Best Table Tennis
Two-time Olympian and sports writer and broadcaster Matthew Syed draws on the latest in neuroscience and psychology to uncover the secrets of our top athletes and introduces us to an extraordinary cast of characters, including the East German athlete who became a man, and her husband – and the three Hungarian sisters who are all chess grandmasters. He admits his argument owes a debt to Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers , but he aims to move one step beyond it, drawing on cognitive neuroscience research to explain how the body and mind are transformed by specialized practice. He takes on the myth of the child prodigy, emphasizing that Mozart, the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods, and Susan Polgar, the first female grandmaster, all had live-in coaches in the form of supportive parents who put them through a ton of early practice. In this insightful and entertaining book, Matthew Syed takes us a step deeper into the world of sports, showing us how much we can learn about our own behavior.” (Dan Ariely, New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational). “A cutting edge dissection—and ultimate destruction—of the myth of innate talent in the pursuit of excellence.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I've been very interested in reading one of the books which are based, at least to a degree, on the work of Anders Ericsson and purposeful practise being more important than talent you are born with. Each book seems to take a somewhat different view of the importance of various aspects that have been shown to lead to superior performance -- purposeful practice and opportunity (such as having a good coach available) being the primary aspects."
"While one should acknowledge the existence of those rare individuals will seemingly superhuman aptitudes, according to the author, most "experts" in whatever field reach the pinnacle through a combination of factors--factors within the reach of mere mortals!"
"I read it twice already."
"This book goes into great detail about how a work ethic, allows ANYONE the opportunity to succeed by dispelling so many myths on why players, musicians, athletes, people in all sorts of industry become successful. Just loved his analysis referring to countless studies and real life examples of Earl and Tiger Woods, Mozart and his father, David Beckham and his work ethic."
"One of the best books i've read in a long time."
"Insightful and a great read."
"Great read , good insights."
"In the end, the basic tenants of focused practice, supporting family members, access to great coaching, internal desire to succeed, willingness to commit to excellence...etc."
Learn table tennis tactics from U.S. National Coach and Hall of Famer Larry Hodges. See his webpage at TableTennisCoaching.com, including his daily table tennis blog.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It talks about the concept of strategies and tactics. Strategies are what you want to achieve in life and tactics are steps you take to get there."
"As with most, mid to lower level table tennis players, I am always looking for resources. The title might give some the impression that it's only for high IQ table tennis masterminds... My suggestioned alternative title would be "Table Tennis for People Who are Tired of Getting Beat"."
"I would say this book is mostly aimed at beginner and intermediate players, but advanced players could no doubt benefit from the tactical insight offered by Mr. Hodges in this book."
"Excellent book."
"It's an awesome book to read if you would like to learn about table tennis in depth as a table tennis professional player or not, very nice book."
"I feel like it focused my thinking onto a number of important aspects that apply to each of the different shots and situations that you can face against each opponent."
"In addition to correcting my bad strokes I can now work on correcting my bad mental habits."
"It's a great book that I will recommend to anyone interested in the great sport of table tennis."
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. "In Table Tennis: Steps to Success, Coach McAfee covers all the essential skills for becoming a successful table tennis player. "In Table Tennis: Steps to Success, Coach McAfee covers all the essential skills for becoming a successful table tennis player.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The instructions and diagrams in the book clearly illustrate the mechanics of each stroke, and the drills get you on your way to mastering them. If you don't live in Denver and can't get personal coaching from McAfee this book will go a long way towards improving your game."
"There are more illustrations and explanations for handshake though (well look at the cover), this slight bias did not matter for me that much as most of the underlying mechanics to the various strokes like the loop are similar between PH and SH."
"My friend who is about 1400 commented in amazement, "You learned how to do that since last week just by reading this book! This book has several good drills and even though it's not too advanced it really teaches you how to actually master the basics."
"Pretty detailed."
"It is a good comprehensive text book for novice and intermediate players with many pictures of examples and drills."
"I had to get a book which would help me train the youth around me the right way to play table tennis and this book provided a whole lot, I followed Richard McAfee to his facebook column and saw the big work he is doing."
