An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
I suspect that many tennis players frequently use search engines to locate the answers to their tennis questions. I have to admit that it is always going to be faster to consult the internet for tennis information as opposed to reading a book. That statement is true even when there is an ebook available for instant download. However, I firmly believe that tennis players who never read books about the sport are stunting their own tennis development.
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Heading into New Year’s Eve last year, I shared 12 “Gifts” that people can give themselves to improve the quality of their tennis life. Each of these items is a tennis related life hack shamelessly adapted from a career development webinar gave a while back for cybersecurity professionals. In 2022, I am taking an in-depth look at each one of those items on first Friday of each month. The “Gift” for May is to read a new tennis book.
I am guessing that most recreational tennis players are already familiar with Ian Westerman through his online site, Essential Tennis. He is a prolific producer of instructional videos, blog posts, and podcasts. Soon there will be another offering to add to the list. I recently received an advance copy of Essential Tennis: Improve Faster, Play Smarter, and Win More Matches. Based on that first look it may be the best packaging of Westerman’s message yet.
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Paul Fein is a USPTA teaching professional with an Elite rating. He is also an accomplished tennis writer with a litany of award winning tennis articles and best-selling books. In addition, Fein is an excellent Senior tennis player with a history of high national rankings. Fein recently published hit latest book filled with his copious wisdom on how to elevate a player’s competitive level. The book is also packed with first person perspectives from other renowned tennis coaches and pros.
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The book I am reviewing this week came up as an Amazon suggestion when I started reviewing books about Senior tennis over the past couple of weeks. The 4.5 average star rating across 40 reviews was more than enough to convince me that I needed to take a look at it. My reactions are mixed.
George Wachtel was a Senior tennis player who also wrote a blog a blog about Senior tennis and fitness. In fact, Wachtel was still actively posting on his blog right up until his sudden death in 2021. The final two posts on his site were from his son, one announcing his death followed a short time later by his obituary. Sadly, I narrowly missed the opportunity to potentially meet this obviously kindred spirit.
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The review of the tennis documentary “Gold Balls” last week prompted me to focus attention on books specifically targeted at older players. “Baby Boomer Tennis” was the first in the queue. I plucked my copy off the shelf at a used book store on the basis of the testimonials on the back cover from Rosie Casals and Pam Shriver. Baby Boomer Tennis has a few redeeming qualities, but for the most part is an unpolished effort.
When I published a summary of all the doubles books reviewed on this site last year, a couple of people asked me how I managed to miss “Doubles Domination: The Best of the Best” by Bob Allcorn. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know that the book existed. In retrospect, the omission is a travesty. It is very good.
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From time to time I embark on a fruitless quest to find dynamic tennis content targeted at the tennis playing population. That particular effort pre-dates the creation of this blog. Indeed sometimes I characterize this site as the content that I would read if I could get someone else to write it. The simple fact of the matter is that there really aren’t any great tennis blogs targeted at recreational players. It is a hot take that I float out as a desperate plea: Please prove me wrong.
The Arthur Ashe biography by Raymond Arsenault was slated for review this week. In fact, I started reading it just over two weeks ago after realizing that it is a lot longer than the books I typically review on this site. For a variety of external factors, I have yet to progress past the midpoint of the book. However, I have already had one significant “Aha” moment to share.