Toni Nadal

When greatness eludes you in one area, sports speaker Toni Nadal discovered, your mission is to pursue it elsewhere. In his stirring addresses as a keynote speaker, Toni Nadal demonstrates how fortune rewards resourcefulness and mental agility.

Toni Nadal may not be a household name, but you probably know all about his pioneering coaching methods. His nephew, Rafael (Rafa) Nadal, is by most measures the greatest tennis player in history. It all started at age four, under the careful and resourceful tutelage of Uncle Toni.

For Toni, coaching was at first something of a fallback option. A tennis player himself since age 14, Toni had some success on Spain’s amateur circuit, but not enough to convince him that he had the talent to turn pro. As manager of the Manacor Tennis Club, he coached players of all ages, applying the knowledge he gained as a player. He taught Rafa the basics when his nephew was just four, just for fun. Eight years later, Rafa became Toni’s star pupil.

Twenty Grand Slam men’s singles victories later and counting, Toni’s switch to coaching has been proven wise. He documents his coaching philosophy in the bestselling book Todo se puede entrenar (Everything is Coachable). Even adverse conditions, Toni believes, can be used strategically. For a tennis player, uneven playing surfaces and poor lighting simply require quick thinking and new tactics. The same is true in business—Toni is a restauranteur away from coaching—and in any other endeavor.