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Literary Lobs

Periodically, we will post a review of a book that we think may be of interest to our readers.
do you Have a book you've read in which you think other tennis players would be interested? Let's hear from you!

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Tennis Life: Player Stories, Insights and Lessons Learned, From Junior to Pro Player to Coach By Ward Snyder
Reviewed by Keith Richardson
krichardson19@gmail.com
June 2022

New NSMTA member Ward Snyder has written a book titled "Tennis Life." Ward interviewed 24 men and women about their individual journeys in this great game, from the Juniors, Coaching, College, and the Pro Tour. He has captured unique and interesting stories from players that most of our members will know, including Harold Solomon, Taylor Dent, Billy Martin, and even yours truly, to name a few! The reader will gain opinions and suggested road maps for up and coming Juniors on whether to attend College or go straight to the Pro Tour from those that have "been there, done that." Also, there is candid advice in each chapter from those that did not attain their dreams in tennis with "what they would do differently " if they could do it all over again. Finally, Ward's interview and Q&A with Junior superstar Noah Johnston is a timely hidden gem from a 14 year old that had just won the Singles and Doubles in The Fila Easter Bowl Championships in Indian Wells, CA, when "Tennis Life" went to press! In summary, I highly recommend " Tennis Life" as an enjoyable and inspirational read for current players, fans of the game, and Coaches!

Purchase Ward Snyder’s book on Amazon

Tennis as a Wisdom Practice: A Story About the Quest for Mastery By Carl Frankel
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
prkrtennis@aol.com
May 2022

After reading the book, it’s not clear to me whether the author is a better writer or tennis player – he’s awfully good at both! Frankel has written many books on a multiplicity of subjects over several decades. In this book, just the idea of a quest for mastery – tennis or otherwise, hooked me.

His account of attempting to scale the heights of national-level senior tennis will resonate with anyone who plays and tries to get better (faster). It’s pretty clear that competitive tennis is not just a physical game – it demands our engagement with the mental/emotional and spiritual elements as well. As Bob Litwin says in his Preface, competition can help one grow, not just as a player, but as a person.

The beginning of the quest began rather serendipitously. A friend of Carl’s was sending off a video tape of himself to Brent Abel for his critique. Brent noticed the guy who was hitting with his student, and not recognizing him, laughingly said something like “He could be a top-ten player – we don’t need the competition!”

That off-hand comment started Carl to thinking. He had been a top player in his section as a junior, but had not played  much in recent years. Could he indeed become a national top-ten senior player? Since he had last competed, tennis had been transformed from the game of Connors, McEnroe and Borg, to the soaring magnificence of power and athleticism that we see on tour today. It might require a serious retooling…

As Frankel committed himself to that journey, he became ever more aware of how much “tennis skills are life skills. The sport can be as fertile a spiritual learning ground as the martial arts.”

The tennis court provides the opportunity to develop deeper awareness, resilience, immersion in the present, and self-forgiveness. Yin and Yang enter the equation, as do “games beyond the games.” Confidence and doubt, failure, the workings of the Monkey-Mind are all scrutinized. I love his language when he tells us, “I can’t help but wonder if the pursuit of the zone in tennis, which is something every serious tennis player yearns for, is actually the pursuit of enlightenment, draped in sweaty secular clothes.”

I don’t know whether this is going to require a spoiler alert, but yes, Carl Frankel does indeed reach the Top Ten in the US - #2 in fact!  But like everything else, it’s the journey that is important. I’ll let him tell you the rest of the story. Buy the book! 

Purchase Carl’s book on Amazon

Tennis Teaching: Art or Science? A Modern Guide for Tennis Teachers and Coaches By John R William
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
prkrtennis@aol.com
April 2022

John doesn’t waste much time in answering the question that the title of the book poses! In the very first sentence of the book he states, “The ideal tennis teacher is an artist making use of current science.” There you have it, folks – no need to read further. However, if you do indeed continue reading, you’ll be rewarded with a wealth of knowledge gleaned from the author’s many years of playing and teaching at a high level.

Anyone who has taught tennis or taken lessons from a savvy pro knows that the process of learning the game is a creative process. Both on the part of the student and the pro. Pros who are wise in the ways of getting feedback from their students understand the uniqueness of each student. I love John’s emphasis on the fact that the teacher must himself or herself be a lifelong learner.

