Tennis Game Theory: Dialing in Your A-Game Every Day

Tennis Game Theory: Dialing in Your A-Game Every Day

by Jak Beardsworth
Tennis Game Theory: Dialing in Your A-Game Every Day

Tennis Game Theory: Dialing in Your A-Game Every Day

by Jak Beardsworth

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Overview

Tennis Game Theory, with praise from some of tennis' top authorities, is the culmination of Beardsworth's writings - magazine, newspaper, internet - over the past few years. The original 100 stand alone pieces have been adapted into a comprehensive work that's collectively aimed at providing motivated players with key core fundamentals to both maximize, and improve upon, one's on court performance. His first book, More Than Just the Strokes (2005), reached Amazon's top 10 in tennis instruction.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781483565750
Publisher: BookBaby
Publication date: 03/31/2016
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 236
File size: 6 MB

About the Author

Jak Beardsworth, USPTA Elite Pro, is the Tennis Director at the Twin Isles Country Club in Punta Gorda. He is the author of More Than Just The Strokes, has presented seminars to tennis pros worldwide, and has worked with Grand Slam champions and Davis Cup captains.

Table of Contents

Author's Note xi

Part 1 Magazine Articles 1

Game Management

Natural or Nurtured: The Sport's Science Behind Excellence 2

The Tennis Mind-Set Universality 5

First You Relax, Then You Do Nothing 8

How to Be A Solid Competitor 11

Playing Within Yourself 13

Putting a Face on Your Game 15

To Grunt or Not To Grunt 18

On Being a Cool Operator 21

Bobble Heads & Swivel Heads: A Guide to Understanding Ball Watching 24

Breathing Equals Better Game 27

Ball Striking Skills

Embracing the Shot Making Chain 29

Soft Power 32

Playing with a Live Arm 34

Serving the Bomb 37

The Joy of Practice 40

It's Still About the Warm-Up 43

Footwork

An Anatomy of Motor Skills 46

Defending the Court by Reading Their Mail 49

No Feet, No Game, No Future 52

Team Tennis

The Club Doubles Game Matrix 54

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate 57

Two on Two: How to Make the Most of Team Tennis 60

Playing Nice with Others 62

The Physicality of the Game

Maximizing the Health Benefits of Tennis 64

Battling the 3-Headed Monster 67

Tennis, Wellness, Life 70

Is Tennis Elbow Passe? 73

Tools of the Trade

The Racket Evolution 76

It's Now All About the Strings 79

State of the Game

NTRP and the Health of the Game 82

Bad Calls: Misperception or Cheating? 85

Human Interest

Blind Tennis…Playing By Ear 88

The New Ball Kids 91

Apprehensive Breaths 94

A Star Is Born Far Away …Now a Gem in our Midst 97

The Jimmy Connors Enigma 100

Sugar Daddy and the Match that Changed the World 103

Part 2 Newspaper Columns 106

The Serve

The Elusive Service Toss 107

Maximizing Leg Drive on the Serve 108

Serving Tall 110

Finishing the Serve 111

Embracing the Spin Serve 113

The Shots

Loading the Stick 115

Timing the Take Back 116

On the Rise 117

Half-Volley Groundstroke 118

Handling High Bouncing Balls 120

The One-Handed Backhand…Alive and Well 121

Racket Head Up 123

The Tricky Forehand Volley 124

The Backhand Volley 125

The Smash 126

Getting Out of Trouble 128

The Backfire 130

The Great Escape 132

Footwork Skills

Getting Set vs Setting Up 133

Right Place, Right Time 135

Positional Adapting to All the Shots 136

The Doubles Game Primer

Choosing Sides in Doubles Can Be Key 138

Offensive and Defensive Positioning 140

Augmenting Your Game

Don't Forget to Breathe When Striking 142

Play Freely to Avoid Paralysis through Analysis 144

Use Their Pace and Laugh in Their Face 146

Gearing Up Mentally and Physically 148

Settling to the Return Task 150

Part 3 Website Essays 152

Move Well…Play Well

The Easy Balls are Not Easy 153

Clay to Hard, Hard to Clay 156

Hard Courts, Soft Courts, and Your Body's Adaptation 158

Only the Ball

Just Talking Tennis Heads or More? 161

Supporting Your Game 163

Thinking in Pictures

Visualize…Realize: The Mind Body Connection 164

Player Disconnection 166

Preparing to Start the Point: Serving and Receiving 167

Game Management

Relax - It's Just a Rally Ball 170

Letting Them Play for Peak Performance in Clubland 171

Smart Shots 173

Playing Scared 175

Icing the Server When Receiving in the Big Moments 177

Top 10 Stress Reducers 179

Self-Talk: Good, Bad or Indifferent 180

Jaw Dropping 182

Playing in the Wind 184

Respecting the Game: Top 10 Do's and Don'ts 185

Raising Your Level

Making Your Lessons Stick 187

Never Too Late for Older Dogs 189

Why Coaching? 191

Practice, Practice, Practice 193

Take Your Eye Off the Ball 195

Summer School Courtside Crib Sheet 197

Are You a Thudder, a Twanger, or a Pinger: String Dampeners 198

Shot Making

The Impossible: Accelerating and Decelerating Simultaneously 200

Bending the Serve In 201

Ball Bouncing and the Serve 203

The Elusive Service Toss 204

The Third Groundstroke 206

John Isner's "Good Miss" 208

Cutting Off the Angle Vertically 210

The Most Neglected Shot in the Game 211

Serving Success: Warming-Up vs Match Play 213

Debunking the Modern Game 214

The Art of Doubles

Pooh Poohing Doubles Strategy Sessions 217

Club Doubles' Increasingly Missing Link 219

The Standing Around Syndrome 221

Defeating the Poacher 222

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