Lluis Bruguera, Pato Alvarez and the Six Secrets
July 14, 2024 | By Chris Lewit
The below is an excerpt from the new Secrets of Spanish 2, the second edition of Chris Lewit’s best-selling book. The book is now available on Amazon and other venues.
Although historically there has been some personal conflict — and competition — between Bruguera and Alvarez, together they have had a profound influence on the trajectory of Spanish tennis and have been instrumental in shaping the Spanish style, philosophy, and methods that are being used across the country by thousands of coaches. While their methods and philosophies are different — they are also similar in many ways. In this book I have tried to highlight those similarities to give coaches, players, and parents a practical guide that is not rooted in one coach’s particular dogma only.
The six secrets are the result of this search for universality and harmony between the different teaching lineages in Spain. For example, Alvarez is a passionate proponent of using the double rhythm footwork as much as possible, and he makes it a primary part of his technical work. However, it would be wrong to focus primarily on the double rhythm technique and label it “The Spanish Way” because there are many other elite coaches in Spain, including Bruguera, who do not stress the double rhythm and still have achieved fantastic results. In the six secrets of Spanish tennis in this book, I have tried to outline more broad commonalities that the great coaches in Spain would have trouble disagreeing with each other about. Pato and Lluis, despite their philosophical differences on some areas of the tennis game, would agree on the importance of training these six core fundamentals:
- Movement, footwork and balance. Spanish players are taught to run and move with great balance and agility.
- Racquet speed and weapon building. Spanish players often have big, powerful topspin forehand weapons. The shot is cultivated from a young age.
- Consistency. Spanish players are taught to be stingy with errors and to play with patience.
- Defense. Coaches stress defense in addition to offense. Players have well-rounded games and they can attack and defend skillfully as the situation demands.
- Physical conditioning. Spanish players are well known for their superior stamina and fitness.
- Suffering. This is the most famous mental strength that Spanish players have. They love to battle and suffer.
As I have mentioned in the “Secrets” section of the book, many of these areas can be taught in an integrated way, rather than separately piece by piece. Indeed, as Luis Mediero, a leading Spanish coaching educator, has asserted, one hallmark of the Spanish approach is to teach elements simply and holistically, which is the preferred method of both Pato and Lluis. The exercises that they designed work the technical, tactical, physical, and mental, often all together. However, the drills often have the versatility to allow the coach to prioritize the areas that are the most vital for the student. Coaches, parents, and players can feel confident adding these core Spanish elements to their own training regimens because they are endorsed by the two greatest coaches in Spain, Lluis and Pato. There are other unique methods that individual Spanish coaches teach, and more specialized and varied approaches from academy to academy and coach to coach, but the purpose of this book is to highlight common themes to get to the essence of the Spanish way. However, to study the differences between coaches across Spain is a fascinating exercise.
For the curious reader, I will be adding to the book website and the Chris Lewit YouTube channel exclusive interviews with other leading Spanish coaches that I have interviewed, such as Pancho Alvarino, Antonio Martinez, Jose Altur, Jofre Porta, Albert Costa, Sergio Casal, Emilio Sánchez, Andres Gimeno, Jose Perlas, Javier Piles, Jordi Vilaro, Javier Duarte, Francis Roig, Alvaro Margets and more. Many of these greats will also be discussed in Chapter Eleven.
Also check out brand news chapter on Toni Nadal and his system and the rise of Carlos Alcaraz.
Please visit secretsofspanishtennis.com, to read or listen to these interviews.
Vamos!!