Having been around the game for so many years, John has seen dramatic changes in the way the game is played and taught. For instance, he points out that prior to 1974 and Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert, there were very few two-handed backhands. Today, 98 out of the top 100 women and 85 of the top 100 men hit two-handers. That’s just an example of one of many ways that tennis has evolved, requiring teachers to evolve as well.

Years of experience have enabled Williams to sort out many of the conundrums of the game. For instance, he deals with the relationship of the conscious mind and the subconscious in easy-to-understand language. Many are the players who have floundered in the shoals of match play and competitive tennis because they never quite mastered the mental and emotional aspects of competing.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was his different approaches to teaching players of different ages – kids, juniors, adults, and seniors. There just absolutely is no one-size-fits-all! So, the author prioritizes what is important in teaching different ages and different levels. He takes us from teaching 4-6 year-olds all the way through college and professional coaching. Because of his deeply experienced perspective on the game, he is able to make good suggestions on how to bring about improvement, as well as pitfalls to avoid.

I also liked the way John addressed the importance of the tactical aspects of the game, and the relationship of technique to that. Many pros have over-emphasized how a player hits the ball, and under-emphasized where to hit it when. Such players often look better than their match results. Other aspects that he deals with include conditioning, drills, use of the ball machine, employing visualization, and even suggestions for improving tennis of the future.

All in all, this book is a compendium of good advice on many topics coming from someone who knows the game of tennis from a variety of perspectives. It is directed at those who teach and coach and provides a wide array of ways to enrich the learning experience. I was given food for thought as well as being entertained in the process. One can’t ask for much more than that!

Purchase John’s book on Amazon

Doubles Domination: The Best of the Best Tips, Tactics and Strategies by Bob Allcorn
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
prkrtennis@aol.com
November 2021

I just finished the book by Bob Allcorn, a self-professed 4.5 player reduced to a 3.5 level by injuries. As an avid lesson-taker and student of the game, he has culled the wisdom of many teachers (over $100,000 spent on lessons!) into a very readable book for players of a wide range of levels. Even the Bryan brothers, the greatest doubles team in history, liked it!

Unlike many instructional tennis books, Doubles Domination focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on strategy and tactics rather than strokes. This is as it should be, since strokes are simply the means by which strategy and tactics are carried out. Too often players get tangled in a web of technique specifics without seeing the bigger picture. There ain’t no style points in tennis. The more versatile and effective a player can become with their shot technique, the greater the variety of tactics he’ll be able to employ.

In less than 100 pages, Allcorn covers the essentials of doubles positioning and shot selection. The responsibilities and possibilities of each player on the court are made clear. His suggestions are concise and well-explained. Probably he speaks most effectively to better players who are capable of carrying out alternative choices in situations that arise in play.

However, there are a lot of good time-tested tips that can help any player improve. The author also gives us suggestions on how to get more out of our practices, how to perform well in matches, how to communicate with your partner, and how to use some set plays to bedevil your opponents. He even provides a list of match tips that he recommends you copy and refer to on changeovers!

Alcorn promises to give you no diagrams, but I have to admit that my favorite doubles book of all-time provided numerous diagrams of actual points from matches played by top players of the era. Some of you are too young to be familiar with Billy Talbert’s comprehensive The Game of Tennis in Doubles written in 1956. It is still relevant and remains the seminal book in the field.

I honestly don’t know how you could read Doubles Domination without becoming a better doubles player. And all for less than $100,000! Regardless of how experienced you are, there is bound to be something in there that will stimulate your creative doubles thinking. I sure hope my future opponents haven’t read it!

Purchase Bob’s book on Amazon

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THE FEIN POINTS OF TENNIS: Technique and Tactics to Unleash Your Talent by Paul Fein, NSMTA Member
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
prkrtennis@aol.com
August 2021

If you really want to improve your game, or just enjoy a good tennis read, this is the book for you! This tome weighs in at 511 pages and is the size of a workbook. As expected from a writer of Paul Fein’s gravitas, it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. The author, winner of more than 40 writing awards, is not just your dilettante journalist, observing the game from the sidelines. He himself is a top senior tournament competitor and a USPTA Elite Pro. His multiple vantage points give him a unique ability to challenge teaching myths and ask the right questions of his knowledgeable sources.

