Secrets of Spanish Tennis: Culture and Infrastructure

Why have the Spanish succeeded in developing world class players? Spanish Tennis or the Spanish method has become synonymous with world-class tennis success in the past 20 years. What makes Spanish tennis so unique? What exactly are those Spanish coaches doing so differently to develop superstars that other systems are not doing? To answer that question over the last several years, I have visited many of the top Spanish academies and studied with and interviewed some of the leading coaches in Spain. As it turns out the Spanish success is not really due to a technical teaching methodology. Rather is it is a confluence of philosophical assumptions and training techniques, combined with cultural and even geographical elements. In this article let's first look at certain paradigmatic elements and the unique cultural superstructure of Spanish tennis. Then in upcoming we will turn to some of the oncourt "secrets" utilized by the country's top coaches. Miguel Crespo is a leading Spanish Sport Science researcher, a coach, and the head of the ITF research office based in Spain. He identifies eight factors that have contributed to Spanish success, elements which are unique to Spanish history, culture and geography: 5. Weather 6.Clay Courts 7....