While considering the advantage of Nadal being a LH when facing Federer, most tennis fans do not realise that Nadal has actually a positive H2H versus anbody almost, certainly versus his main rivals and most players on tour. Left-Handers such as Lopy, Melzer, Verdasco, Belluci, Nieminen have all a very poor result versus Fed cause though they could try to loop it on his BH, none will have the power to send such a powerful and fizzy ball as Nadal. Federer is never beaten tactically imo. His losses are usually due to the opponent sending him a ball he cannot control (Safin power, Nadal's spin/power) or someone able to retrieve his shots and force long rallies ending up breaking his timing.
Had Nadal been right-handed he woudl have struggled much more versus Federer cause he would have struggled finding Fed's BH and hurt him. In fact Nadal woudl have struggled against many more players on tour.
We know Toni introduce Nadal to tennis at 4 and asked him at 8 to use his LH hand from then on. Of course that was not planned to counter Federer as this one was certainly not a threat back then but Toni knew it would maximise his chance to become a successful player on tour. It would have been a huge risk for any player in the world to use his "un-natural" hand ....unless Toni had a clear plan from the beginning.
When I consider Toni's approach his plan seems very clear. He would not have asked Rafa to play LH had he not anticipated Rafa to be extraordinarily fit, able to hit hard and run miles. Look at the other LHers on the tour, they all learnt to play naturally with their left hand but none are doing particularly well versus the opposition. By playing lefty Nadal lost his natural instinct and feel to hit a tennis ball and found himself to have to develop his right brain side to use his LH, a real challenge for anybody. A huge disadvantage compared to other natural LHers...and of course versus the other RHers too. Toni strategy was therefore a deliberate attempt not to use any particular tennis talent or skill in Nadal but knew he woudl compensate the lack of it with exceptional power and stamina thanks to a very high margin tennis: Hitting high over the net and landing well inside the court allowing for easy angles thanks to new strings and racquets.
So the questions is now very clear:
Did Toni's know that 8yo Nadal was going to be a freak of nature, or did he know a special training and diet that could compensate for that loss of natural arm and make Nadal an exceptional athlete with exceptional power and stamina? It's also clear that Toni was inspired by 17yo Wilander beating Clerc, Lendl and Vilas moonballing no end proving to him that being talented was not really needed to win slams on clay where a good pair of legs was worth more than any FH from Lendl or BH from Vilas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzKuv4j67aw
Looking at the clip above it is clear that Nadal at 13 (5 years after having adopted his LH to play tennis), doesn;t show sign of super-natural fitness and certainly doesn't look nearly like "a freak of nature". If anything he looks tired and loses versus an even physically weaker player (Gasquet) over the distance.
It's clear to me that Toni had a plan from the day he decided to coach his nephew, most likely before he knew the real potential of his protege. He coudl have coached the most talented player in Spain but I think he did not care about talent. He wanted to built a champion from scratch thanks to a good strategy and great training discipline and diets.
He did just that! Well done Toni, very smart.
Toni Nadal - The master mind!
posted on 21/8/12
I think (to part-steal one of LK's points), that because Nadal has the ability to know how a RH will hit it. His positioning for someone using the opposite hand is outstanding, and you can often tell that the opponent's positioning isn't perfect when they play him due to not knowing the best angle to be when a LH'er will hit the ball.
posted on 21/8/12
Are you sure? I woudl have thought the other way around.
===========================
Because physic wise you expect him to go for the easier shot. No time = hit late = DTL, but, this is Nadal.
At the end of the day he passes from all corners but these clips are telling what i mean:
Here you expect a DTL because he comes late to the ball, yet he's going for the CC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAP2Gn2NqcI
He's going for the banana shot DTL when he is right on the ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqcTQ0QHmsk
He does it because he has the physique to make illogical choices.
anyway, if it's only obvious to me than it's probably the mystery that is my brain
posted on 21/8/12
Good article Tenez,much food for thought
"Did Toni's know that 8yo Nadal was going to be a freak of nature, or did he know a special training and diet that could compensate for that loss of natural arm and make Nadal an exceptional athlete with exceptional power and stamina? "
I heard athleticism runs in the Nadal family,so uncle Toni
must have known that he just needed to nurture that,power strength,stamina and endurance can be gained
But heres a thought,what if Nadal isnt actually a natural athlete,that his athleticism is simply years of hard work moulding himself into the athlete he is today.Its not impossible especially when you consider that for someone who is called the greatest athlete the game has ever seen,he struggles to cope with the tour schedule,he is never fully fit for an entire season,usually only clay season going into the grass court season,if he manages to dominate the earlier part of the season,ie. AO he struggles in the European summer,he is never able to make the finals of all 4 majors in a season and if he makes a run for it at the U.S Open,he is completely burnt out by the WTF even after having a 5 week break
He isnt even that fast for an athlete either,cause he is far more successful on a court as slow as Monte Carlo then he is on a court at Cincinnati
Stamina can easily be mistaken for athleticism,I run 5 miles a day,when I first started running I couldnt last longer then 5 min on a treadmill,I can now run an hour straight without breaking out sweat,does that make me a great athlete? No,it just means I improved my endurance and stamina levels so that breathe properly when doing cardio so that I dont get tired quickly
Some may say the above is because of injury or his style of play,my argument is a pure athlete would be more consistent as it would come naturally to them,you wouldnt see such extreme highs and lows in a season,there would be no sudden bursts of energy that cant be produced a few months later
Its obvious Nadal writes cheques his body won cash in 5 years time,I would even bet he spent his whole childhood pushing his body beyond its limits while his body was still developing and it would come as no surprise if all these foot knee/conditions are a direct result of that.