"one of the best coaches in the USA."
"Richard has so much experience and love for this game that the book only begins to expertly illuminate a lifetime of experience."
Best Science Weights & Measures
Linear Regression is a way of simplifying a group of data into a single equation. This law was derived by using regression analysis to simplify the progress of dozens of computer manufacturers over the course of decades into a single equation. I checked half a dozen different sources, including several textbooks, on how to do multiple regression. In each case, the source had a lot of information; in some cases dozens of pages; on how to do the data preparation, how to interpret results, and potential problems to watch out for, but to actually do the multiple regression calculation, they all said to use a software package, like Matlab or Minitab. How to do linear regression with two variables How to do multiple linear regression with any number of independent variables A regression analysis to predict the number of viewers in future episodes of the television show ‘Modern Family’ How to evaluate the quality of your regression analysis using R-squared or adjusted R-squared How to do regression on exponential data, and recreate Moore’s law.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great book if you want grasp the fundamental concepts of linear regression."
"This is probably one of the best written book I have read explaining linear regression."
"He is extremely gifted as a writer who can break things down to simple, well organized, understandable pieces that make the sometimes erudite world of statistics accessible and usable to even the most math-timid soul."
"This book is about an ordinary classical topic - linear regression, but what makes this book unordinary, is the author’s style of approaching the subject in a very detailed level."
"He explains its purpose and explicates the concepts behind the equations so that you are able to develop an intuitive understanding."
"This is a great place to begin learning about linear regression."
"This book is as good, if not better, than the venerable 'Green Book' series by Sage, but at a price that makes it far more competitive."
Best Tennis
Agassi writes candidly about his early success and his uncomfortable relationship with fame, his marriage to Brooke Shields, his growing interest in philanthropy, and—described in haunting, point-by-point detail—the highs and lows of his celebrated career. In 1992, when he burst onto the world sports stage by winning the Grand Slam at Wimbledon, he looked like a deer in headlights. Agassi has hated tennis from early childhood, finding it extremely lonely out on the court. Mike Agassi, a former Golden Gloves fighter who never made it professionally, decided that his son would become a champion tennis player. In militaristic fashion, Mike pushed seven-year-old Andre to practice relentlessly until the young boy was exhausted and in pain. He also arranged for Andre, age 13, to attend a tennis camp where he was expected to pull weeds and clean toilets. Only when Andre met tennis star Steffi Graf (whom he eventually married) did things begin to change. Readers will definitely cheer when Andre finally makes peace with the game he once hated and learns to enjoy it. An unvarnished, at times inspiring story [told] in an arresting, muscular style. Open describes Agassi’s personal odyssey with brio and unvarnished candor. Countless athletes start charitable foundations, but frequently the organizations are just tax shelters or PR stunts. Open is a superb memoir, but it hardly closes the books on an extraordinary life.”— The Wall Street Journal. Bracingly devoid of triumphalist homily, Agassi’s is one of the most passionately anti-sports books ever written by a superstar athlete.”— The New York Times “Not your typical jock-autobio fare. This literate and absorbing book is, as the title baldly states, Agassi’s confessional, a wrenching chronicle of his lifelong search for identity and serenity, on and off the court.”— Los Angeles Times.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have been a tennis fan for over 17 years, born and raised in Forest Hills New York which used to be the seat of the U.S. Open championships."
"I have gained tremendous respect for Andre Agassi as person after reading this book."
"It shows how people (his father, Bolletari,etc) took advantage of him but it also shows how people (like his trainer, Gil, and his coach at the time, Brad Gilbert) really helped him."
"I don't want to give the book away, but give it a read if you are a tennis fan or Andre fan."
"The tennis court can be a lonely place and the book shows a look inside to what it takes to compete at this level. After reading this it make me appreciate the new breed of tennis players such as Nadal and Federer and the skill and stamina that they bring to the game."
"What an excellent way to start the book "The End"."
"We all are faced with similar challenges in our lives and aspire to be successful, and when we succumb to the challenges or fall short of our expectations of success we lose all hope."
