An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
Pam Shriver’s book is a “Year in the Life” account based on her personal diary from 1985. While technically categorized as an autobiography, it is more accurately regarded as a snapshot of one year presented in sharp relief. Many of the details recorded in the book are not significant in the overall arc of Shriver’s life story. However, every day is a fascinating account of what professional tennis life was like in the mid-1980’s.
‘Seeing Serena’ is an unauthorized biography of Serena Williams recently published by Gerald Marzorati, a tennis writer for the New Yorker. The book chronicles Serena’s return to tennis competition after giving birth to her daughter. Without any special access to Serena and her inner circle, Marzorati examines the player from an external perspective and through the lens of himself as a middle aged white man. He navigates those treacherous waters with skill. The result is a compelling and multi-faceted portrait of Serena.
Over the past three months I have reviewed all the books in my personal collection on tennis doubles play. That is a total of nine volumes. Today’s post collects all those reviews into a convenient summary for someone who is seeking to find exactly the right book. Additionally, I have included my observations on the situations where each book excels.
Unless another book comes tumbling off the shelf at me again, Gyata Stormon’s volume on tennis doubles is the final installment in the series of books that I happen to own on the topic. For what is likely to be a brief window in time, I can stake the claim that I have read all the tennis doubles books that I own. It is an accomplishment, no matter how fleeting the moment ultimately turns out to be.
This week’s book on how to play doubles in tennis is one that I forgot that I owned when this series was originally mapped out. Last weekend it came tumbling off the shelf at me when I was looking for another unrelated book. The sting of the book was experienced on multiple dimensions. In addition to literal physical impact, it brought on the realization that my anticipated break from the topic of tennis doubles had extended an additional week. I would also be remiss if I failed to mention that the double exclamation point at the end of the title offends my sensibilities.
One of the best books on the game of doubles in tennis was written by Stan Smith. Smith was an accomplished professional singles and doubles player. The “Stan Smith” model of tennis shoes is iconic. Smith’s partnership with Bob Lutz formed one of the greatest doubles teams of all time. It should come as no surprise that Smith’s is able to sharply enumerate the key factors for competing successfully in doubles.
The book selection for this week is “Winning Doubles: Strategies, Key Concepts, and Shot-By-Shot Playbook for Players at All Levels.” It was written by Scott Perlstein, who is a veteran tennis instructor in California. I believe Perlstein may be the originator of the doubles playbook concept for tennis. The book is dominated by pictures of doubles positioning while still packing a wealth of information as supporting text.
Tennis books were a prominent fixture on the bookshelves of my childhood home. Before this post, I would have sworn that there were many titles by Vic Braden in that collection. It is a false memory. Braden only published one book that roughly corresponds to my junior tennis days. However, his philosophies on tennis permeated the foundations of my tennis belief system.
This week’s book selection is “Women’s Winning Doubles” by Pat Blaskower. I plucked it off my shelf as the obvious next selection in the ongoing series of the tennis doubles books I own, yet never bothered to read. As much as I want to claim that this book is a part of a well-planned narrative arc through this topic, that simply isn’t the case. This book is short. In related news, it’s been a busy week.
One of the oldest books on how to play tennis doubles was written by Bill Talbert and Bruce Old. It is a book that was NOT in my collection when I decided that it was time to immerse myself in the tennis doubles knowledge languishing on my bookshelves a few weeks ago. The doubles book selected in week one of that endeavor referenced Talbert’s book as the best previously written about how to play doubles. This blog is nothing if not a flimsy excuse for purchasing more tennis books. Fortunately, I was able to find a well worn and reasonably priced copy.