An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
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.
I have an improbably large collection of tennis books on doubles strategy. To even the most casual observer of my doubles matches… it is patently obvious that I have not actually read any of them. That is, until last week when I embarked on a journey to correct that oversight. This week’s book is “Dynamite Doubles: Play Winning Tennis Today!” The selection was an absolute stroke of luck because it is very closely related to the book that was reviewed just last week.
I own a lot of books about how to play tennis doubles. In a confession that will not surprise anyone who has ever played doubles with me, until this week… I had yet to read any of them from cover to cover. That just changed. Yesterday I finished reading “The Art of Doubles: Winning Tennis Strategies & Drills” by Pat Blaskower. This book led me to the revelation that I have essentially never drilled specifically for doubles. It blows my mind.
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Bill Tilden was arguably the first superstar of tennis. He was a dominant force in the early 1920s and his list of tennis accomplishments is littered with records and all-time firsts. Tilden was also an accomplished writer with editorials and columns on tennis popular in the print media. Until I came across a reference to Match Play and the Spin of the Ball in Ted Tinling’s book last week, I had no idea that he also authored a book on how to play tennis. I was delighted to discover that Tilden’s book has recently been digitized. Naturally I purchased a copy.
Ted Tinling is best known as the designer of tennis apparel for some of the early stars of women’s tennis. When Gladys Heldman launched the Women’s Professional Tour, she enlisted Tinling to design the tennis clothes worn by the players. Tinling transformed tennis clothes out of the dowdy ankle-length dresses into something that was glamorous and sexy. He was instrumental in advancing women’s tennis into the modern era.
Bobby Riggs published two autobiographies over the course of his life. His first effort, Tennis is My Racket, presents the story of Riggs as an irascible – but quite serious – tennis player. His second autobiography is Court Hustler. Before I go on, I should note that this post is chock full of obvious spoilers. For example, with a title like Court Hustler, it will probably not surprise anyone that the promotional antics of Riggs are still on full display.
The overarching theme for the books this site is covering in April are two men who arguably did more in the advancement of Women’s tennis above all others. It might surprise people to see the name of Bobby Riggs thrown out in that context. I can almost hear the “Wait… what?” In order for the epic “Battle of the Sexes” match to occur, a male opponent was required. A lot of men would not have placed themselves into that position. Riggs was willing to take the risk. Additionally, he worked tirelessly on promoting the match before it occurred. Whether he intended to do so or not, Bobby Riggs and the “Battle of the Sexes Match” put women’s tennis into the spotlight. The result was a massive boost in the public interest in women’s professional tennis.