Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Player Spotlight on Lamar Remy

September 12, 2013 | By Adam Wolfthal
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Photo credit: Alexander Maeda

Lamar Remy is a top-ranked junior tennis player who grew up in Roslyn, N.Y., and at the age of 13, made his way down to Bradenton, Fla. to attend the IMG Academy. Soon after taking up tennis at the age of six, along with basketball, baseball, golf and swimming, he knew he would have to decide on a single sport to focus his energy on if he was going to become great. Lamar was drawn to tennis because on the court, “it’s all you, there is no team to rely on, and no one to blame but yourself and no one to take praise but you after winning.”

At the age of 11, Lamar gave up playing other sports competitively and focused all his attention on tennis, training at Robbie Wagner’s Tournament Training Center near his home. By the time he was 12, he was competing locally in tournaments, and the desire to bring his game to the next level brought him down to IMG for a two-week summer training program in 2009. While playing, he caught the eye of Nick Bollettieri and was offered an opportunity to come down and train for the upcoming school year. He and his father took the opportunity and he moved down to Bradenton, Fla. and began his training under Nick.

Photo credit: Bill KallenbergLamar began to gain confidence in his play, starting to make deep runs in big tournaments in the 2010 season. Getting the chance to play with current and former pros and having training regiments directed at bringing players to the next level helped to instill great assurance in his ability to play and win at the highest levels. The Florida heat that you experience at IMG Academy prepares you for the most stifling of environments and builds your stamina and endurance for long tournaments, giving an edge over players who train indoors or in cooler climates. Being surrounded by the best equipment, players and trainers who help regiment your days to maximize improvement in your game has taught Lamar what to focus on in his own training. Now, he makes his own daily schedules each night before bed and always keeps his days busy with training regiments to keep improving each day.

Lamar will be playing some local tournaments on Long Island before going to Bradenton for the school year. When he gets to Florida, he will play in some ITF tournaments in September. Looking ahead, Lamar is planning to play in college before considering turning pro. If Lamar could speak to his 12-year-old self just before heading down to IMG, he would tell himself to, ‘Make the most of his opportunities there, it’s a great place to train, work hard every day and the results will come.’ To upcoming juniors, he would recommend to work on fundamentals until they are truly sound because that will help to prevent injuries growing up, and to compete hard and have heart. If you have heart, you can go a long way.


Adam Wolfthal
Director of Business Development for New York Tennis Magazine

Adam Wolfthal is the Director of Business Development for New York Tennis Magazine. Adam is a former Dowling College men's tennis player and author of the book, Dudes Poetry Guide: With Girls in Mind.

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