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Pedro Pissarra was most recently the high-performance coach at Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca. Photo: HKGTA

Pick up your own balls: Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre looks to change the game in Hong Kong

  • Head coach Pedro Pissarra committed to bringing Nadal’s methodologies and training DNA to Hong Kong as centre launches in Sai Kung
  • ‘Tennis can be the loneliest sport in the world,’ he says – ‘If you think a spoiled kid can handle that, no way’

You won’t find a single tennis ball collector tube lying around the courts of the newly opened Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre in Sai Kung. But this is entirely deliberate. In a Rafa Academy, kids must pick up their own balls.

“If Rafael Nadal, someone who has won the most grand slams ever, can pick up tennis balls, everyone can do it,” newly appointed head coach Pedro Pissarra said.

Removing the tubes was the first symbolic gesture Pissarra made after arriving in Hong Kong last month to take on the top coaching role, but is part of a wider push to break a cycle of children depending on their parents, coaches – and even domestic helpers – to collect balls and in some cases refill their water bottles.

The tennis coaching team of the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre in Hong Kong.

“People are still a bit shocked by this,” he said. “But when we explain why we did it, they understand. It’s a culture and a mindset we’re trying to turn around. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s just one of the things we want the kids to do.”

Breaking down cultural barriers has been one of Pissarra’s biggest challenges since arriving in the city last month. But Pissarra, along with deputy head coach Giorgia Venzi, were brought in for this very reason.

Both hail from the famed Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca and understand the methodologies that have fuelled Nadal’s legendary career. It’s this style of training they are now looking to replicate in Hong Kong.

The Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in Sai Kung. Photo: HKGTA

“Of course you always have to adapt, but when it comes to the Rafa Nadal DNA, we don’t want to adapt how we train and how we coach – we want to implement it. But we want to do it in a way that doesn’t create too much of a shock for anyone.”

The Rafa Nadal Academy first opened its doors in 2016 with a view to creating a training system based on the experience Nadal acquired during his years on the ATP circuit. This goes beyond just skill and seeks to develop values and character that have been fundamental to his record haul of 22 grand slam trophies.

“We cannot separate the Rafa Nadal Academy from high performance,” Pissarra said. “But for us character is just as important.

“You can get better if you have potential, but more important is your willingness to learn. For us it’s very important to have a mix of skills, but also character. It’s more than just forehands and backhands.

Rafael Nadal celebrates with the French Open trophy at Roland ​Garros. Photo: HKGTA

“Nadal was brought up with this mindset of preparing for difficulty. When you are out there, tennis can be the loneliest sport in the world. You are out there alone and you don’t know for how long – you could be there four or five hours. If we can help them handle situations like this, this is what we want to do.”

“We’re pushing kids in a good way,” Pissarra added. “When you don’t go outside your own comfort zone you don’t improve. You don’t learn and you don’t grow. If you struggle, it’s normal.”

Just one month on from the opening of the Tennis Centre, housed within the Hong Kong Golf & Tennis Academy in Sai Kung, the venue has sprang to life. The first round of summer camps are under way, a retail arm is in the works, and full-time training scholarships will be awarded to two promising tennis prodigies later this year.

And while it is still early days, Pissarra said there are some big, ambitious plans in the works for the years ahead.

“In two or three years down the road we would hope to see some of our students competing in very high-level junior tournaments,” he said. “That’s the ultimate goal, whether we win or not, that’s not the point. It’s the journey and that progress is already amazing.”

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