5 Ways Toni Nadal Built a Champion Through Character

After watching Rafa win his 12th French Open, I revisited Toni Nadal’s TEDx Talk on how he built a champion in Rafa through building his character.  It is one of my all-time favorites and a must see for all parents and coaches. Toni rarely speaks of the technical work he did with Rafa but speaks often and openly about his building character as the key to Rafa’s success.

As many of us in the tennis world know, throughout Rafa Nadal’s career, his uncle, mentor and former coach, Toni Nadal, has been instrumental in Rafa’s success. He has been coached by his Uncle Toni Nadal since he was a child (now Carlos Moya, a childhood mentor), this stability and consistent support system have empowered him throughout the years to perform his best, both on and off the court.

 “The problem today is that if you ask a father if he’d prefer to see his son become Roland Garros champion rather than a well brought up kid, he’d choose the first option.” Toni Nadal

5 Ways Toni Nadal Built a Champion in Rafa Through Character:

1. Perseverance: 

Toni emphasizes the ability to endure because being able to “endure” is what is decisive in life. You have to learn to “put up with” things in life. Toni often trained Rafa on bad courts with poor tennis balls, in windy conditions, to teach him that winning or losing isn’t about the quality of the courts, strings, lights, balls or weather conditions, but that it is about attitude, discipline, and perseverance. 

2. Respect: 

Respect for the game and for your opponent. Toni always demanded exemplary behavior. Rafa never misbehaved on the court and has never broken a racquet in his life. Tony doesn’t believe in treating Rafa any differently just because he was #1 in the world. There is simply no excuse to let your children behave poorly.

“My Uncle Toni loved the sport of tennis, and he is the one who showed me about the sport and transmitted to me that passion for the game and the respect,” Nadal says.

3. Accept Reality:

Be honest with yourself in your evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses. That is the first step to getting better. You can’t get better if you aren’t honest with where you are at that moment.

4. Take Responsibility: 

Always take responsibility for what happens on the court. NO EXCUSES. You didn’t lose because of the racquet, the balls, the weather, or the umpire (or parents!). “Never has an excuse made us win a match.”

5. The 3 Essentials- Effort, Sacrifice & Discipline:

Toni asks, ” Why does it take so long for the next generation of male players to pass the older generation?”  It is a great mistake nowadays, with children having too much. The young players have too much technology, physios, nutritionists, trainers, etc. They have all the technology analyze the statistics, so they can’t cope with the struggle and figure things out. They rely on others to do it for them. 

Link to Toni Nadal’s TEDx Talk I hope you get as much out of it as I do. I am a huge advocate of life skills, and character learned through sports. It is these skills that will enable us to succeed, or “endure” as Toni says, in life, not just on the playing fields. Click here to read my article on why Jr. Tennis is Worth It! I will finish today’s post with a great piece of advice to parents from Toni Nadal. 

Toni’s Advice to Parents:

“A child’s tennis game is not going to be perfect day in and day out. There may, in fact, be very few days where you feel amazing on the court, where every ball you hit is perfectly placed. Parents must understand that their child will not be perfect every day on the court, and they need to deal with adversity. They need to develop the skills to cope with days like these both on the court and in their everyday life.”

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