Great Tennis Book

J

JCo872

Professional
I was studying video the other day, and remembered something I had read from a book I bought a few years ago. I hunted down the book from my bookshelf and reread it, and realized why I thought it was one of the best tennis instruction books it I had ever read. It's called "Tennis Strokes That Win" by Frank Early. The book is only 100 or so pages, but has some of the best explanations of pro technique I have ever come across.

Just a note for anyone who is interested in great tennis books.

Jeff
 
While we're talking tennis books, mind if I put in a recommendation for Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert?

Definitely a MUST READ for anyone serious about tennis (and improvement), or at least people that will never travel with a coach.

The Inner Game of Tennis is also a good one, although its benefit depends on the person. If you're always negative, lack confidence, can't break bad habits, and yell at yourself constantly, it is a good one for you.

I think Brad's book is a great one for everyone to read. It is something you will come back to over and over as you come to fully understand everything he writes about.

Jeff, I'll see if my local book stores have that book around. Thanks for posting.
 
I have been reading a book called Competitive Tennis: Climbing the NTRP Ladder which provides strategies, technique, and drills for each NTRP level. I found it to be very valuable for the lower levels. It really only covers up to 4.5, so if you are at that level or higher its probably not too useful.
 
zapvor said:
can you go into a bit more detail please?
Click to expand...

Sure.

First of all, the book is filled with pictures of pros actually hitting the ball, which is great, considering most books don't. But the best part of the book is how the author describes overall principles that the pros tap into to generate powerful strokes. For example, he shows how opening your shoulders first, and then pulling the buttcap of the racket to the ball, creates a "lag" that will increase racket head speed. The same principle occurs on the serve where the shoulders rotate up while the arm and racket drop down, creating a lag and a stretch.

Then he identifies other general principles of pro hitting, like hip/shoulder rotation, hitting in front of your center of gravity, etc.

I really like how he identifies big picture principles of technique, rather than just focusing on each shot individually.

Jeff
 
winning ugly all the way or my dealer israel gefen

1965 Mr Gefen takes up tennis after a career in professional football is cut short by injury.
He soon reaches county standard.
1966 Mr Gefen learns to string from an old master.
1970 Mr Gefen takes up squash at university, soon reaching county standard.
1973 Mr Gefen arrives in North West London.
1975 Mr Gefen buys his first portable stringing machine.
1977 Mr Gefen qualifies as a professional squash coach, squash referee and tennis coach.
1978 Mr Gefen forms Gefen Sports.
1982 Gefen Sports is moved to the current premises at 6 Kings Parade. Mr A.J. Levy joins the
company and becomes a master stringer.
As its reputation grows, world class tennis, squash and badminton players visit, including Rudi
Hartono (former badminton world champion), Ross Norman ( former squash world champion),
Jansher Khan (former squash world champion), Sarah Fitzgerald (current squash world champion)
and Chris Walker (England squash captain).


1987 Mr Gefen passes the professional stringing exam of the USRSA in Colorado, USA.
1988 Mr Gefen wins the Middlesex closed over 45 squash championship (3 years in a row), and
represents Middlesex county in the All England over 45 finals.
1993 Mr Gefen qualifies as a certified racket technician (CRT).
1997 Gefen Sports gains its presence on the internet.
1998 Mr Gefen wins the Middlesex closed over 55 squash championship and represents Middlesex
county in the All England over 55 finals.
1999 The Gefen Sports website is revamped by Mr D. Gefen, to accommodate global business.
2000 Mr Gefen qualifies as a USRSA Master Racket Technician (MRT)
2001 Mr gefen wins the Middlesex closed over 55 squash championship.

background.html


heres the link : gefensports.co.uk
 
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Bottle Rocket said:
While we're talking tennis books, mind if I put in a recommendation for Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert?

Definitely a MUST READ for anyone serious about tennis (and improvement), or at least people that will never travel with a coach.

The Inner Game of Tennis is also a good one, although its benefit depends on the person. If you're always negative, lack confidence, can't break bad habits, and yell at yourself constantly, it is a good one for you.

I think Brad's book is a great one for everyone to read. It is something you will come back to over and over as you come to fully understand everything he writes about.

Jeff, I'll see if my local book stores have that book around. Thanks for posting.
Click to expand...


Gilbert's first book is very good. The second is junk, like most sequals. Stay away from that one.
 
for french speakers, "Tennis: la preparation mentale" by antoni girod is excellent. it's a little bit like winning guly - focusing on the mental aspect with examples from pro matches, but also has some specific examples of training techniques that gilbert doesnt talk about.
 
I was browsing here and just had to respond to the comments regarding Tennis Strokes that Win, which is in fact a fine book.

