an excellent read for the mental part of any performance activity. some are very specific to tennis (obviously) but i find the general ideas and concepts are very applicable to any other performance activities.

High level strategy, short on details, long on Brad's glory days

I love tennis so reading about it is entertaining. The book provides high level ideas to play better but It's difficult to put it into practice because lax details. The book goes on In great detail about matches brad has won and dont help all that much in understanding strategy. The guy sort of comes off as a blow hard And I think that players like mcenroe complained about him probably felt the same way.

audiobook! another fun read, way more about tennis than I thought it would be.

Gilbert is a savvy sport psychologist, and this is a good book for tennis players looking to round their technical skills with sound tactical thinking. My only criticism is the author goes overly deep into seemingly irrelevant details of his own former professional matches.

almost bageled my tennis partner after reading this

As a person who loves to play tennis on the recreational level, I thought this book had a lot to offer in terms of strategy, lessons learned and great advice for competing at your best and coming out on top no matter what level you are. I enjoyed hearing his real life experiences during matches, and his progression from competing at the professional level to coaching a tennis legend was pretty cool. I enjoyed this one a lot and will definitely read it again during the tennis season.

I do not play tennis. I don’t think I have ever played tennis (though I did get a cute pink racket for a gift once). So why would I read this book? Because it was required reading for a program I am in, of course. So I didn’t understand all of it- some of the terminology went right over my head. But then the parts where the games were being described were totally fascinating. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who does play tennis. I tried to apply what I was reading to playing pickle ball with my husband so we’ll see if I can use mental warfare to beat him in the future.

I am no fan of the author. His commentary during tennis matches annoys me. But because I love the game of tennis, I have to give him credit for writing a book that addresses the strategies that are part of the game. I have not found a book that does so in such a good manner. I plan to re-read it, this time highlighting sections and phrases that I need to ponder and incorporate into my matches. It would be nice if Gilbert wrote an updated version as this book is older, and mentions all the greats from the 80's. There's been some major changes since then, both in the players and the strategies.

Quite possibly the finest book in mastering the art of Tennis

Wow. Even as a horrific tennis player with zero aspiration to take the sport beyond a form of cardio, this was a very engaging read with surprising carryover into the world of day trading. It’s funny how common threads for success between very disparate pursuits can exist. I really liked the breakdowns of different types of opponents in tennis and how to take on each one. Plus, the retelling of specific matches was also very engaging.

All I knew about Brad Gilbert before reading this book is that it's always really annoyed me the way he calls Roger Federer "buddy" in all his post-match on-court interviews. After finishing the book it STILL really annoys me (mostly because there's nothing to suggest that he and Roger are in fact buddies at all, and wouldn't we all love to pretend we're good pals with Federer, but why does this guy think he actually IS just because he does a 5-minute interview with him twice a year?!) Moving on...
The book itself was quite good. At first I thought I might not enjoy it because it's somewhat dated; after all, Gilbert played in the era of Connors, McEnroe, and Lendl, so naturally he draws from his experiences during that time and with those players. Sampras and Agassi were after his time, to say nothing of the current greats like Rafa, Djoker, or Brad's good buddy Roger.
But as I got deeper into the book, I realized that the techniques and insights Gilbert shares span more than a single generation of tennis; they're universal principles that can be applied just as effectively by players today as they could have been by players 30 years ago. Gilbert's own path through the world of tennis reveals just how true this is, because while he never made it past the quarterfinals of a grand slam tournament during his career as a player, he used the tactics taught in this book to coach Agassi to 6 of his 8 slams, Roddick to his 1 (and only) U.S. Open, and help move Andy Murray firmly into the top 5. Now if I can just find a time machine and start applying all this good stuff 15 years ago, maybe I can make the tour too.
Fortunately, this book has helpful advice even for those of us who WON'T ever play tennis at a professional level, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to strengthen their mental (and by extension, all-around) tennis game.

As an avid tennis player, Brad Gilbert's book has many helpful pointers. His ideas of preparation, focus, execution and adaptation can help a player of any level. I thoroughly enjoyed Brad's own personal accounts of battles with some of the game's greatest players of the time. It was remarkable to see how Brad's powers of observation helped coach Agassi and turnaround his career that was stuck in a rut, to helping him climb back to greatness! I'm happy to recommend this book to anyone for it's instructional and entertainment value.