A lot of the book is written in an easy-to-read Question and Answer format. He queries many of the world’s best coaches on a fascinating array of questions. Technique and tactics are addressed in detail. The pictures he uses to illustrate various techniques are especially relevant. Pat Cash, Rick Macci, Patrick Mouratoglou, Nick Bollettieri, and Harold Solomon are just a few of the coaches whose brains are picked mercilessly by Paul. Their responses reflect profound understandings of the game of tennis.

However, the book is not all work and no play! There are many features that together make this book unique -- stories from the tour, a trivia quiz, entertaining and useful random thoughts, and extensive insightful quotations from the game’s greatest players down through the years. Sampras tells us

“Anyone who says they don’t choke..they’re lying.” Sacha Zverev says “All the big guys are using data analysis, they just don’t like to talk about it.”

The author puts himself in the role of the eager student who wants to absorb every drop of wisdom his teachers have to offer. And then he explores numerous subjects of interest on his own, letting his long years in the game provide insights as he ruminates. He has even compiled a list of his favorite tennis books that could further engross a tennis lover for years.

An honest reviewer is tasked with pointing out any flaws in the book being reviewed. All I can say is that Paul Fein’s master work definitely lacks brevity -– I hope that’s not what you were looking for here!

View Paul’s website here

NOTE: Because Amazon has no books in stock, the fastest and easiest way to buy the book is to send a payment check or money order for $39.50 -- payable to Paul Fein -- to his home address:
39 Beekman Drive, Agawam, MA 01001.
Paul will send members the book within 24 hours after he receives their check.

Point of Impact by Roy Barth, NSMTA Member
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
prkrtennis@aol.com
January 2021

Roy Barth was a player to be reckoned with on the pro tour in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Open Tennis began in 1968 and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was founded in 1972, a period coinciding with Roy’s peak. Roy attained Top Ten national rankings—No. 8 in singles and in the top 6 in doubles, with three different partners - Tom Gorman, Steve Tidball, and Tom Edlefson.

Part of the allure of this book lies in the detailed stories of matches Roy played against the top players of that era. He had to have been keeping a diary of sorts to be able to recount the point-by-point see-saw of some of the on-court encounters, now about fifty years in the rear-view mirror. Of course, I was especially engaged because so many of the names he mentions were players I knew from being roughly of the same era, about five years ahead of Roy.

There are lessons embedded in every sport—especially in the individual sports. Some of the lessons come from on-court experiences, but many come from just the straightforward demands of living life on the tour. In those days, there were no entourages accompanying the top players around the globe. After playing in the warm bath of college tennis with its complement of coaches, trainers, and team members, it was a bit of a shock for Roy to encounter the aloneness of the tour.

As any of the players trying to make a living as a tennis pro will tell you, a lot of what you learn comes off-court. You’re forced to be resilient, resourceful, and positive amidst weekly losses. Although he didn’t really realize it at the time, Roy was being educated in ways that would later play a big role in his post-tour success. And I think that’s probably one of the main reasons why Roy wrote the book: to show how competing on the tennis court set the stage for applying what he learned there to everyday living.

The second part of the book applies those lessons to the business of tennis. Roy’s experiences from his playing days enabled him to navigate difficult challenges as the Director at Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina. For example, his ability to set mini-goals, cultivate relationships, learn from those around him, and follow other tenets of success helped Roy lead Kiawah to become “The Number 1 Tennis Resort in the World.”

Roy’s love of the game shines through the entire book. He has involved himself in so many different ways with the task of growing tennis. His work within the USTA, USPTA, PTR, and numerous other organizations reflect a tennis life well-lived. A member of several Halls of Fame, he exemplifies what we all secretly hope—that athletic competition does indeed hone important life skills.

Thanks, Roy, for sharing your multi-faceted engagement with our game!

