Good news for the fans of Rafael Nadal. With an opportunity to rest and reflect on his 2011 season, Rafa Nadal has properly identified the cause of his up and down results (by his standards) this season. Following the Davis Cup earlier this month, I wrote an article about ‘What you can learn from Rafael Nadal v. Juan Martin Del Potro,’ and in that article I specified that Rafa was showing low amounts of passion and positivity that have been staples of the very character that the world has come to love in Rafa. In an interview with DPA, Nadal was quoted as saying the following:

“I’ve missed a little passion for the game, the intensity of my shots, strength in my legs and mental intensity. The most important thing lacking is the mental strength that leads to everything else… The main thing is to play again with the passion and intensity needed.”

As with overcoming any type of adversity or in a situation requiring problem solving skills the first step is to attaining a desired result is to identify the problem. Rafa has clearly done this. The second step is finding a solution and from what I’ve read he has looked into his schedule for 2012 and found more periods of rest as well as retooling his serve that he says will be a major factor in his rise back to the top. Now for the hard part, the third and final step of problem solving is the actual execution of the solutions identified to regain his goal of once again becoming the world’s top tennis player.

Have any doubts whether or not Rafa can do it? I’m getting this feeling that I normally get before watching Rafa in the final of a Grand Slam which is, how can I ever count Rafa Nadal out? The answer is I can’t and I believe Rafa will be back to #1 in 2012.

The most important thing to remember is that for any problem you encounter use the method that many great people in our history have used to solve problems:

1. Identify the problem
2. Find a solution to the problem
3. Execute the solution.

- Parsa Samii