Technology, At Nadal’s Service

During a preseason training session, Rafael Nadal’s physiotherapist, Rafael Maymo, whipped out his iPhone while Rafa executed a serve as coach Carlos Moya looked on. It wasn’t that Maymo was distracted or tending to a text message; instead, he was recording the 17-time Grand Slam champion’s serve. Immediately after, the player and his coaches huddled on the sidelines to watch the video. The purpose: To analyze, frame by frame, the mechanics of his swing. Video is just one tool the team is utilizing in the hopes of producing a more potent serve and improve his overall game.

“We record video, then review each frame with Rafa to get his thoughts on our progress,” Moya said ahead of his charge’s fourth-round match against Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open on Sunday. “The tweaks we’ve made so far might appear small, but we consider them as fundamental improvements. As a team, we’re constantly modifying the execution of his serve to get it to where we want it to be.”

Francisco Roig, also coach to the World No. 2, watched the videos shot during those practice workouts at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar in Mallorca, Spain, via WhatsApp. Despite being over 100 miles away in Barcelona at the time, Roig was still able to provide input on how to revamp the swing to produce more velocity and put opponents on the back foot by studying those videos. 

On top of video analysis, statistical analysis has also been an integral part of Team Rafa’s quest to constantly improve. And no one is better at making sense of stats than coach Moya. After his retirement in 2010, the former World No. 1 made his coaching debut during the 2016 season, helping Milos Raonic climb to No. 3 in the ATP Rankings and guiding him to the Wimbledon final. When Moya and Raonic parted ways 11 months later, Moya agreed to join Nadal’s team, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and ideas. The addition of Moya breathed new life into his countryman’s career. 

One of Moya’s goals from the outset was to avoid any dips in form as a season wore on by molding Nadal into a more aggressive player. He proposed a less grueling schedule with fewer tournaments and a nutritional regimen that would result in lower weight without burning muscle. To achieve the next level of transformation, though, Moya surrounded himself with data and devoured all the stats he could find following Nadal’s matches. 

“I’ve always liked using technology, but in my time as a player there was not much access to data,” said Moya. “In this area, tennis was a bit behind compared to other sports, but now it has caught up. Stats are by no means the most important thing to rely on, because there are a multitude of factors that make a player who he is and what he achieves, but it definitely helps to have some knowledge to go by in terms of data when looking at our strengths and weaknesses, and of those of our rivals.”

Among one of Moya’s challenges was to get Nadal to accept technology as one method of improving, and to understand the benefit of using stats during training. By nature, Nadal has always been a player who preferred to let his instincts command his approach on the court. Slowly, however, the Spaniard is grasping the concept of how science and numbers are another way to boost his level of play and how to react in certain situations. 

“If I tell him he can sharpen one aspect of his game by doing something differently and I have data to back it up, he’s more likely to support the change,” Moya said. “If I see something that needs work, obviously my job is to point it out to Rafa — we’re always looking to hone his game.

“The added bonus of using all this information we have nowadays is that we have this intel on our opponents. Speed of serve, percentages, directions; everyone develops patterns. Maybe not those at the highest level, but in tense moments, most fall back on what they know best. If you do your homework, that’s one way of having an advantage during pressure points and not falling into a trap and just going with your gut.”

Moya is fully aware that this abundance of knowledge works both ways.

“I know there are a lot of players out there who look at Rafa’s numbers as well,” Moya said. “It’s a game of chess, even before the match starts, and you have to try and surprise your foe without going overboard. It can get crazy; you have to stay up to date and use all the information at your disposal but you also better know how to manage it. You’re seeing more and more players rely on data for an edge.”

On Saturday, Nadal and Moya practised on Court 8 of Melbourne Park to prepare for the No. 2 seed and 2009 Australian Open champion’s upcoming match against Berdych. Meanwhile, three Tennis Lab sports scientists stood in one corner of the court and gathered information from the session. Tennis Lab, in conjunction with Tennis Australia and the University of Victoria, processed data collected by cameras and sensors connected to Hawk-Eye, including the speed and trajectory of balls. After the hour-long workout and while Nadal hit the showers, Moya approached the Tennis Lab scientists to assess Nadal’s performance.

“In this era of advancement, where science and technology go hand in hand, the more information you obtain, the more power to you,” one Tennis Lab scientist said. “Mechanical changes are being made to shots. Players want to know how to avoid injury while still getting the most out of themselves.

“Among many factors, one for players over 30 years old to optimize their games is through this sort of science.”

It is something Moya seems to completely understand.