The Pros: The Forgotten Era of Tennis by Peter Underwood
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
prkrtennis@aol.com
April 2020

To most tennis players and fans today, names like Bill Tilden and Don Budge are lost in the haze of history. It’s difficult for those familiar only with the modern game to imagine that the best tennis pros in the world were barred from playing the major championships until 1968. But here in this book, eight of the greatest players of the barnstorming era come alive! In their struggle for recognition in a time when world-class tournaments were run by petty amateur associations, their greatness truly shines through.

Before the Open Era, tennis was primarily an amateur game. Officialdom thought that if you took money for playing a game, you were somehow sullied. But then how would one eat? So the way it worked was the very men who controlled the amateur bodies slipped the top players money under the table and then raked in the profits from the tournaments they ran. It thus became known as the era of  “Shamateurism.” After a stellar amateur career, 1920s superstar Bill Tilden, always at odds with the game’s power brokers, was one of the first to break away by turning pro.

The author gives us many stories and much detail of what the old barnstorming tours were like. Imagine playing the same opponent night after night in city after city at home and abroad in converted gymnasiums! Underwood artfully takes us through the progression of great players who butt heads on the professional tour. From Vines to Perry to Budge, Riggs, Kramer, Gonzalez, Rosewall, and finally Laver, we work our way to the Open Era. Each player not only had to adapt to the style of his opponent on the tour, but in the process influenced the way the game is played at the top levels.

The pros of that era were literally playing for their tennis lives. When Kramer beat Gonzalez in their initial tour, Gonzalez (arguably the second-best player in the world at the time) went back to stringing rackets for a living. After Kramer retired, Pancho got a second chance, this time touring against Tony Trabert. He tells us “If I lost to Trabert, I was a bum again, unemployed and unwanted. If I beat him, he was a bum. One of us had to be a bum—I didn’t want it to be me.”

I found the book totally engaging, I’m sure partly because I actually saw half of them from the other side of the net. As a tennis junkie, I was familiar with all of the players of the era, and their personal stories are the stuff of legend. One gets a sense of what made them great—their personalities, coaching, individual flair, and what they had to overcome. And their relationships with each other.

We probably can’t expect many of the highly-paid players of today to fully appreciate what they’ve been given. In fairness, a few like Federer and Murray are historically knowledgeable. But without the efforts of the old players featured in this book, the game would not be what it is today. Peter Underwood’s entertaining and insightful stories about the players who laid the foundation for tennis in the 21st century should be required reading for tennis lovers everywhere, and especially the youngsters with professional tennis aspirations. Good on ya, mate!  

Tennis And The Holidays
Reviewed by Cheryl Jones
December 2019

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. Most likely, there is still a gift or two that hasn’t been found. Folks might always want to remember friends and business associates, and of course their own family with a little something extra. As always, it’s hard to find presents for that someone who seems to have “everything”. I found a surprising number of tennis books available on the Internet, even though they aren’t newly published. They are wonderful gifts, last minute or not.

Over the years, I’ve read and reviewed a huge number of wonderful tennis related memoires. A number of unforgettable accounts were offered by players who came from another era. It was a time before entertainment and the sport meshed. The crossover has made people like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer world-renowned celebrities known to most. But, that wasn’t always the way it was.

Racquets and other tennis gear may sound like a good gift, but I know most players would prefer to make their own choice of equipment and clothing. Gift certificates are great, but they look like meager offerings compared to even a package that includes a pair of socks.

For all those players who have a collection of tennis books, an option of a new biography or even an autobiography could add depth to a collection. Beside that, a good many tennis stalwarts enjoy tales of the early days where players took it to another level when the levels were not quite so outwardly visible as they are today.

One of the oldies but goodies that come to mind is “Hey Big Boy” by Abe Segal with Deborah Curtis-Setchell. (If you are searching for carefully proofread publications, this is definitely not a good choice.) If you’re looking for a tennis recollection that is exciting, enjoyable and amusing, this is a top-notch pick.

This story will have readers in stitches, because Segal has a wicked sense of humor that clearly twists memories into amusing anecdotes. The cast of characters (and there are a goodly number of genuine characters) will be recognizable and fascinating. He is truthful about his personal foibles and his honesty is admirable. Even if Segal’s name isn’t recognizable to some readers, his peers are clearly identified and they were all playing at the very epicenter of the tennis universe and what’s more, all at the same time.

