Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni blames mental health coaches for making things worse in tennis
Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni is of the opinion that there is too much information in today's tennis, which is confusing the new generation of players and preventing them from reaching their full potential.
Speaking in an interview with the Majorca Bulletin, the tennis coach opined that positive criticism did not always work and that it often led to players becoming more frustrated when they lose.
On the contrary, he wanted players to train more, work harder and focus on the next tournament -- an attitude he instilled in his nephew from a very young age. It is because of that attitude that the 22-time Grand Slam champion often got the better of Roger Federer despite the Swiss playing a perfect game, added the Spaniard.
"Today there's too much information it's confusing, and it's all about positive criticism. That does not always work; on the contrary, it leads to greater frustration for players when they lose. It's a case of dusting yourself down and training more, working harder, constantly improving your game and moving on to the next tournament," Toni Nadal said.
"That's what I always instilled in Rafa and that's why he's so mentally strong. There will be very few players ever as good as Federer, for example, he played the perfect game but Rafa beat him," he added.
Toni Nadal further lamented how player entourages have become so large these days, with the addition of analysts and nutritionists and mental health coaches. Interestingly, he blamed mental health coaches for making things worse, stating his opinion that many young players are not able to handle the pressure themselves because of these professionals.
"The teams behind the players have become so large, so many stats, analysis, nutritionists and mental health coaches. And it is the latter [mental health coaches] that I believe are the cause for so many young players getting frustrated and being unable to handle defeat and the pressure," Toni Nadal said.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion's uncle pointed out that Nadal never had a mental health coach in his early days, let alone a nutritionist. Despite that, it was the attitude Toni instilled in him that helped the 22-time Major winner become the champion that he is today.
"Rafa never had a mental health coach, never mind a nutritionist. I'm not his mother, I don't know what he ate or eats or how much he weighs. It used to be just Rafa and I," he added.
"Some days, I would foget to take water" - Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni
Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni also revealed that on some days, he would take his nephew to practice with old balls on poor quality courts, even withholding water from him just so that he could get mentally strong.
And instead of withholding criticism, the Spaniard used the practice of telling his protege exactly what mistakes he were making so that he could understand where he was going wrong.
"Some days I would play him with used old balls, take him to poor quality courts to train and forget to take water so he could be mentally strong and get used to accepting defeat and making mistakes. And I used to tell him when he was making mistakes," he said.