On February 2, Rafa Nadal's uncle Tony Nadal (hereinafter referred to as Tony's uncle) wrote an article in the Spanish newspaper El País, revealing the secret of Nadal's success and reflecting on the training and training patterns of modern young people.
If this article is translated in the original language, many readers will find it obscure to read, at least Uncle Tony's writing ideas and expressions are not in line with our habits. More importantly, if the reader is not familiar with some of the ideas and examples quoted in the text, it is difficult to accurately and comprehensively understand the author's main idea.
For example, uncle Tony, in reflecting on the training model of modern young people, mentions the book "Civilization of Drama" by the Nobel Prize-winning Writer and Peruvian/Spanish writer Llosa. In order to better understand Uncle Tony's article, I gave up the intention of literal translation of the original text after reviewing the materials, and instead introduced the main points that Uncle Tony wanted to express to the reader in my own language.
The following is mainly from Uncle Tony's article, but with my understanding and additions, it can be regarded as my reading notes or my experience after reading.
In the past few days, the news of Nadal's victory at the Australian Open has attracted widespread attention, and people have taken stock of a lot of data and expressed praise and reverence to Nadal with various praises.
In the midst of these repeated praises, many mention Nadal's spiritual strength, his tenacity in the face of difficulties, and his extraordinary ability to overcome them in very unfavorable circumstances. People are very curious about how Nadal did this, and commentators have tried to explain this from various angles.
These explanations are inconsistent, and Uncle Tony, as the coach who accompanied Nadal's growth, clearly understands the actual situation better, has more say in this, and his explanation is undoubtedly more authoritative and more credible.
In Uncle Tony's view, Nadal's success is largely due to the lessons he has received over the years, his trust and obedience to the coach, the internalization of what the coach taught him, and the strict implementation of it.
So, how exactly did Nadal get trained? What did the coach teach him?
Uncle Tony believes that Nadal is first and foremost a good listener, always obeying the instructions of his coach almost unconditionally. Man has no thought of his own in childhood, and the first knowledge comes from indoctrination. As they get older, some children will begin to rebel and reject, and some children will be willing or willing to accept these indoctrinations, and Nadal is obviously the latter.
For the coach's indoctrination, Nadal suffered in silence and did not complain. As an adult, Nadal rarely had negative emotions such as complaining on the pitch, and he was taught from an early age to enter the arena in a good mental state, accept the fact that things will not get better immediately, and accept the physical and mental difficulties.
In so many years of training, Nadal has always walked to the training ground with a relaxed and happy mood, without the idea of being forced to train, and there will be no complaints or resistance. Uncle Tony believes that emotional control is very important in training, he does not allow trainees to reluctantly start a training class, and students can never drop the racket because it is a sign of anger and depression. As soon as you step on the pitch, you have to do everything you can.
Even so, things won't necessarily go smoothly and the ending won't necessarily go as expected. You have to understand and accept this reality.
To illustrate this more clearly and intuitively, Uncle Tony summed up a few aphorisms that Nadal kept in mind at all times.
For example, "If you can't beat your opponent, at least don't help him beat you." ”
"Doing everything you can do doesn't guarantee you'll succeed, but if you don't, you're almost certain to fail."
"When fighting in completely undefeated situations, we almost always lose, but one day we will turn things around. By then, all the previous efforts had been worth it. ”
"If you can't control your emotions, it's hard to control the ball."
There are many similar aphorisms and phrases, and Nadal has not only internalized in his heart in his years of training, but also externalized in his deeds, and strictly implemented them in place.
This training model has had two implications for Nadal.
First, in the face of any difficulty, we must not escape and retreat. Avoidance and withdrawal are the instincts of many people, such as falling behind in the final two sets, facing 3 consecutive break points in the third set of 2-3, 0-40, I believe that the vast majority of people will think about giving up and want to surrender, but Nadal will not.
Why wouldn't Nadal? Uncle Tony's answer was simple—because he was used to it. Nadal has spent his life learning how to face such a dilemma, and he has long been familiar with it. As a child, Uncle Tony used to play a 20-point game with Nadal, and he would let Nadal win 19 points first, and then pull back point by point, in order to temper Nadal's will.
Second, always maintain a humble attitude in the face of any praise. Some people may think that the content of the players in the post-match press conference is prepared in advance, basically some decent, boring polite words, they talk a lot, but they don't seem to say anything.
Flipping through all of Nadal's interview records, we can always feel Nadal's humility, low profile and sincerity. The look in Nadal's eyes and expressions when he spoke confirmed that what he said was the true expression of the heart, without deliberate embellishment or disguise, and that he was a sincere and good man with a pure heart.
Uncle Tony believes that Nadal's sincerity, humility and low profile are related to the education he received from an early age. Only by being a listener can you consciously consider problems from the perspective of the other party, can you recognize the origin of things, can you not be blinded by the temptation of the outside world, can you gain insight into the pursuit of the heart, and can you find out what the pursuit of life is.
After summarizing and explaining the secrets of Nadal's success, Uncle Tony also reflected on the training and training model of young players today, expressing his views.
In Uncle Tony's view, modern young players show more frequent frustration, boredom and abandonment tendencies, they hate the monotonous and boring training mode day after day, and hope to have fun, new training mode. After putting in the effort, they are eager to get an immediate return, hoping that the coach will be more humane rather than as harsh and ruthless as in the past. Compared with the frequent criticism and reprimands in the past, they need the appreciation and praise of the coach.
Uncle Tony's question is actually an old question, that is, is the traditional frustration education better, or the modern appreciation education? Which education model is more likely to produce outstanding talents like Nadal?
This is a very complex issue that is far from being analyzed in a short article. More importantly, no matter how you analyze it, you can't change the reader's fixed positions and opinions — those who agree with setback education will always agree, and those who oppose setback education will always oppose it.
As far as Uncle Tony is concerned, he clearly prefers the traditional model of education, because Nadal's success is the best proof.
There are different points of view, and there is no absolute right or wrong in many things, so the speculation behind these arguments is more valuable and meaningful.
So, we can't help but ask, why do modern young people resist the traditional model of education? Why do they prefer instant gratification?
Behind this phenomenon, it reflects the changes in the whole society. As Llosa pointed out in "The Civilization of Drama", the world today is in a "deep crisis", the trend of mediocrity, shallowness and entertainment of lifestyles is becoming more and more obvious, and modern civilization has evolved into what Llosa calls "the civilization of theater".
The so-called "civilization of drama" means that entertainment and entertainment have become people's life pursuits, the influence of profound thought and elegant art is gradually declining, the social lifestyle is becoming more and more shallow and mediocre, almost anything can be used to spoof and laugh, no one is willing to calm down to think seriously, people are intoxicated by the immediate satisfaction brought by 30 seconds of short videos, and after repeated orgasms, they will only leave a greater spiritual emptiness.
Uncle Tony wrote, "A lot of times, I ask why Nadal is able to undergo monotonous and rigorous training day after day, why he has no complaints about it, and the young players who are equally eager to succeed can't do it like Nadal." Not only that, but similar situations are happening outside of the tennis or sports field, which makes me more and more uneasy. ”
What do you think of Uncle Tony's point of view? Are you for or against frustration education? Is the current popular pan-entertainment a progression or a regression of civilization? What do you think is the biggest secret to Nadal's success? Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments section. (Source: Tennis House Author: Yun Cirrus Yunshu)