Even though there was some difficulty in my being able to follow the thoughts of someone who has evidently never heard of a compound word, the story is engaging, funny and full of life -- it makes a good choice for a fun read and a thoughtful memoir that is worthy of a place on any tennis lover’s bookshelf.

If that isn’t your idea of a lazy, rainy day story, perhaps Gardnar Mulloy’s story could fill the bill. He wrote “As It Was – Reminiscences from a Man for All Seasons when he was 96 years old. “As It Was”, is more than a story about tennis, it is a world history lesson that is filled with personal remembrances, from the early twentieth century, until just a few years ago.  The entire narrative is aptly chronicled in Mulloy’s easy going and up-beat manner. It is apparent that Mulloy loved tennis. It’s a great publication and best of all, there are pictures.

Johnette Howard wrote a wonderful book about two of the greatest women who ever played the game. Her book, “The Rivals” chronicles the competition and friendship of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

Television followed these two’ women’s rivalry on court. Howard gives us an inside look at the big picture; from the times that were changing. Society’s expectations as well as individual expectations were themes of the seventies, eighties and nineties – actually they still are.

Looking back, it seems that Evert and Navratilova were part of something big that would only show itself in time. The world of women’s sports was a hotbed of innuendo and finger pointing. Howard unravels many of the questions in her excellent, insightful saga.

“The Rivals” is a wonderful and entertaining story about two women’s journey through life. It is a chronicle of friendships, sadness, happiness and most of all triumph. It’s a great gift for a tennis lover of either gender.

For those of us who watched Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King trade shots way back in 1973, there is more than what appeared on the screen. We always knew that was the case, but Selena Roberts looked back at what she calls, “A Necessary Spectacle”.

It is another history lesson that is almost like it is marching in time with the story of King versus Riggs.  The bravado of Riggs and the courage of King are chronicled through the times – superbly. The story is actually about triumph for an entire gender.  It reached around barriers that had been in place since Amelia Bloomer marched through Seneca Falls in comfortable clothing in the middle of the nineteenth century.

If there are children on that list – grandchildren, nieces, nephews – that has been checked more than twice, there’s something for them. Marissa Irvin Gould has a wonderful offering that is fun, informative and filled with useful information.

Who better to write an exciting and engaging introduction to tennis than a young mother who has her hands pretty full with three small children? Marissa Irvin Gould has shared just a bit of the magic she found along the pathway she took as she played her through the maze that is tennis. Growing up in Southern California, Irvin Gould was a star. She garnered a scholarship to Stanford, where she was an All-American – twice. As a professional, she competed on the world stage and then went on to be a grammar school teacher and then a mother.

Recognizing that tennis is more than just a game, she set out to write “A Magical Racquet Ride” as a labor of love. The brief but appropriate children’s story is a testament to her thorough enjoyment of a pastime that is healthy and fun. The illustrations are by Mark Brayer and they are fittingly light and airy and they actually make the journey look like fun. Tennis can be the game of a lifetime and “A Magical Racquet Ride” is a fun story that will appeal to youngsters from pre-school on. It’s a short and sweet ride. It has an viewpoint that is magic and what’s more, it’s true.

Of course, this list could go on, and then on some more. There are many good stories that have their roots in tennis. The number of books in a tennis library can be extensive. Each has a story that fits together to be tennis. It isn’t the same for each of us. Of course, there are instructional publications out there and they shouldn’t be overlooked. But for sheer enjoyment, these are stories of how tennis touches our souls through a myriad of different avenues.

A Short List Of Library Fillers
This list isn’t all inclusive, but some of the books are “must haves”. (Click on the book image for the full front cover.)

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String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis
Reviewed by Adam Rosen
arosen722@gmail.com
June 2019

Over the years, most of us have done much more than just play tennis. We have studied it, coached it, dreamt it, talked about it - loved it and hated it. For a serious player, it’s a complex relationship. So, when a talented writer who played competitively makes the effort to decipher and describe the complex and beautiful sport, it’s special. “String Theory” shows that David Foster Wallace is capable of truly unique and insightful descriptions and analysis that are rarely discussed or read.

I wasn’t aware that Wallace is considered one of the great American writers in the past 75 years. He grew up playing junior tennis in Illinois and went on to play at Amherst College. In 2008, he took his own life after decades of chronic depression.

