Toni Nadal: 'I think it is good to be demanding, but obviously...'

In a Q&A organized by the Rafa Nadal Academy, Toni Nadal answered questions regarding his work as a coach.

As Rafael Nadal's uncle and ex-coach, the Spaniard gave some advice on how to identify how demanding can a coach be with a player: "It's a very good question. The truth is that it is difficult to know exactly. I always tried to put a lot of effort in for each [player] I coached, as long as they showed me they wanted to be good players. You understand it over time as the weeks, months of training go by, you see when a player is willing to do everything necessary or if, on the contrary, they are losing interest. I think it is good to be demanding, but obviously the player has to collaborate."

Toni Nadal also explained what, in his opinion, is needed to be a good coach: "The first thing is to be lucky and get a good player, this is essential. But jokes aside, I think a good coach puts a lot of passion into what he does. I believe that another characteristic is knowing how to see the characteristics of each player and apply them in a game and training system adapted to these characteristics. I believe that a good coach has to be above all a great motivator. In the end when you work with youth what you have to try is to motivate them every day, and sometimes this costs." 

What led him to become a tennis coach? "I started to play tennis really late, when I was 14 years old. Then I tried to be a good tennis player, but when I understood that I would not be a  professional tennis player because I wouldn't be good enough, I decided to coach. I started to coach people, the youngsters in our old club in Manacor, and I have to say always I loved it. Still now, I love to coach people. I love to be a teacher more than to be a tennis coach on the Tour. I love to be with youngsters and try to help them."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3crz4D2