A very good Read.. although a bit long, do take the time to read Toni Nadal Simplicity, realism, respect and education These four concepts are the pillars with which a “mediocre” coach (as he describes himself) managed to develop his nephew into one of the best tennis players in history Toni Nadal told his story at the GPTCA meeting in Milan in November 2013 to an auditorium full of aspiring coaches, who were soaking up every word and every secret that the coach of world number one Rafael Nadal was sharing with them. Having seen and heard Rafas uncle and coach share his experience with aspiring coaches in Milan, I was able to appreciate further some aspects of the world number ones (probably the best clay court player ever) demeanour on and off the court. Of the top players Rafa is the only one who has never lost his cool on a tennis court. Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Del Potro all have had their moments of frustration where they ended up smashing the racquet and maybe let a few “choice” words out, but not the world number one. The main core value with which Toni Nadal has contributed to the growth of Rafa is education and respect for the opponent, concepts that he has been drilling into his nephew from an early age, starting when Rafa decided to try and become a tennis player despite he was much more in love with football than tennis. When talking about himself, Toni Nadal is very similar to his nephew, humble and always respectful of others. Toni repeated a couple of times that he isnt a great coach, a mediocre one at best, he was a lucky one to be able to work with Rafa. Another point that Uncle Toni insisted on was that tennis is a simple game and was fed up with people trying to complicate things. “Tennis is a simple sport, all you have to do is put the ball where your opponent isnt with as much power as possible”, is the description he gave of the sport. There are no complex theories, not over complicated strategies, just a simple analysis of the game on which to build on. Even though he always listens to everyones point of view, it is always better not to let peoples opinions make the game too complex. He illustrated his point with one of several anecdotes. In 2004 in Lyon, Rafa and Toni went to dinner with the head Nike Tennis at the time, Riccardo Colombini, who wanted to meet the athlete on who his company had invested so much money. At dinner Rafa ate two pizzas in front of the astonished CEO and when asked what were their plans for the following day (it was Sunday and he was playing Benneteau on Tuesday) they said they were going to play golf. On Tuesday Rafa lost 6-3, 6-0 and the reaction from the Nike camp was that he wasnt taking care of his diet and wasnt taking tennis seriously if he was going to play golf before a match. Toni new that these factors had nothing to do with his nephews loss and they continued as they always did. A month later Nadal lost in Madrid to Alex Corretja and this time criticism came from the Spanish Federation doctor, he claimed that Nadal was wasting too much energy off-court playing ping pong and pool. Another month passes and Rafa helped Spain win the Davis Cup by beating Andy Roddick and he eventually became world number two and from that point onwards pizzas, golf, ping pong and pool became a good choice All this, said Toni Nadal, just proved to him that when too many people are involved things become too complicated. Rafa lost in Lyon and Madrid for one of two simple facts, he either didnt play well or his opponent was better than him. Reality is another concept that Toni used to raise the future world number one. This is part of a wider issue of respect between coaches and players, where the coach must always speak the truth to his players, there is no point in fooling them and the players have to respect the role of the coach. Its not an easy task as the coach is employed by the player and its not always easy to criticise your boss. To explain the respect of the coaches role Toni simply said that Rafa has never asked him to carry his bags (except on a few occasions where the amount of crowd and fans meant there was no way he could carry his own bags). Being truthful to your player was the first part of this mutual respect between the coach and the player, or between employee and employer if you want. This time his anecdote was before the final of the Monte-Carlo Master 1000 in 2006. His opponent was going to be Roger Federer and as usual Rafael came to him before the match and asked what he should try to do during the final Toni replied, “Roger Federer has a better forehand than you, he has a better backhand. He volleys better than you...” Before he could mention the serve Rafa stopped him and said, “stop, you are taking away all my confidence.” Toni reassured his nephew by saying, “I could tell you that your forehand is better, but its a lie and he will show you on court. I want to tell you the reality, but I will also tell you what you can do to try to beat him.” and he did. The aspect that struck me personally the most was responsibility Toni point was that there is no point in looking for excuses, its all the players responsibility, his career, his success and his improvement are all a direct result of the hard work a player puts in, its never the coaches fault, or the racquet, or even the tournaments or the ATP, just your own. When Rafa was starting to travel to tournaments Toni was also coaching other kids and he brought them to a junior tournament. Some of the other kids were playing at the same time Rafa was so Toni decided to go and look at the other players to avoid an accusation of favouring his nephew. When he came back to Rafas court he was losing badly, hardly making a point. Then Toni noticed that his nephew was playing with a broken racquet. As soon as Toni pointed it out to Rafa, he changed the racquet and the match changed even if he did lose in the end. Toni remembers asking him after the match how could it be possible that after so many years of playing tennis, he did not notice his racquet was broken. Rafa answered, “I am so used to thinking about myself, I thought I was playing bad, I couldnt think it was the racquets fault.” The habit of facing reality and taking your own responsibilities also helped Nadal win his first, and for the moment, only Australian Open title in 2009. The day before the final of the first Grand Slam of the season, Rafa won an exhausting 5 set battle against Verdasco and when they went on court to warm up a two and a half hours before the match. Rafael was complaining that his head hurt and that every muscle in his body was aching. “What are we going to do Rafa?” asked Toni. The reply was not very encouraging, “I cant, I am too tired!”The discussion continue “Dont tell me you cant because you are tired.” “Easy for you to say!” answered Rafa. “I know its not easy, if it was I would have done it myself.” But Rafaels mood didnt change and he kept on complaining that he just could not do it, so they interrupted the training session and went back to the locker rooms where Toni sat him down and said, “You dont feel good now and in two and a half hours its not going to get better. No one can help you, so its all up to you to win the Australian Open. All I can say is that you have never been so close to the title. You say you dont have the energy, but trust me, if someone pointed a gun at you, you would find the energy to run. It depends on you, Rafa. You have to find the special motivation within yourself.” Rafael replied “Yes we can!” using the phrase made popular by Barak Obama during his 2008 US Presidential campaign and at every court change he kept on repeating “Yes we can! Yes we can!” Of course the match went the distance and in the fifth and final set it was Federer that was exhausted as Nadal won his first Australian Open title. All these mental aspects of the game also have to meet with the technical side of tennis. Toni Nadal believes that there isnt just one way of playing tennis, and essentially there is one rule, if it works, why not! To illustrate this point Toni spoke about Rafaels forehand movement explaining that that wasnt the way he taught him at first but it was the result of circumstance. As a junior Nadal had a more traditional grip and forehand movement, but once he stepped into the major tour he found himself returning much more powerful serves and shots than he found when playing against players his age. His way to adapt was to step back and use this movement to find the right timing on the ball and use the extreme top spin to control his shot. It worked and since than they have found no reason to change even if Toni prefers a more traditional forehand movement. In this lecture Toni Nadal explained the fundamental pillars on which he built Rafael Nadals success and all of them come through when watching his nephew play. Rafa wins the more matches than most when playing bad because he does not look for excuses and manages to find within himself the motivation to turn things around The main point that Toni put across is that the role of the coach is not just to do with tennis, but it extends to the role of educator. Teach your players respect for themselves and most of all of your opponent and the rest is up to the player. He insists he is a mediocre coach that was lucky to work with someone like Rafa, but after listening to him and watching Rafael Nadal play you can see that he isnt just a mediocre coach, but a great coach, and he has also been great educator for his nephew and deserves more credit than he takes. By Paul Sassoon from Tennisworldusa.org
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 19:15:39 +0000
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