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Hall of Fame
From an interesting article in NYT on Nadal’s Look, Mannerisms and Game
The myriad mannerisms that have come to define Nadal’s serving motion were largely absent in 2005.
Serving in the first set against Puerta, he might clean the line with his foot, might tuck his hair behind one of his ears and might, of course, tug at the seat of his pants But that was where it ended.
“Wow, just one ear,” Courier said as he watched the footage
Eight years ago, Nadal’s obsessive attention to water bottle positioning was already in place, but serving was as simple as walking to the baseline, bouncing the ball a few times with his right hand and delivering a serve with his left.
Contrast that with his opening service game against Djokovic.
Nadal cleaned the line with his foot, examined the three balls in his hand, discarded one and then put another ball in his pocket.
He then did the following: reached for the back of his shorts with his right hand and tugged while bouncing the ball off the clay with his racket face; adjusted his left shirt sleeve with his right hand; adjusted his right shirt sleeve with his right hand; ran his right hand across his brow under his headband; touched his left ear; lightly pinched the bridge of his nose; and touched his right ear.
Only then did Nadal stop bouncing the ball with his racket face (nine bounces in all) and switch the ball to his right hand for five more bounces. Only then did he prepare in earnest to toss the ball and deliver a serve.
Courier has reviewed footage of Nadal when he played in the prominent under-14 junior tournament Les Petits As in Tarbes, France.
“He had none of the mannerisms at all,” Courier said.
“It’s a white-hot spotlight. A lot of players need rituals to feel comfortable in the environment. It makes them feel at home. That would be my guess.”
linky - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/sports/tennis/a-review-of-nadals-look-mannerisms-and-game.html?src=recg
The myriad mannerisms that have come to define Nadal’s serving motion were largely absent in 2005.
Serving in the first set against Puerta, he might clean the line with his foot, might tuck his hair behind one of his ears and might, of course, tug at the seat of his pants But that was where it ended.
“Wow, just one ear,” Courier said as he watched the footage
Eight years ago, Nadal’s obsessive attention to water bottle positioning was already in place, but serving was as simple as walking to the baseline, bouncing the ball a few times with his right hand and delivering a serve with his left.
Contrast that with his opening service game against Djokovic.
Nadal cleaned the line with his foot, examined the three balls in his hand, discarded one and then put another ball in his pocket.
He then did the following: reached for the back of his shorts with his right hand and tugged while bouncing the ball off the clay with his racket face; adjusted his left shirt sleeve with his right hand; adjusted his right shirt sleeve with his right hand; ran his right hand across his brow under his headband; touched his left ear; lightly pinched the bridge of his nose; and touched his right ear.
Only then did Nadal stop bouncing the ball with his racket face (nine bounces in all) and switch the ball to his right hand for five more bounces. Only then did he prepare in earnest to toss the ball and deliver a serve.
Courier has reviewed footage of Nadal when he played in the prominent under-14 junior tournament Les Petits As in Tarbes, France.
“He had none of the mannerisms at all,” Courier said.
“It’s a white-hot spotlight. A lot of players need rituals to feel comfortable in the environment. It makes them feel at home. That would be my guess.”
linky - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/sports/tennis/a-review-of-nadals-look-mannerisms-and-game.html?src=recg