Injuries like that come from bad technique,or forcing something that doesnt come naturally,this is why Federer is hardly ever injured
Whatever the case may be uncle Toni simple logic seems to be that you can beat an opponent through endurance rather then shot making,The mere fact that he made Nadal play left handed which as you said made him lose his natural instinct and feel to hit a tennis ball,putting him at a huge disadvantage of having to develop the right side of his brain proves the little respect he gives to talent.
He may have proven his point but it comes with a controversial price
posted on 22/8/12
He's going for the banana shot DTL when he is right on the ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqcTQ0QHmsk
========================
I kind of knew you were going to use that point.
I think you are right that because he has that outstanding fitness he has the "illiogical" choice. In this point, the ball is not going away, it's droping fast and Nadal is there....he could have hit it DTL or CC and I think it's Fed's position that forces him to go CC....but above I find those passing ridiculous. Nadal could never have made the point with natural strings.
posted on 22/8/12
Hi Vee - Thanks. You clearly see my point. I may be wrong but to me there was clearly a plan from Toni and more than a plan I think he had already access to a secret weapon.
Again, when you see players like Wilander or Chang win at 17, without pulling winners but just bringing the ball back versus players famous for their great shot making (Lendl, Vilas, Edberg, etc..) it make you believe you can do the same.
posted on 22/8/12
Now to answer GPs valid 1 to 4 points, I think we have to consider what was Toni's objective at first: Turn Nadal into a slam winner, hopefully a FO winner and decent player all round. Wilander and Bruguera were players who could do well on all surfaces and made a decent living without having amazing shots. Acieveing as well as them woudl have certainly been a great achieement...but I think he knew that Nadal's fitness coudl bring even more trophies.
So regarding GP's #1, I reiterate that there was little natural to play LH.......at 8!!!! knowing Toni introduce Rafa to tennis at 4 apparently. This clip is very intersting as it shows Nadal is useless with his LH for everything else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01XvmcF6Ak
#2 - Yes Nadal hits great FH v Hewitt but again he knows he has no choice there...plus it's seems a one off match, not even, some points of the match. It's like if we show the his match v Berdych at the AO this year and see him return close to the baseline. A swallow doesn't make a summer. But GP make a good point here.
#3 and #4 are linked, There Nadal is not in Toni's hand as much as teh organisers. Other tournaments want to see Nadal v Federer and as suggested by the draw rigging study, we clearly see that Fed v Nadal is what sells so the time taking between points will certainly be forgiven if it can help reach teh later rounds. Same applies for the general slowing down conds. Sure Toni coudl not anticipate it but he probably knew that a popular player woudl get away with more and I think Toni worked a lot on Rafa's image. We cannot deny that he delivered a package that pleased the crowds, and in turn the organisers. Toni must have had a good sense of how the sport business worked.
posted on 22/8/12
It certainly does make it look a lot easier to accomplish,cause virtually anyone has a foot in the door cause you dont necessarily need the shot making talent talent to be successful
Im glad Im not the only one who thinks Nadal is a product manufactured by his uncles weird ideal of what a pro tennis player should be.It doesnt stop there either,Nadal is completely controlled by his uncle's puppet strings,he doesnt even change tactics in a match e is losing unless his uncle signals him to do so.Plus he had to learn his gamesmanship tactics from someone/somewhere cause regardless of what he does it seems rather uncharacteristic in comparison to his humble persona
The sad thing about this is that if our theory has some substance to it,his uncle never looked at him and saw real potential,he just saw an opportunity to put his theory into practice
It would be really interesting to see how Nadal fairs without his uncle.I dont think Nadal would survive on his own if he played without a coach like Federer did for a season or 2
posted on 22/8/12
Yes Vee, I remember calling Nadal teh Frankeinstein of tennis already back in 2006 on 606 (which already drove a few of his fans mad).
But Tennis is a professional sport and Toni made a good living out of it as a coach and Nadal did even better as a player. And more s they gave millions of fans what they wanted, they even brought new fans into the sport.
It's like McDO, not very refined food, but billions love it.
Borg was the man for me, and in restrospect I would have been a Mc fan. But it's Borg that gave me the passion. Maybe some of the Nadal fans will understand the game better if they stick to it and then realise that though they like McDo, having diner chez les 3 Gros ( a good french restaurant) is much more fun!
posted on 25/8/12
Anyone who calls Nadal not talented is wrong!
posted on 9/9/12
hope you dont mind tenez if i post this article on MTL..
i think its a really interesting thread