Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master

I remember picking up this book from a bookstore a few years back. Then, I didn't have sound strokes and a pathetic serve. The book was humorous and excellent tips on how to beat power players, moonballers, net players and more. Unfortunetly, the book didn't do any good for me. Until now, I have improved my groundstrokes and serve greatly and I'm starting to go the net. I now play strategicily in singles and doubles in competition and now a plan of action in each game. Read this book. It is your essential key to winning matches. Treat it like your tennis bible! It will only work if you can play a decent game of tennis. The better you play with your strokes, the more you can get out of this book.

Somebody here said - "But if you are 3.5 or below don't bother with this book"...Man, think before you utter nonsense like this. This book is great, there are very few club players who think on the court. After reading this book, I guarantee they'll be thinking more about their game, analyzing, and getting better results. Congrats, Brad. It's not hard to beat someone who's worse than you, but someone who's better. This book can help you do that.

While I have enjoyed reading many books in the past, the book I am currently reading, Winning Ugly, has been especially enjoyable for me. It has been good not only because of the fact that it is on the subject of improvement on my favorite sport, tennis, but also because it has many lessons that apply to life off the court. It is very amusing because of the examples he uses, that often have John McEnroe at the butt of a joke.

The author of Winning Ugly, Brad Gilbert, has a great writing style. I think part of the reason that I enjoy this book so much is because of how he makes points by explaining how he has actually used what he talks about against players like Jimmy Conners, Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, and Andre Agassi. It's not a book about the basics of tennis, or how to hit the ball and such, it's a book about the mental aspect of the game, or as he describes it, playing smart. One of the first points he makes is how important it is to stay focused. He talks about how throughout his whole professional career he was playing and beating many players, who, on paper, should have won. The main reason he was able to beat so many players who had a "better game" (i.e. more powerful, cleaner shots) was because of simply making observations, and changing his plans accordingly. A great example of this would be many of his matches against Becker. He realized that in a contest of who could hit the ball harder Becker would win, hands down. So he changed his strategy, instead of hitting the ball as hard as he could, like most players would, he went for shots that didn't generate much power, making Becker hit a shot he isn't comfortable with, and giving him an edge.

This book doesn't just help my game, or prove that Brad Gilbert is a great coach and player; he doesn't need to write a book to prove that. He's been number five internationally for long periods at a time, and coached both Andre Agassi and Andy Rodick. What the book proves is that there is a connection between the mind and body that can help improve performance in sports, and elsewhere. It also exposes many important aspects of planning and being able to change plans, without loosing focus and getting distracted by the fact that things may not go your way. I still haven't finished the whole book, but I can honestly say that I get excited every time I read it. That's why this book is, even though I still have more to read, among my top favorite books.

This little book helped me to improve my chess... That's right! I am not sure if Brad Gilbert plays chess or not but after reading this at Borders I decided to use his approach to playing chess. The whole idea that someone is doing someone something during a tennis game appealed me and I considered it important to gather that tool for chess... This might not be a review valuable for anyone interested in tennis because I don't even play that sport but the whole mental attitude is what I consider important for any competitive sport.

Being a recreational player, I play very often (3-5 games a week). My problem was that I was very frequently defeated by weaker guys because of my terrible footwork, which resulted from nerves and focus loss. I was (and am) great while warming up, but later on I kept getting off balance.
This book was the only thing that really helped me. Brad is a genius! Currently, I am on a 20-game winning streak. Thanks to Brad, my opponents are the only ones who get pissed off now.