I discovered him when a friend sent me an essay that Wallace wrote in 2006 about Roger Federer. The article, “Roger Federer as Religious Experience, has been described by many as the greatest story about tennis. Period. High praise, I know. And I fully agree. His writing is part reporting, part biography, part philosophy and part physics (and some added comedy). The title of the book provides advance notice about what the reader is getting into.

Here are two examples from the Federer piece:

Almost anyone who loves tennis and follows the men’s tour on television has, over the last few years, had what might be termed “Federer Moments.” These are times, as you watch the young Swiss play, when the jaw drops, and eyes protrude, and sounds are made that bring spouses in from other rooms to see if you’re O.K.

Wimbledon is strange. Verily it’s the game’s Mecca, the cathedral of tennis; but it would be easier to sustain the appropriate level of on-site veneration if the tournament weren’t so intent on reminding you over and over that it’s the cathedral of tennis.

The Federer piece is only one of five from the book. My second favorite is “Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley”, which describes Wallace’s internal experiences playing high school tennis in Central Illinois in very windy conditions. He talks about weather, geometry and physics and somehow makes it all make sense. It certainly brought back nightmares of my own struggles playing in windy Spring New England conditions.

There is also a good feature on Michael Joyce’s efforts and struggles in the lower levels of pro tennis which includes detailed reporting about playing the qualies and the day-to-day struggles of the “journeyman” pro.

My bet is that most senior tennis players will find at least one of David Foster Wallace’s efforts well worth exploring. For those who love the game, this is a book that should be added to your reading list.

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Recognition Of Love by Greg Morton
Reviewed by Cal Lockert
clockert@ashrecovery.com
June 2019

​I would like to bring to the attention of members of the National Senior Men’s Tennis Association a recently published e-book called, “Recognition of Love.” It is the autobiography of Greg Morton, who is an old friend and great ambassador of tennis in the Cleveland area.

Greg, who spent his entire working career as an elementary school teacher, (teaching until retiring in 2010), wrote the book over several years. I found that it gives some good insight into what a person of color had to invest emotionally and financially to succeed in tennis in the 1950s and 1960s.

The author said “Recognition of Love” is the story of my journey through my athletic career in swimming, basketball and tennis. There are many love languages, therefore, sometimes we can take love for granted allowing us to overlook it. Our own pain and lack of expectation can make the love that we are seeking unrecognizable. The love you are looking for always starts with the man/woman in the mirror. Recognize love! Recognize that YOU are enough, YOU have enough, and YOU are love!
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I am confident that you will enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

In conclusion, Lockert points out, “As we strive to enhance the tennis experience, for many of us in the post-Medicare group, I think the book is worth calling attention to because of what some of us had to do to get here.

Those interested in purchasing the e-book should go to: https://www.rhythmandstroke.com/rol

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The Birth of Lawn Tennis By Robert Everitt and Richard Hillway
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
jparker@nsmta.net
March 2019
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The Birth of Lawn Tennis is probably the heaviest tennis book you’ll ever pick up! Weighing in at more than seven pounds, it can also be used for bicep curls in the off-season. It comes in a leather-covered slipcase and lives up to its heft and lush feel with an abundance of rich pictures and illustrations, and thoroughly impressive research into the origins of our game. This tome cries “seminal” from the time you lay your hands on it. Only 500 copies were printed.

There has long been controversy over who really invented the game of lawn tennis, what the original rules were, where it was first played, and how it evolved into the game we know today. The co-authors, a Brit and an American, are tennis historians of the first rank. They have rectified many inaccuracies that have accumulated over the years by going back through archives of newspapers, books, periodicals, and patents of the 1870’s and before. After all, early versions of “tenez” had been played and bet upon in the courtyards of castles as early as the 12th century. We learn that Major Walter Wingfield did indeed come up with the game of Sphairistike or Lawn Tennis which he patented in 1874.

At the beginning, there were several versions of the game being played. And there were some really quirky rules. Did you know that a two-bounce rule was considered? You may have known that the early shape of courts was that of an hourglass - narrower at the net than at the baseline. The net sagged dramatically in the middle, similar to the game of Real Tennis, or Royal Tennis, or even Court Tennis (depending on what continent was occupied), which are still played today.

