The Badminton Handbook is a compact, groundbreaking training manual that gives the reader an overall insight into the world of badminton. It is divided into two parts.

The first part deals with training theory while the second contains background information about the sport and its stars, thus giving the reader an overall insight into the world of badminton.

The Badminton Handbook is groundbreaking in many ways. It combines training theory and information about badminton stars by reinforcing basic explanations on badminton technique with tips from the pros.

It not only relates the excitement of this sport with Asian origins, but tells you all you need to know about badminton from A to Z. It is a reliable reference book that readers will want to turn to again and again.

Arthur Ashe explains how this iconic African American tennis player overcame racial and class barriers to reach the top of the tennis world in the 1960s and 1970s. But more important, it follows Ashe's evolution as an activist who had to contend with the shift from civil rights to Black Power. Off the court, and in the arena of international politics, Ashe positioned himself at the center of the black freedom movement, negotiating the poles of black nationalism and assimilation into white society. Fiercely independent and protective of his public image, he navigated the thin line between conservatives and liberals, reactionaries and radicals, the sports establishment and the black cause. Eric Allen Hall's work examines Ashe's life as a struggle against adversity but also a negotiation between the comforts-perhaps requirements-of tennis-star status and the felt obligation to protest the discriminatory barriers the white world constructed to keep black people "in their place." Drawing on coverage of Ashe's athletic career and social activism in domestic and international publications, archives including the Ashe Papers, and a variety of published memoirs and interviews, Hall has created an intimate, nuanced portrait of a great athlete who stood at the crossroads of sports and equal justice.

From forehands to fashions, this book covers the careers of 35 champions who made significant contributions to the sport both on and off the court. Suzanne Lenglen, Helen Wills Moody, Maureen Connolly, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Venus and Serena Williams, and others are listed chronologically. The book features photographs, statistics and records of each player, as well as results of all the Grand Slams and the Fed Cup, Olympic Games, Wightman Cup, and Hopman Cup competitions. The author is donating all royalties to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the grassroots network dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

Roger Federer is the global star who emerged from our very midst. Mad about ball sports from a young age, his playfulness and passion pushed him further and further - and on to dizzying heights. His sporting exploits are well-known, but who is the man behind them? For the last twenty years, Zurich-based journalist Simon Graf has followed Federer's triumphant journey through the great tennis arenas of the world for the Swiss press. Here, he answers the key questions: how did a hot-tempered teenager become a Zen master on the courts? What part did his parents and his wife Mirka have to play? How did he maintain his joy for all these years? Why does he owe eternal thanks to his rival, Rafael Nadal? Why did he stay so normal? And what can we learn from him? Over the years, the author held countless interviews with Federer and people from his family and sporting life and now shows him from all of his many sides - as a hot-headed teenager, a tennis genius, son, husband and father, an inspiration, strategist, manager of his own talent, victor and loser, businessman, exceptional athlete, philanthropist and more. The Federer phenomenon is captured over fifteen thematically arranged chapters. And there's no shortage of anecdotes: the book is as entertaining as Federer's game.

John Lloyd was the poster boy of British tennis - a former British number one, Grand Slam finalist, Wimbledon mixed-doubles champion and Davis Cup captain. Remarkably, he and his two brothers, David (of leisure club fame) and Tony, all played in the singles championship at Wimbledon in the same year: a testament to the parents who believed in their sons' dreams as the boys batted tennis balls against a garage wall in Essex. Told with humour and honesty, John's autobiography is filled with intimate insight and captivating tales of Hollywood celebrities, tennis icons, broadcasting greats and loves lost - from his marriage to the legendary Chris Evert and dealings with Donald Trump to his sobering battle with cancer and drug addiction at the heart of his family. As the story unfolds, the John of today sends letters of advice to his former self in a yearnful act of 'if I only knew then what I know now'. What we now know for certain is that John Lloyd has lived an extraordinary life.

Step up to table tennis success "Table Tennis: Steps to Success" combines the knowledge and experience of master instructor Richard McAfee with essential table tennis techniques and strategies for today's player.

With a unique 11-step approach designed to maximize table tennis instruction, you'll learn the proper grip for your style of play, execution of the basic strokes, and the correct way to apply spin to the ball. Then, build on these core techniques with masterful footwork, serves, returns, and stroke combinations.

Best of all, learn how and when to apply those skills in match play. With competitive strategies--adapted for both you and your opponent's playing style--you'll raise your game to a new level. And with clear instruction, comprehensive coverage, detailed photo sequences, and drills to ensure mastery of every technique, you'll be playing--and winning--in no time.

