Having a persistent coach at the beginning of any tennis player’s career is crucial for their holistic understanding of the game. One could see how Roger Federer always mentions his initial coach Peter Carter and credits him for shaping up his game during his amateur days. Similar to Federer, Spain tennis legend Rafael Nadal was fortunate enough to be associated with his uncle Toni, who not only built his game and also taught him to respect the game.

So, when Toni Nadal decided to move away from his nephew after the end of 2017 Australian Open, there were speculations concerning how Nadal would go about his business on the ATP tour without an important person in the team. But, the Spaniard‘s reign continued as he went on to win few majors and remained one of the toughest players to beat on men’s circuit.

Top stars like Naomi Osaka and Roger Federer talked about Rafa Nadal Academy in a documentary

Recently, a documentary made on Rafa Nadal’s academy showcased how upcoming players are being taught the basics of the game as well as non-technical aspects related to the sport. Even top stars like Naomi Osaka, Roger Federer, and Casper Ruud shared their experiences of spending their off-season training at the academy.

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Federer mentioned that he would begin his initial tennis practice sessions at Nadal’s academy before going to Dubai. Even though the Swiss Maestro is yet to take off his crutches, he might participate in active training by end of this year.

On the other hand, Nadal’s foot treatment was successful in Barcelona and the former world no.1 is currently in rehab and will hit the courts soon.

Toni Nadal’s vast coaching experience is helping budding players at the academy

Promoting the documentary released on Prime video, Rafa Nadal academy recently posted on Instagram about the impact Toni Nadal has on budding players. Carlos Costa, who is the head of business at the academy said, “For us, it was very important when Toni stopped traveling with Rafa and moved to be the director of the Rafa Nadal Academy. Because, here we needed a little bit of the Rafa Nadal methodology to be carried out with the one who created it”. 

The clip then focuses on one of the training sessions foreseen by uncle Toni as he gives instructions to a budding player on how to handle a baseline rally.

“Follow through more, no, you have to hit it well. You’re going to miss it. Almost, almost. I told you. You didn’t miss it, but you lost the point”, Toni Nadal could be seen as quoting the same.

Even Nadal was present while his uncle was giving instructions and had a chat with the youngster. The main impact of uncle Toni at the academy would be to share innumerable examples during his coaching time with Nadal and inspire players to execute the same.

“When he was going to serve, I would tell him, ‘Be careful with the double fault. Be careful with the double fault’. I know what you have to do to be a champion”, uncle Toni concluded.

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