RPT Spanish Training Model

[tennis_balla]

Ok, so the last thread where I posted this got deleted so I'm gonna try again to put this up for others to see. This is Luis Mediero of RPT Europe doing a seminar on Spanish training methods and philosophies a few years ago. Its not the whole video, just a portion of it. Enjoy

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aj8jYfKqio

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHd0kMBdGkE

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfH_KB63k44

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCcb_sYn7dA

Edit:
Two more videos uploaded, these are a few of the on-court drills presented in the video in connection to what was being discussed/lectured earlier.

RPT Drills Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xo0ffkh-Z4

RPT Drills Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqCfLhWVaAE

Edit 2:

Links fixed

[5263]

Nice posting,
thanks

[VaBeachTennis]

Thanks for posting that. It's going on my blog with credit to you and TW forums.

[tennis_balla]

Originally Posted by VaBeachTennis

Thanks for posting that. It's going on my blog with credit to you and TW forums.

No problem, glad you enjoyed it

=========================================

I've also added a couple more videos to the original post if anyone is interested.

[UnforcedError]

Great videos thanks for posting that.

[Ash_Smith]

Luis is a legend, the passion the man has is infectious! Was chatting to him last weekend about the state of tennis in britain and spain. He believes the Spanish Federation need to make changes now or in 8 years or so after the current crop of players retire they will have no top players. At least they will be changing in a position of strength unlike britain and the US who will be working from a position of relative weakness.

The reason the RPT system of teaching works so well is that nearly all spanish coaches are trained by the RPT so there is a unified and cohesive approach. In the UK there is the LTA coach education - (which from the courses i've done is more concerned about how you look and sound rather than giving you the technical tools to teach), the PTR-UK (who don't count really) and the RPT (we are growing rapidly!). Most UK coaches have been through LTA Coach Ed, which has no system for teaching as such.

The irony is the rest of the world are just catching on to the "Spanish" (RPT) system when they are about to develop it to move it forward for the next generation.

[Ash_Smith]

Also, forgot to add that a big difference in the Spanish (RPT) sytem is that the body is trained as much as the racquet, insofar as movement, positioning, footwork patterns are concerned - it's not just the racquet. When I did some work with Vicente Calvo (verdasco's trainer) he made the point that many Spanish players are not as technically coherent with the racquet as players from other countries but they use their bodies much better - they are much more physical in their approach.

[tennis_balla]

Originally Posted by Ash_Smith

Also, forgot to add that a big difference in the Spanish (RPT) sytem is that the body is trained as much as the racquet, insofar as movement, positioning, footwork patterns are concerned - it's not just the racquet. When I did some work with Vicente Calvo (verdasco's trainer) he made the point that many Spanish players are not as technically coherent with the racquet as players from other countries but they use their bodies much better - they are much more physical in their approach.

I took the RPT recognized Sanchez-Casal coaching course in Barcelona and the drills that were introduced are exactly what you are talking about. Its playing tennis with your feet, not just relying on your racket. Some people I've heard do not like the Spanish X drill patterns but that is the way you move on court. Maybe they misunderstand it but you can see a change in the Spanish system to what people think it is, or was says back in the early 90's. It is much more all-court now, which is an interesting shift from a nation that grows up playing on red clay.

[Ash_Smith]

The Sanchez-Casal core drills are excellent, in the UK we offer this as a one day CPD course or as part of the full certification programme. The big thing i've found when teaching them to coaches is that many of them don't have the skills to either feed them properly or the knowledge to teach the important points during the drills. Most just use them to fill some time rather than to actually teach.

Of the 6 core drills at least half involve the volley, which like you say promotes an all-court style. again it's about not putting barriers in your players path - just because Rafa doesn't volley often doesn't mean he can't - in fact when he does volley he nearly always wins the point.

The only drill of the 6 I'm not keen on is the drive volley drill - because it has the player moving backwards to hit the drive volley (the argument being the player learns to move back and then shift their weight forward into the hit - it needs to be taught really well to make sense).

Glad you enjoyed the course.

[tennis_balla]

I actually love the volley drive drill, when we had to do it in the course it was the one that I enjoyed the most and helped my footwork a lot also.
It is a tricky one though you're correct. I've done it with a number of people and not only explaining it correctly and having things under control is crucial but also making sure you feed the ball at the right height and speed so the player can execute the drill properly. I did the course with 3 other guys and that was the one some had problems with as well as feeding it deep enough on the baseline to get the player moving back into a defensive position.
I can't imagine those drills being used to fill time, that's ridiculous. Everyone I've introduce those drills to (players during lessons) have loved them and said its different to what they've ever done before. The one bounce, 2 volleys (starting on service line, move back to hit a groundie then 2 volleys) was actually the most popular.

I think we should continue the discussion here if you want, we're getting off topic in the other thread.

[Ash_Smith]

true (slaps self on wrist)

Like I said, you've got to teach during the drills to make them worthwile - many coaches i've taught the drills to don't have the feeding skills required either.

The big thing I noticed when I first learned the drills myself was that the first feed always puts the player in a defensive situation and then the drill develops into offence. Most coaches i've taught make their first feeds "nice" to help the player - not the most realistic way to start a drill.

Look at how Nadal, Verdasco, Murray etc turn defence into attack so quickly and you can see which approach is better long term!

[W Cats]

Great info OP. Thanks for the links and exposing me to a new paradigim.

[mikro112]

tennis_balla: Please check your email! I've sent you one.

[tennis_balla]

Originally Posted by Ash_Smith

true (slaps self on wrist)

Like I said, you've got to teach during the drills to make them worthwile - many coaches i've taught the drills to don't have the feeding skills required either.