As part of the Steps to Success Sports Series--with more than 1.5 million copies sold--rest assured that "Table Tennis: Steps to Success" is the #1 resource for learning, and loving, the game.

In this hugely entertaining collection of stories taken from over a hundred years of world tennis history, award-winning sports historian Peter Seddon has gathered together the most extraordinary events ever to occur on a tennis court. They include the Wimbledon final between the tea-drinking vicar and a convicted murderer, and the 'Match of the Century' between the 'Women's Libber' and the 'Male Chauvinist Pig'. There are matches played on board ship and on the wings of an airborne plane, a game played in full regimental dress, and meet the player who rated himself so highly he played an entire match while carrying someone 'piggy-back'. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of tennis fanatics, this book is a unique look at the curiosities of an endlessly popular sport, revealing the 'strawberries and cream' game as you've never seen it before. Word count: 45,000

A very comprehensive and well-written book about the most common tennis injuries. I certainly wish something like this had been available 25 years ago.--Fred Stolle, member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
""Maintaining fitness is a high priority for people of all ages, especially those of us addicted to tennis. This book can help you improve not only your game but your quality of life as well.""--David N. Dinkins, USTA and USPTR Board Member and former mayor of New York City.
""It would be hard to find a more comprehensive or comprehensible guide to preparing for tennis play, not to mention preventing and treating tennis injuries. Every tennis player--beginning, intermediate, and advanced--could benefit from Dr. Levy's and Mark Fuerst's efforts.""--Shimon-Craig Van Collie, author of Tennis: The Lifetime Sport.
From the authors of the classic Sports Injury Handbook, this top-notch manual of easy-to-follow tennis do's and don'ts is all you need to prevent injuries, treat common symptoms, and improve your conditioning, flexibility, and strength, so you can pick up the pace on your serve or unload a return that won't come back. Dr. Allan Levy's practical knowledge of tennis fitness is indispensable for players at every skill level--from absolute beginners to club champions.
Developed from his own experience treating recreational and professional tennis players, Dr. Levy's program features refreshingly simple stretches and exercises you can do on or off the court. For ease of use, the main part of the book is organized by area of the body. You'll learn how to recognize and treat injuries and determine when it is safe to play again. Packed with clear illustrations and practical advice, the Tennis Injury Handbook features:
* Specific training ideas to improve your game and prevent injuries.
* Easy-to-follow techniques for stretching, conditioning, and rehabilitation.
* Expert advice on what foods to eat before, during, and after playing.
* The pluses and minuses of a variety of tennis gadgets on the market.
* A complete guide to tennis injuries from head to toe--how to recognize them and how to heal them.

Serena Williams has been ranked number one in the world for tennis singles, won twenty-two Grand Slam singles titles, and won four Olympic gold medals. She is a powerful player and a fierce competitor. Learn more about the record-breaking athlete in this comprehensive and action-packed biography, complete with stats and photographs.

From stately lawns and gentlemen players to Andre Agassi and Venus Williams: 65 great writings on tennis that chronicle the transformation of the sport.

Since its inception, tennis has embraced traditions more patrician than plebeian. But times--and tennis--have changed. The game once reserved for royalty has moved from estate lawns to the concrete courts of the city. Old guard amateurs have given way to prodigies plastered with corporate logos. And while barriers of gender, race, and class have been shattered, the modern plagues of self-promotion, the paparazzi, and challengers of ever-escalating talent loom large.

In The Right Set, award-winning novelist and editor Caryl Phillips presents a collection of writings on the remarkable evolution of a gentleman's pastime into a sport of jet-set players of athletic and psychological genius. Here are the stories of champions, from the Renshaw twins to "ghetto Cinderella" Venus Williams. Here, too, are volleys between tradition and innovation--debates on everything from etiquette and earnings to André Agassi's rejection of the customary tennis whites. Insightful, informative, wonderfully entertaining, The Right Set is as colorful and surprising as the game itself.


John McPhee on Ashe vs. Graebner
David Higdon on Venus Williams
James Thurber on Helen Wills
Martina Navratilova on Bad Losers
Martin Amis on Smashing the Rackets
and more

John McEnroe enjoyed tremendous success at all levels of tennis, and he owns 77 career singles titles, including 7 Grand Slams. He joined the circuit in 1978 and it took him only three years to attain the No. 1 ranking. The 1980 Wimbledon final, between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, is considered by many tennis experts to be the best match ever, a five-set thriller which McEnroe avenged the following year for his first Wimbledon title.

In doubles, McEnroe is recognised as the best player of all time. He was ranked No. 1 for a record 257 weeks and captured a total of 74 titles, including 8 Grand Slams. Still an active player, McEnroe is now an outstanding tennis commentator and broadcaster for the BBC and other national networks. This autobiography, his first, covers an awesome tennis career, marriage to movie star Tatum O'Neal and where arguably the greatest tennis player of all time goes from here.

