Three Lessons I Learned From Rafa in Miami–and You Can Too

Is the reverse finish the element to copy watching Rafa? (No.) What lessons can you learn from watching Rafa Nadal practice? Hit every forehand with 4000rpm? Keep your water bottles perfectly aligned? Sure. But–seriously–watching him this week in Miami, I saw three things that are critical for players at all levels–but are sadly rare. Rhythm, posture, and timing. Focusing on these elements I could feel myself absorbing them directly, I began imagining myself doing them and noticing how that looked and felt in my mind’s eye. When I went on court later after the second day the effect was incredibly positive. I believe any player can have the same experience. And create it on demand. I call it the osmosis effect. (Click Here for more on that.) You can create it by watching pro tennis live–or watching highly skilled local players, or by watching video, or from our stroke archives, and hopefully from this article as well. In fact it’s the principle that...