Tennis Hits the Books
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 earlier this month when I decided that it was time to immerse myself in the tennis doubles knowledge languishing on my bookshelves. The doubles book selected in the first week of that endeavor referenced Talbert’s book as the “best book” previously written on the topic. 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.
The Game of Doubles in Tennis stakes the claim that it is the first book ever written on that subject. As such, the book includes statistics that were painstakingly collected and calculated in support of Talbert’s ideas on the best way to play doubles. It is a fascinating read just for the first glimpse of the arguments supporting the strategy and tactics now commonly taken for granted in tennis doubles play.
This book is dominated by diagrams which illustrate court positioning, shot paths, and player movement. It seems like every author has their own notation for presenting this type information but the method in this book is really good. At the same time, some of the diagrams get pretty busy and take some time to digest. Also, I tend to read them while also imagining a voice over by John Madden augmented with a telestrator. Just me? In any case, here is an example of what I mean from the back cover.
The book is well organized with five major sections on tactical and strategic doubles play. Those sections cover the broad concepts of the doubles game, serving, receiving, net play, and baseline play. Each section presents the strategic foundations of playing supported by statistics and diagrams on how to play out points to the best advantage.
I am anticipating that this book will arm me with better information for in-match tactical adjustments and dialogue with my doubles partner. This may move the conversation from “we should be able to break her serve” to “we need to put pressure on the server.” Talbert’s book includes a lot of ideas on how to prosecute that idea. It moves the needle from a vague understanding of what needs to be done over to practical ideas on how to actually do it.
I am very thankful that I stumbled across a reference to this book. It is the authoritative source of those the foundational truths of playing that all players seem to intuitively understand. This book explains the “why” and “how” to play doubles effectively, which leads to a much deeper understanding.
It was the first book written on how to play doubles. It is also one of the best and still very much relevant to the modern game.
Fiend At Court participates in the amazon associates program and receives a paid commission on any purchases made via the links in this article. Additional details on the disposition of proceeds from this source are available in the “About Fiend at Court” page.