This is SERIOUS.

This title features step-by-step techniques to improve your skills. It is an information-packed guide to all the techniques needed to play this exciting game with confidence and skill, shown in over 240 dynamic and practical photographs. It features expert instructions on the serve, groundstrokes, volley, lob, forehand/backhand smash and dropshots, as well as a guide to the perfect posture for each shot. It includes an illustrated guide to tennis equipment, from rackets and balls to specialist shoes and clothing. Common faults are corrected and exercises are shown step-by-step, to help you develop and improve your shots. It explains the rules and scoring system of the game, with useful hints and tips on strategy for both singles and doubles, and how to adapt to different surfaces. It contains a handy glossary of tennis terms, from approach shot and backspin to string savers and Western grip. Played all over the world for fun, fitness and competition, tennis is a wonderful game that appeals to both young and old. From Grand Slam tournaments to local contests or a friendly knock-around, the essential techniques are the same, and a sound understanding of the game will be beneficial at all levels. If you are a beginner, the book will enable you to grasp the basic techniques, and if you have already reached a level of competence, you will benefit from revising the basics and from the advice on tactics and strategy. From positioning your feet to gripping the racket, each technique is illustrated with step-by-step photographs, helping you to improve your skills. The book also features solutions to common problems, as well as a concise account of the theory and practice of the game. It will develop your confidence and increase your pleasure in playing this most rewarding and enjoyable sport.

Standing in Line is a humorous memoir, based on a variety of experiences in The Queue, one of sport's most fascinating traditions. Told through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy becoming a 39-year-old man, it is a love letter both to Wimbledon and to the wonder of British summertime. Watching the Championships is a national pastime, and this book is full of the ups and downs out on court, as well as the memorable pop-cultural moments off it. It is set against the desperate wait for a British Gentlemen's champion, viewed against the global reality show Wimbledon has become - transcending sport and class, yet still embracing tradition. Illustrated with drawings from renowned artist and author Zebedee Helm, the book observes both the changing world around us and the behaviour of the half-million fans who cram themselves into this leafy corner of London for two weeks every year. Standing in Line is a joyful, gently nostalgic read for anyone who has found themselves gazing for hours on end at coverage of Wimbledon.

NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER This is a special era in the history of tennis. The physicality and skill, as well as the commercial and public interest, have hit levels not seen before. At the heart of the game's growing appeal are four players: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray. Never in the history of the game have so few players dominated for so long and it is their rivalry that makes this the 'Golden Age of Tennis'. However, in 2013, the dominance of the Big Four came under sustained pressure and a new era beckoned. Break Point chronicles how the old guard met the challenge of the hungry young contenders determined to break their stranglehold on the Tour, from the genteel lawns of Wimbledon to the raucous bleachers of Flushing Meadows, and all points in between.

This is an interactive manual organised in six sections: beating the players you hate to play, dealing with pressure, handling the things that you can't control, enjoying doubles, managing when your game falls apart, and staying in the game. Each section is filled with detailed chapters full of interactive tips and drills that lead the player through self-evaluation and the development of on-court strategies for a better game. This book is designed to help a player identify his or her talents and then take advantage of those skills to win more matches. All players who read the book will benefit from the dual psychologist/coach perspective and will find themselves building confidence, improving focus, managing anxiety, and increasing motivation, attributes that are the key to winning more matches.

This revised and updated biography intertwines the incredible playing career of one of the best and most popular tennis players of all time with a history of how he came to rescue the image of a young, war-torn country on the world stage. It describes Djokovic's modest upbringing, revealing how he met the woman who taught him both to play tennis and how to deal with life as a high-profile icon. It charts Djokovic's battle with illness, his relationship with a volatile father, and how his on-court deeds have made his country proud. It also tells the story of Serbia, offering a nuanced portrait of a people with a troubled past, and offers an unrivaled assessment of the player's recent drop in form--and the untold reasons behind it.

