at a high level. He begun working at David Llyods Raynes Park in 2012 as an Assistant Tennis Coach where he helped to build a very strong mini-tennis programme over the 6 years. After finishing his A levels, Daniel enrolled at Kent University in 2015 to study Sports Science, where he also represented the University football team. Most recently, he has completed his Level 3 in Tennis Coaching and is now a certified Tennis Coach. His aim is to combine his deep passion for creating a fun learning environment to enable each player the opportunity to succeed.
Michael Amey
Schools & Holidays Camp Coordinator
Level 3 Coach
Michael has worked at Dukes Meadows for many years and runs the schools outreach programme along with the holiday camps at Dukes. He is vastly experienced in working with younger players and his aim is to ensure each session is as fun and engaging as possible. As well as being an LTA level 3 coach, Michael is also a qualified personal trainer and tournament referee.
Bookings
To find out more about tennis lessons and which coaching programme will suit you please call us on
020 8994 3314