Eventually, the rules were standardized, and the first Wimbledon was held in 1877. The game had already spread across the Atlantic, and the authors delve into who brought it to the US (Was it Mary Outerbridge, or is that a myth?). What was the first tennis club in the US? Both Longwood Cricket Club and New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club claim to be the “oldest”. And, who first played the new game in the New World?

The amount of detail in the book is extraordinary! Never again will you have to spend restless nights wondering what grip(s) Spencer Gore, the first winner of Wimbledon, employed. (It was a Continental.) Or what his family motto was – “Under this sign thou shalt conquer”. Seems to have worked for Spencer. Or that when he won in ’77, he advanced to the net regularly and was hard to pass with the net being so high at the sides. But lo and behold, in 1878 Frank Hadow beat Gore in the final because the net had been lowered at the sides, and Hadow befuddled Gore by deftly employing passing shots along with 17 lobs. Also, Gore, described as a “natural genius for all games,” might not have been “match-tight” because he had advanced directly to the final as the previous year’s champion without having to play any matches… (Which was a tournament practice for many years.)

And if you’d like to know the story behind each of the 22 players in that inaugural Wimbledon, you’re in luck. Or if there are questions about the early tennis “implements.” Or what ever happened to Wingfield’s gold watch? There are 18 chapters and an Appendix filled with new and interesting material. As you can infer, the amount of research by Everitt and Hillway was prodigious!
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While, it’s hard to do justice to the 562 pages in a short review, the book is a treasure. And like many treasures, it may be hard to find. But as is the case with many treasures, if you do manage to locate a copy, you’ll be fortunate indeed!

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American Colossus: Big Bill Tilden and the Creation of Modern Tennis By Allen M. Hornblum
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
jparker@nsmta.net
March 2019

To some extent, the great players of the pre-Open era have gotten lost in the mists of time. Today, many of the great players of the past are little known to today’s tennis fans, and even most of the players. Don Budge, Jack Kramer, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, and Pancho Gonzales are fading memories, great as they were. This book attempts to remedy that by impressing upon us how truly impactful a player as far back as the Twenties was on the game as it’s played today. With voluminous research, the author shows that Bill Tilden was truly a colossus of the time in a number of significant ways. Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Red Grange, Bobby Jones, and Bill Tilden were all in a select class of athletes. They were men who dominated each of their sports. Tilden was the first to put tennis squarely in the limelight.

I was impressed with the range of Big Bill’s excellence. Not only was he the dominant player of his generation, he was also a prolific writer of instructional books, as well as novels, and plays. His cerebral approach to the game was groundbreaking. (His book, Match Play and Spin of the Ball, is still considered a classic.) He wrote numerous newspaper and magazine articles on the game, coached several young proteges, and travelled extensively, giving clinics and exhibitions, mostly free. And always, almost no matter what he did, he incurred the wrath of the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) fiefdom with its outdated ideas of what it meant to be an amateur.

Big Bill didn’t really begin to hit his stride until he was 27-years-old. Up until that time, he was known as a player who had flashes of brilliance mixed with episodes of going off the rails. He did reach the finals of the US National singles in 1918 and ‘19, only to be overpowered by popular, diminutive “Little Bill” Johnston in the latter. Little Bill’s powerful western forehand inflicted heavy damage to Big Bill’s weaker backhand.

Big Bill, born into a wealthy family in Philadelphia, had the economic freedom to spend the winter beefing up his backhand. When he came out in the spring of 1920, he occasionally misfired with it in matches, but he was fast learning how to make it work. He had a truly all-court game – heavy artillery from both sides on groundstrokes, a powerful and versatile serve, a variety of spins, a delicate touch, and an array of finishing volleys. He won the US Nationals defeating Little Bill with his powerful backhand wreaking havoc. He then went on to win the title a total of seven times.

The author, with substantial input from tennis historian Richard Hillway, paints a different picture of Tilden than a previous biography written by Frank DeFord in the 1970’s. Hornblum is very positive in his treatment of Big Bill and quotes extensively from articles of the time which describe him in glowing adjectives. The energy of the man was beyond belief. He might play two 5-set matches in a day, write an article after he returned to his room, and then appear in a play in the evening! After he turned pro and was barnstorming and running the tour, he would often play a singles and a doubles in the evening, then drive all night to the next town to get things organized.

