• Spanish tenista Rafael Nadal has some weird obsessions.
I’m not picking on him. Es mi tenista favorito. (He’s my favorite tennis player.)
He seems like a super nice bloke. Always humble, always gracious, always very polite.
Plus, he always leaves it all on the court. Por eso soy fanático de Nadal. (That’s why I am a Nadal fan.)
If you watch him play you’ll notice Rafa has some strange habits.
• He must have a cold shower 45 minutes before a match.
• He must carry one racquet on to the court.
• He must have five other racquets in his bag.
• He must have wrapped his own white grip on his racquets in the locker room.
• His bag must be placed next to his chair, on a towel, never on the chair.
• He must sprint to the baseline after the spin of the coin. A split-step and then a jog around the back court.
• He must towel down between every point. It can be ace or double fault – he must towel down as if he is covered in sweat.
• He must run his hair behind both ears.
• He must touch his nose.
• He must pick at his underpants.
• He must drink from two water bottles at changeovers. One bottle has cold water, one is warm.
• He must face the labels of his drink bottles to the end he is about to play from.
• He must never rise from his seat before his opponent.
• He must wait at the net post so his opponent can reach his seat first.
• He must never walk on the sidelines as if he is avoiding cracks in the pavement.
• On clay, he must run his foot along the plastic baseline on the side of the court he is about to play from.
• At the Australian Open, when going from one side of the court to the other, he must walk across the MELBOURNE sign.
• He must have his socks at the exact same height.
• He must fold his towels after every changeover.
• He cannot step on any lines on the court.
I actually have two things in common with Rafa.
No, I’ve never been asked to pose in my underwear for Armani.
And no, I don’t have his millions, his physique or his looks.
However, I once was a highly ranked tennis player, seventh in the Tasmania boys under-16s. (Back then there were at least eight Tasmanian under- age-16 tennis players.)
And like Rafa, I have been obsessive, although without the underpants-picking.
For example, it was the simple Spanish patterns that kept going through my head that led me to get started on Synergy Spanish.
Then I decided then it was time to step up and create something bigger with my life.
I spent six solid months of fanatical devotion turning those easy-to-follow patterns into an at-home Spanish system.
Usually, I am scared when I try anything new. This was a very different feeling. I was on fire. I knew I was creating something that would help a lot of people.
The planets must have lined up back then. I’m not sure if I even wrote it. It felt more like I was channeling it. It was like it was bequeathed to me.
Sorry, I got a bit woo-woo there. It’s so exciting to think back on that time.
It was the refining of Synergy Spanish that took obsessive dedication. When all the filtering was done there were just 138 words and some easy language patterns. Patterns so powerful you can turn 138 words into as many as 88,000 phrases.
If you are a baby boomer and you have tried to speak Spanish before without success, you’ll thrive with this system.
It’ll get you in the game of Spanish and give you a path to getting by in the language in 25 days or less.
That’s why Synergy Spanish is the thing in my life I am most proud of…
After my kids, of course. (And my number-7 ranking in the Tasmanian boys under-16 tennis.)
I’d love to share with you the fruits of my labor. I’ll get you speaking Spanish in less time than it takes Rafa to go through his ritual.
OK, maybe not that fast, but you are less than 25 days away from getting by in Spanish.
Now is your chance to finally speak some Spanish.
Synergy Spanish gives you the foundation for everyday Spanish conversations. For example, these types of Spanish phrases just fall into place.
Voy a jugar tenis con mis amigos.
I am going to play tennis with my friends.
Quiero ver el tenis esta noche.
I want to see the tennis tonight.
No me gusta el futbol pero me gusta el tenis mucho.
I don’t like football but I like tennis a lot.
You’ll be speaking with this kind of daily language in the first 20 minutes.
If you’ve stalled or just can’t get going with Spanish, I know this will clear the roadblocks for you.
Te lo prometo.
I promise it to you.
You’ll smash any barriers to speaking you’ve had. I know you can do it.
Link text: Smash your Spanish barriers.
Voy a ensenarte a hablar mucho español pronto.
I am going to teach you to speak a lot of Spanish soon.
As Rafael Nadal likes to yell out on the court – VAMOS – let’s go.
Hola Marcus,
I too am a tennis player and love Rafa. I just watched him lose last night at Indian Wells, CA. to Dogopolov which was sad I have to say. I’m in agreement with his incredible list of idiosyncrasies!
I have been so happy with your method of teaching for it really suits my style of learning.I feel I have pretty much mastered bola de nieve & I’m so looking forward to the next challenge. I’ve tried Pimsleur , & LSLC by Patrick Jackson & I think your method is far superior. You explain things along the way (which I feel is so important) whereas the others don’t & they leave you out in the cold as to the whys of many things. Thanks so much for your ” obsessive dedication” & the fruits of your labor.
At 64 I feel I might have a chance to converse in Spanish fairly well on my next trip to Mex.
Jean Creissen
Hola Marcus
Rafael Nadal es me tenista favorito tambien. I admit he does have a lot of routines he has to go through before he even serves the ball. Thank you for making spanish easy.
Sybilo
Hola Marcus, muchas gracias por tu historia sobre Rafael Nadal, un tipo muy interesante, espero que El no se vaya. Buenas noches, su amigo Ricardo
OMG, I knew Rafa had a lot of compulsive behaviour but I had no idea he was *that* bad! Thanks, Marcus, for letting yourself be compulsive to create Synergy – I love the course, have recommended it to many people. I’m working on Bola de Nieve now and it’s just as good as Synergy. Vamos!