With a power serve of 129 miles per hour and countless titles to her name (including number one in the world), Venus Williams is an incredible force in the world of tennis. She stands 6'1" and possesses great reach, or "wingspan," and a rare mental tenacity that has put many, many trophies on her mantelpiece. It was thanks to Williams' tireless campaigning that the bizarre sexist tradition of awarding a smaller prize money to female tennis players was corrected, at least at Wimbledon and at the French Open. (Amusingly, Williams herself became the first beneficiary of this amendment when she won Wimbledon in June, 2007.) Williams' ascent to fame has been meteoric from the first. At her Grand Slam debut at the 1997 French Open, she reached the final, and although she did not win that match, her world ranking shot up from 66 to 25 in one day. By 1999, she was number three, and by 2000 she had won a gold medal for the U.S. at the Olympics--the first of two, thus far. This sense of un-stoppability has always characterized Venus Williams, and makes her gripping to watch. Now the British fashion photographer Koto Bolofo has caught some of her magic on camera, in ways that have never been seen before. Granted unrivalled access to the athlete, during both her public tournaments and many private moments, Bolofo offers here a monumental portrait of a one of today's greatest athletes.

What makes a champion? What does it take to be the best in the world at your sport? Rafael Nadal has the answers. In his memoir, written with award-winning journalist John Carlin, he reveals the secrets of his game and shares the inspiring personal story behind his success. It begins in Mallorca, where the tight-knit Nadal family has lived for generations. Coached by his uncle Toni from the age of four and taught humility and respect by his parents, Nadal has managed the uncommon feat of becoming an acclaimed global celebrity while remaining a gracious, hardworking role model for people in all walks of life. Now he takes us behind the scenes, from winning the Wimbledon 2008 final-described by John McEnroe as "the greatest game of tennis" he had ever seen-to the family problems that brought him low in 2009 and the numerous injuries that have threatened his career. With candor and intelligence, Nadal brings readers on his dramatic and triumphant journey, never losing sight of the prize he values above all others: the unity and love of his family. From RAFA: "During a match, you are in a permanent battle to fight back your everyday vulnerabilities, bottle up your human feelings. The more bottled up they are, the greater your chances of winning, so long as you've trained as hard as you play and the gap in talent is not too wide between you and your rival. The gap in talent with Federer existed, but it was not impossibly wide. It was narrow enough, even on his favorite surface in the tournament he played best, for me to know that if I silenced the doubts and fears, and exaggerated hopes, inside my head better than he did, I could beat him. You have to cage yourself in protective armor, turn yourself into a bloodless warrior. It's a kind of self-hypnosis, a game you play, with deadly seriousness, to disguise your own weaknesses from yourself, as well as from your rival."

'The perfect Christmas gift' - Alan Brazil A brilliantly entertaining and hilarious quiz book from the country's favourite sports broadcaster Know your bull calf from your bullseye? Your Hawksbee from your Hawk-Eye? Your Saints from your Seagulls? Then join the talkSPORT team as they test you and your mates or family on some of the greatest sporting moments of the past 50-odd years. With over 2,500 questions - split into family-friendly Easy, Medium and Hard sections for each sport - this awesome quiz book is the ultimate test of sporting knowledge and the perfect gift for anyone who loves the ups, downs and hilarity of the world of sport. Don't be a numpty - pick up your copy of The talkSPORT Quiz Book ... NOW

Tennis is one of the world's most popular sports, as levels of participation and spectatorship demonstrate. Moreover, tennis has always been one of the world's most significant sports, expressing crucial fractures of social class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity - both on and off court. This is the first book to undertake a survey of the historical and socio-cultural sweep of tennis, exploring key themes from governance, development and social inclusion to national identity and the role of the media. It is presented in three parts: historical developments; culture and representations; and politics and social issues, and features contributions by leading tennis scholars from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The most authoritative book published to date on the history, culture and politics of tennis, this is an essential reference for any course or program examining the history, sociology, politics or culture of sport.

The Science of Sport series is essential reading for students, coaches and performers, physiotherapists, club doctors and professional support staff working in sport. The Science of Sport: Squash offers both scientific research and athlete testimonials to show that squash is one of the most physically demanding, mentally draining, and tactically challenging sports in the world. Success in this sport requires extreme levels of fitness, optimal and specific strength, relentless psychological toughness, intelligent tactical prowess, and sublime technical proficiency.

The Art of Tennis is a collection of creative tennis essays, musings and observations. The first volume of this new annual publication artfully gathers considered highlights and moments from the world of tennis over the period from Wimbledon 2017 to the grass court season pre-Wimbledon 2018 - a year encompassing a great deal of action, drama and surprises aplenty. While following actual matches and events on tour it also looks at lesser contemplated aspects of the sport both on and off the court. Balls are crunched, atmospheres captured. Characters emerge, passions surface, rivers of sweat drip and champions are crowned. A start-to-finish snapshot of a year of life on tour, The Art of Tennis is painted with words, giving birth to something fresh and unique - a brand new angle on an age-old sport. Punchy and poetic, here is a project that moves beyond the game to capture its essence. Artful prose brings emotions to life, documenting a year in a spellbinding range of highlights and a whirlwind of transglobal travel.