The author of that book is currently an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. (I don’t live too far from the Hopkins campus and I’ve been playing off and on for about ten years.) I didn’t know he had written a book when I first met him. And I really don’t know him other than a couple of brief conversations. Last year I saw him coaching one of the kids—the #4 or 5 player—during a Hopkins home match. The kid had lost the first set and was down a break, but after Mr. Early went out (I guess I should call him “Professor” Early since he’s an English professor) the match turned around. I remember that he wouldn’t let the kid sit down during the changeovers and he just kept talking as the kid drank water and nodded intently every now and then. I also remember how dumb I thought it was that he wouldn’t let the player sit down, but as I said, the match turned around, so the tactic obviously did something.

It was just terribly intriguing to watch this coach pace the sidelines with his player, and talking the whole time (about what I’m not sure), as the player paced along in a kind of trance, just sipping water and nodding. It really did appear that the other player came out of the changeovers a little cold, while the Hopkins player seemed to be staying “in the zone” through the changeovers. I really would have liked to have heard what was being said.

Since I had met the head coach, Chuck Willenborg, before, I asked Chuck who this assistant coach was, and Chuck explained that he was a walking tennis encyclopedia-genius who had been with the teams for a couple of seasons, and that he had a lot to do with the teams rise to national prominence, and that he had been a teaching pro for a long time and had written a book called Tennis Stroke that Win.

So I got the book and found it really helpful. (The comment regarding the “big-picture approach” to strokes is right on the mark.) In fact, I found it so helpful that I went by Hopkins during a practice and asked Mr. Early if I could get a lesson from him sometime. He politely declined. When I clarified that we could wait until after the season was over, he said that coaching was really all he wanted to do, and that he liked to get away from the game in the off-season, and that he didn’t teach lessons anymore, and that he didn’t really like “the tennis business.”

I thought it was a little weird, but as I noticed some of the other posts here, and the way that some of you folks who are, I suppose, “in the business” start ripping each other apart simply because you don’t agree with each other on something like the proper wrist position for the forehand . . .

Well, maybe that gives me a little understanding of where the coach was coming from.
 
TOWSON53 said:
I was browsing here and just had to respond to the comments regarding Tennis Strokes that Win, which is in fact a fine book.

The author of that book is currently an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. (I don’t live too far from the Hopkins campus and I’ve been playing off and on for about ten years.) I didn’t know he had written a book when I first met him. And I really don’t know him other than a couple of brief conversations. Last year I saw him coaching one of the kids—the #4 or 5 player—during a Hopkins home match. The kid had lost the first set and was down a break, but after Mr. Early went out (I guess I should call him “Professor” Early since he’s an English professor) the match turned around. I remember that he wouldn’t let the kid sit down during the changeovers and he just kept talking as the kid drank water and nodded intently every now and then. I also remember how dumb I thought it was that he wouldn’t let the player sit down, but as I said, the match turned around, so the tactic obviously did something.

It was just terribly intriguing to watch this coach pace the sidelines with his player, and talking the whole time (about what I’m not sure), as the player paced along in a kind of trance, just sipping water and nodding. It really did appear that the other player came out of the changeovers a little cold, while the Hopkins player seemed to be staying “in the zone” through the changeovers. I really would have liked to have heard what was being said.

Since I had met the head coach, Chuck Willenborg, before, I asked Chuck who this assistant coach was, and Chuck explained that he was a walking tennis encyclopedia-genius who had been with the teams for a couple of seasons, and that he had a lot to do with the teams rise to national prominence, and that he had been a teaching pro for a long time and had written a book called Tennis Stroke that Win.

So I got the book and found it really helpful. (The comment regarding the “big-picture approach” to strokes is right on the mark.) In fact, I found it so helpful that I went by Hopkins during a practice and asked Mr. Early if I could get a lesson from him sometime. He politely declined. When I clarified that we could wait until after the season was over, he said that coaching was really all he wanted to do, and that he liked to get away from the game in the off-season, and that he didn’t teach lessons anymore, and that he didn’t really like “the tennis business.”

I thought it was a little weird, but as I noticed some of the other posts here, and the way that some of you folks who are, I suppose, “in the business” start ripping each other apart simply because you don’t agree with each other on something like the proper wrist position for the forehand . . .

Well, maybe that gives me a little understanding of where the coach was coming from.
Click to expand...


Woah! Thanks for the info. I've been trying to get in touch with the author because I think his book is just brilliant.

Great story too!
 
TOWSON53 said:
Since I had met the head coach, Chuck Willenborg, before, I asked Chuck who this assistant coach was, and Chuck explained that he was a walking tennis encyclopedia-genius who had been with the teams for a couple of seasons, and that he had a lot to do with the teams rise to national prominence, and that he had been a teaching pro for a long time and had written a book called Tennis Stroke that Win.

So I got the book and found it really helpful. (The comment regarding the “big-picture approach” to strokes is right on the mark.)
Click to expand...
Great story and first post, TOWSON53! Thanks for the background on Frank Early. Welcome to the board.8-)
 
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