Best Squash
Maria Toorpakai hails from Pakistan's violently oppressive northwest tribal region, where the idea of women playing sports is considered haram-un-Islamic -forbidden-and girls rarely leave their homes. A DIFFERENT KIND OF DAUGHTER tell of Maria's harrowing journey to play the sport she knew was her destiny, first living as a boy and roaming the violent back alleys of the frontier city of Peshawar, rising to become the number one female squash player in Pakistan. “Toorpakai’s story… is mesmerizing, rendered with emotional and lyrical intensity… and as much about the mysteries of individual human lives as a larger political justice.” — Maclean’s “Toorpakai’s appreciation of and respect for her father fill the memoir with enough love to balance the story’s most alarming horrors. As a child growing up in a highly conservative tribal area of Pakistan where girls' involvement in sport was forbidden by the local Islamic culture, Toorpakai trained and competed as a boy in Peshawar. Toorpakai is the sister of Ayesha Gulalai, who is a Member of the National Assembly representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on a reserved seat for women.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"To see this defiant warrior find her ground and believe and trust herself, her God and her parents is the definition of love. Her egotism didn't even stop me from loving this book."
"They put their lives and the lives of their children in the crosshairs of death by allowing their children the freedom to find their way."
"Ladies, that is your Father's Day gift to me.""
"It would be interesting to find out why her mother was allowed to teach and set up schools given the strictures placed on women."
"It is a story that needs telling."
"Maria's parents are super beings, her sister Ayesha has accomplished much and it is so good to know that Maria is now living in freedom."
"Seeing the world through Maria's life I have learned so much about a culture and region that I knew so little."
"Heart wrenching true story of a girl growing up under Taliban controlled territory, but whose parents revered freedom of expression more than the Taliban's oppressive interpretation of the Islamic religion."
Best Racquetball
Take your game to the next level with Championship Racquetball —the most comprehensive guide for mastering the skills, tactics, and strategies of today’s game. Renowned coach and hall of famer Fran Davis teams up with racquetball legend and top-ranked player Jason Mannino to share their expertise and secrets on every aspect of the sport—from mastering the skills to recognizing weaknesses and establishing the strategies that will dominate your opponent during match play. In Championship Racquetball , she and Jason Mannino share their winning approach to benefit all players." “Championship Racquetball is every racquetball player’s dream. Davis is a staff writer for Racquetball Magazine and serves as a commentator for IRT Network (www.IRTNetwork.com). 1 player in the world during 3 different seasons and ended 2003 as the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Player of the Year. Mannino served on the International Racquetball Board for over 5 years and was instrumental in developing the governance for the International Racquetball Tour.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you start to notice a pattern in missed shots (skipping short of the wall, fault serves, self-practice becoming less effective, getting trapped, etc) this book has the features for diagnosing your “Problem” and it’s “Corrective Action”. The first or second chapter of the book illustrated the bad habit I’d developed and sent me back to ‘relearn’ and commit to re-establish the muscle memory of the trigger finger, handshake grip."
"One can read this text and see its application in every serve by Paola Longoria! One may benefit from that focus or not as one sees fit, but it certainly does NOT detract from an excellent text on how to proceed to better levels of quality in execution of basic racquetball play."
"For instance, in the section on forehand, it says for the intermediate level that the "Hips are slightly rotated, pointing to the right front corner, to add power to your stroke." For the advanced stance, it gets more confusing and says that the "Hips are completely rotated, 6 inches to 1 foot (15 to 30 cm) beyond the right corner to obtain maximum power--you coil then uncoil." The book's tips are probably great as a refresher, but they don't really succeed in conveying the concepts to those that have not taken their courses / lessons."
"For example, when describing the intermediate forehand shot technique they write, "Weight shifts slightly back, approximately 10 percent, as you step forward so you can drive off the back foot as you pivot, but it ends up approximately 60/40 toward the front." They also describe common errors, the correction, and the reason behind the correction."
"A thorough analysis of ways you can improve your game, for beginners or advanced players."