Character Building: Toni Nadal’s Six Core Values
The below is an excerpt from Chris Lewit’s new book, The Secrets of Spanish Tennis 2.0, which was released in December and is now available in bookstores and on Amazon.
First and foremost Toni lives by a strict moral code. “Even if the world is finished tomorrow, I do the right thing—that’s values. Values affect everyone and everything in the world.”
In addition, his system is not only a powerful way to develop good tennis players, but it is a pathway to develop good human beings and a better society–better citizens of the world. To me, this is part of the genius of his approach and the value his principles hold for others, whether they are coaches or parents. Toni himself has said, “It is more important to be a good person than a good player.”
Based on this core belief, Toni has created a six point development model for the players he oversees at the academy. Here is my interpretation of these points, based on talking to Toni and on other reading and research into his thoughts.
- Humility
The value of humility is very commonly taught in Spanish tennis. Humility can be exemplified by champions like Nadal, Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero. “Humble is the way you have to be, period,” Toni says. He continues, “Everybody should know their place in the world. The point is that the world is quite big enough already without you imagining that you’re big too.”
Rafa himself has argued that humility is a key component to his motivation and competitiveness because his humility never allows him to overestimate an opponent and become complacent going into battle.
- Overcoming Obstacles
Toni believes that life in general has gotten faster, and that children and sometimes parents expect instant results and gratification … quick fixes. But for Toni, the things that have the most value in life are difficult and take a long time to achieve. Thus, having the perseverance to overcome obstacles is a very important value and overcoming challenges is what helps to build a strong character.
- Respect
“Respect for other people, for everyone irrespective of who they might be or what they might do, is the starting point of everything,” Toni tells John Carlin in an interview for the book, Rafa. “What is not acceptable is that people who have had it all in life should behave coarsely with other people. No, the higher you are, the greater your duty to treat people with respect.”
Furthermore, Toni believes that if you respect others, you will be happier in life, and thus happier on the difficult journey towards becoming a champion.
- Patience
Patience is a common value taught to players in Spain. For Toni, one must, of course, be patient on the court to develop one’s strategy. Moreover though, in life, one must never become impatient on the long and difficult journey towards achieving greatness; patience is thus interlinked with persistence.
- Tolerance
Tolerance, for Toni, is connected to the value of respect. For Toni, people in life who have a high tolerance of those around them are more respectful and peaceful, and thus happier in their life. But Toni also believes tolerance is an important character trait in champions on the court. Tolerance, in this case, means how a player handles the stress and mental/emotional challenges of the battle. Strong players are able to tolerate more stress and pressure than weaker players. Therefore, tolerance is also interwoven with the concept of self-control. Toni says, “Self-control is critical to becoming a champion. A player must control their mind, body and emotions. Without this, he cannot control the ball.”
- Fighting Spirit
For Toni, fighting spirit means being willing to “suffer.” Sometimes he calls it “enduring.”
Toni believes champions must endure and suffer–they must fight to the end to achieve greatness. Fighting spirit means never cave in.
Rafa says his uncle taught him this: “Endure, put up with whatever comes your way, learn to overcome weakness and pain, push yourself to the breaking point, but never cave in. If you don’t learn that lesson, you’ll never succeed as an elite athlete.”
These six core values are the infrastructure around which a coach can build a champion’s mind and spirit, one that dominates without making excuses. Above all else, Toni says, “Champions must find solutions, not excuses. Whining and complaining never helped us win a match or championship.”
Three Nadal Principles of Player Development
In addition to his model of six core values for players, Toni has also summarized his player development philosophy with the following three overarching principles: Technique, Character, and Propriety.
Technique
Technique for Toni Nadal, means developing all the skills a player needs to control the ball and to make the ball go where he or she wants. For Toni, this does not mean the strokes have to be perfect–far from it.
He has always emphasized being able to put the ball where a player wants and finding the right skills for a player’s personality and style–a practical approach to technical development, rather than forcing every player to achieve some abstract perfect form.
“But what is that, technique? Is it hitting the ball very hard and with a beautiful movement but once out of every two hits, it lands outside the court? Is it to have a very good forehand, a very good serve but no backhand? No. For me, technique is about being able to place the ball wherever you want it to land no matter what shot.”
Character
Character, for Toni, very simply means working relentlessly towards achieving one’s goals. He states, “A well-formed character is one that has been prepared to withstand the harshness of daily effort, the will, the development of self-improvement capabilities, and, not least, the enthusiasm to do so.”
Character relates directly to: Overcoming Obstacles, Patience, and Fighting Spirit.
Propriety
Toni Nadal believes that propriety–respect and good manners–is critical to achieving a happy life and good performance on the court. He says, “Respect and good manners bring happiness in one’s life.”
The efforts of Toni Nadal with Rafa have been well documented, but his teaching method and philosophy have been more obscured over the years. This chapter has shared some insight into the approach and philosophy of the man who has had the greatest grand slam success with his player of any coach in Spain’s history. Nadal’s method interweaves the six secrets of Spanish tennis with his strict moral code. Toni’s unique brilliance can be found in his character building and the strategic vision for his players. He delivers his method with an economy of words, no excuses, hard work and a willingness to suffer.
Learn more about the drills and philosophy of Toni Nadal and many other leading Spanish coaches in the new book, Secrets of Spanish Tennis 2.0, the second edition of the original best-seller and classic. Available at local bookstores and all online outlets like Amazon.