Throughout his tennis career, Tilden treated a tennis match as a performance, arriving for matches in a long wool overcoat with a dozen racquets under his arm. He would shout “Peach!” when his opponent hit a winner, he would berate linesmen and would even throw points ostentatiously when he thought his opponent had gotten a bad call. Early on, these were not particularly endearing habits, but as he got older and people realized his gravitas, he became more popular.
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But always there has been a black cloud that has been hung over Tilden’s career. In his fifties, he was convicted of molesting a minor, and sent to a prison farm for several months. Upon his release, DeFord portrayed him as a broken man. Hornblum (and Hillway) on the other hand, interviewed many people who knew him at the time. Rather than being an ill-smelling bum, penniless and selling his trophies to live, the author found that Tilden continued to play, teach, and take his friends to dinner. Always well-dressed and upbeat, he often gave away trophies to his many friends in Hollywood – some of whom sold them.
When Tilden was 50, he volunteered to play a practice match with Jack Kramer to get Jack ready for the Nationals. He beat Kramer in straight sets. Kramer went on to reach the final, and three years later, won the US Nationals. (Now the US Open) Truly amazing! Big Bill died a few years later, resting before going out for dinner, in a coat and tie, bags packed for another cross-country tennis journey…

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Live the Best Story of Your Life by Bob Litwin
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
jparker@nsmta.net
November 2018

Most tennis players are accustomed to trying to make changes in their games that enable them to play better. But what if there was a way to use the concept of constructive change in the rest of their lives? Bob Litwin uses some of the same techniques that enabled him to transform himself into a World Senior Champion to do just that. As leading performance coach on Wall Street, he has explored the ways that the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves dramatically affect the outcomes in our lives, whether we’re on-court or on Wall Street.

The lessons he presents in the book are based on extensive research in the field of human potential. I found the real-life stories engaging, and relevant to anyone who wants to accomplish positive change. Tennis players will easily relate to them. His thesis is simply that the stories we tell ourselves, both consciously and unconsciously, help determine the contours of our lives. And we have the power to reshape them!

If we want to make changes, we can do so by shifting our stories. In effect, we can become better and more appropriate storytellers. First, we learn how to identify our old outworn stories that keep us stuck, and then we are freed up to create new, more vibrant and constructive stories. In the process, we learn to view our lives through a different lens that fosters lasting change.
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For a book with such profound implications, it is a fun read. The stories that are woven into the lessons will keep you engaged. And they might even help your tennis game!

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Tennis and LIFE by Richard Eyre
Reviewed by Jimmy Parker
jparker@nsmta.net
January 2018
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Anyone who’s played tennis competitively has probably come to the realization that tennis and life have a lot in common. That tennis is a representative slice of life shines through clearly in Richard Eyre’s "Tennis and LIFE."

Richard is a New York Times #1 bestselling author who is also, not coincidentally, a senior tournament player. The lessons he gleans from his on-court activities he carries off-court to great and insightful effect. It’s fun to discover what metaphors he is going to draw from the inevitable ups and downs we encounter when we take the court, and the parallels to what we do as we bob and weave through life.
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The first part of the book presents a dozen “ways in which tennis mirrors life.” Eyre comes from an orientation of self-help and inner illumination, and he makes some very useful analogies. His method is to first describe some aspect of tennis – e.g., “Only in tennis do you get a second chance.” Then he explicates its counterpart off the court: “In life, there is always another opportunity.”

He then embarks on a series of lessons to be learned from playing singles and their similarities to issues that come up elsewhere. Likewise for doubles. Each one is an easy read, and based on an enlightened approach to living a balanced life. They’re so familiar to all of us who have strived to improve our tennis games, and yet written in a way that adds new perspectives – taking ourselves lightly, transforming anger, the disproportionate importance of beginnings and ends, etc.

Overall, this little book is a delightful and palatable way to become a better you – both on and off the court!

To get your copy of Tennis and Life at 40% off, go to www.familius.com/eyre-special and enter the promo code jimmyfriend. Enter the information requested and scroll down to select the titles of your choice.