The big thing I noticed when I first learned the drills myself was that the first feed always puts the player in a defensive situation and then the drill develops into offence. Most coaches i've taught make their first feeds "nice" to help the player - not the most realistic way to start a drill.

Look at how Nadal, Verdasco, Murray etc turn defence into attack so quickly and you can see which approach is better long term!

Yea what I found interesting is after apply the drills myself in lessons I noticed how much trouble players have in moving backwards, yet how many times in a match do you move like that? especially at the club level with those high balls some people hit, quite a lot. Its not always smart to hit on the rise all the time on everything, besides with the spin nowadays you can get a high deep ball and it doesn't need to hit 2 feet from the baseline and you will have to move back to hit it. I also noticed looking back that most places teach unrealistic drills. When I used to teach at Newcombes in Texas, I worked a bit with their adult program but then only with their junior academy (thank god). Their feeding drills (for both programs, including the top juniors) consisted of drills that went something like this: forehand, backhand, short ball, volley, volley, overhead.
The thing that is wrong with that is 1. you're only teaching players to move forward and not like at S-C where you also learn to move back on a high deep ball, get behind the ball, load on rear foot etc so you can recover faster and 2. its unrealistic cause the player didn't earn that short ball, they could of duffed one into the net, or hit it short yet the next ball was still a short ball from the coach. There were other things, such as mostly going crosscourt on groundies and only hitting down the line in approaches but I wanna avoid writing a novel of a post

Edit:

Glad you enjoyed it W Cats

[tennis_balla]

Originally Posted by mikro112

tennis_balla: Please check your email! I've sent you one.

Got it and replied...

[BridgetJones]

Originally Posted by Ash_Smith

Of the 6 core drills at least half involve the volley, which like you say promotes an all-court style. again it's about not putting barriers in your players path - just because Rafa doesn't volley often doesn't mean he can't - in fact when he does volley he nearly always wins the point.

Glad you enjoyed the course.

That's the big shocker for Americans when they go to play on red clay against people who grew up on it. The clay court specialist works the point and then comes in and hits an angled volley or drop volley winner and wins the point.

[W Cats]

TB, I can't seem to pull up the Part 1 Drill vid. It was also not in the list of 8 vids that you posted on Youtube. Help.

Thanks in advance, Gary

[5th Element]

Originally Posted by Ash_Smith

Luis is a legend, the passion the man has is infectious! Was chatting to him last weekend about the state of tennis in britain and spain. He believes the Spanish Federation need to make changes now or in 8 years or so after the current crop of players retire they will have no top players. At least they will be changing in a position of strength unlike britain and the US who will be working from a position of relative weakness.

The reason the RPT system of teaching works so well is that nearly all spanish coaches are trained by the RPT so there is a unified and cohesive approach. In the UK there is the LTA coach education - (which from the courses i've done is more concerned about how you look and sound rather than giving you the technical tools to teach), the PTR-UK (who don't count really) and the RPT (we are growing rapidly!). Most UK coaches have been through LTA Coach Ed, which has no system for teaching as such.

The irony is the rest of the world are just catching on to the "Spanish" (RPT) system when they are about to develop it to move it forward for the next generation.

Ash_Smith without attempting to devalue your - undoubtedly - strong experience, I'd like to disagree on a couple of points.

I've done both the LTA DCA course as well as the PTR UK one. None of them are perfect without a shadow of a doubt but I wouldn't go as far as to say that they have no system of teaching!

LTA is using the game based approach without placing too much emphasis on tehnique, error detection, etc. Agility, balance, coordination (ABC) are extensively covered and tested on. Their method is based around the five playing situations and the five basic tactics.

PTR is much more technical but doesn't tell you how to run coaching sessions after your initial 30-minute serve/forehand/backhand lesson. You need to attend seminars delivered after the certification stage to fill in the -admittedly - major gaps!

[tennis_balla]

Originally Posted by W Cats

TB, I can't seem to pull up the Part 1 Drill vid. It was also not in the list of 8 vids that you posted on Youtube. Help.

Thanks in advance, Gary

Sorry, my mistake I had it set to private. Should be good now, was wondering why no one was viewing that one haha

[Ash_Smith]

Originally Posted by 5th Element

Ash_Smith without attempting to devalue your - undoubtedly - strong experience, I'd like to disagree on a couple of points.

I've done both the LTA DCA course as well as the PTR UK one. None of them are perfect without a shadow of a doubt but I wouldn't go as far as to say that they have no system of teaching!

LTA is using the game based approach without placing too much emphasis on tehnique, error detection, etc. Agility, balance, coordination (ABC) are extensively covered and tested on. Their method is based around the five playing situations and the five basic tactics. !

No worries, disagreement and discussion is how we get better at this silly game!!!

How recently did you do your DCA - have you done it since the new technical progressions were introduced - did you learn to teach the brand new semi-continental grip which is the cornerstone of the new LTA progressions!

We (the RPT) have been lobbying the LTA for years that progression based technical teching is the best method and they've finally adopted it - however they cant use RPT, PTR, USPTA, MTM progressions so they had to invent some.

The 5 game situations have now changed too I believe - to something slightly less comprehensible than before. Did you have "At baseline/serving/returning/opp at net/you at net" as the 5 game situations

I did my DCA about 10 years ago and found it next to pointless in terms of technical teaching - the highlight being a tutor (who shall remain nameless) saying that in the first instance you want the the player to "shovel the ball over anyway possible" not exactly what you want to hear when learning to coach for the first time! I didn't really find the CCA much better to be honest. Still little focus on technical development.