The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%

The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99% by Conor Niland

Growing up, the author's parents pushed him to focus on tennis. He noticed other parents were not so focussed on a single thing, yet he persevered. He attended sports prep schools and eventually received a tennis scholarship to attend Cal. After college, he struggled just on the outskirts of the "big leagues". He worked his ranking up just beyond 200. He was able to play in qualifying sections of the major tournaments. He was the top ranked Irish tennis player and qualified in a couple big tournaments. He was never a well known tennis player, yet he would continue to work hard. The matter-of-fact tone of his journey separates this from other sports memoirs. He acknowledges he was pushed externally in his youth, yet had the drive of his own. He was able to take advantage of the opportunities, such as receiving a literature degree from UC Berkeley. With all that work, he got a few chances to play in front of big crowds, but mostly stumbled away in anonymity. The book provides insight on how most participants experience professional tennis.

Carrie Soto Is Back: A Novel

Carrie Soto has lived her life for tennis. Her father was an Argentine tennis pro and her mother died when she was young. She has grown up around tennis. She is ruthless and known as the "battleaxe". She just wants to win, regardless of what people think of her.  In her career, she won more championships than anyone else in history. She started to fall and retired in her young 30s. A few years later, after another tennis player tied her record, she decided to come back. 

The book is fiction, but feels like it could have been a sports memoir. References to fictional (Daisy Jones and the Six) and actual (Inner Game of Tennis) are intertwined. You almost feel you could look up Carrie Soto on Wikipedia.

Carrie struggles with the mental part of tennis. She has difficulty losing. She is not well liked by others. Nobody on the women's tour will practice with her. She ends up practicing with an older player on the men's tournament. They had a brief fling in their youth. It is clear that he will end up being a love interest in the story, even though it is a struggle for her.

Carrie started out with her father as a coach. She rose to prominence with him coaching. Then she chose a new coach for her peak years (and decline.) For the comeback, it was her father again. The story is as much about her relationships (with father, men and other tennis players) as it is about tennis. I rocketed through in one sitting. It shows plenty of growth in character and has a satisfying (if not expected) ending.

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

"Self 1" and "Self 2" battle for dominance in carrying out tasks. One is the conscious self. The other is the subconscious. Instruction usually focuses on the conscious. However, it is the subconscious that must complete the task. 

The book is a mix of tennis-specific advice within a general framework. In tennis, the racquet is an extension of the body. If we try to focus our mind too much on the mechanics, we will fail. Instead, we should picture the general goal. Visualize the result in our mind and then let our body flow through the motions to achieve. Repeat the desired actions rather than think of the detail. This can be applied to specific areas of tennis as well as other aspects of life.