Customer Reviews

Pressure Tennis

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Paul Wardlaw coaches at Iowa and formerly coached at Kenyon College. He is a well-known college coach and is well-respected.
His "Directionals" system is original in how it is organized/structured. Teachers before him also taught directionals but didn't articulate it as well. His directionals is a form of high-percentage tennis. Some players are not mentally wired to perform directionals and will express confusion when confronting a player who violates directionals (what do you do?). Directionals also sometimes conflict with creativity (or genius, like McEnroe or Hingis) and automaticity (being in the zone). There are a few lesser tactical problems with the "Directionals", e.g., situations where "Directionals" break down. "Directionals" do, however, help many players to understand "high percentage" tennis. "Directionals" also help players to anticipate based on geometry of the court and high-percentage play. It also allows coaches to present tactical ideas in an organized manner. There are many fine coaches who like "Directionals". Most players should be exposed to the concept of directionals...but it is for them to conceptualize their own style and tactics. Still, it is a very fine, original (although hyper-organized?!) contribution to tennis theory. And, every good player usually incorporates a good portion of "directionals" (high-percentage tennis) in their game. A final plus is that there are a wealth of tactical drills many of which don't involve directionals. In fact, 2/3 of the book is based on tactical drills. Recommended for coaches and teaching pros. Recommended for those advanced players looking for systematic tactics or just simply for more drills. Not recommended for beginners and low intermediates (below 3.5 NTRP) since they won't be able to execute many of the tactics and drills.

This book is for anyone that wants to improve their play. It shows you how to pick appropiate shot selection so that every shot becomes automatic and you won't have to think about it. These are called "Wardlaws Directionals" and any tennis coach worth anything or aspires to be needs to know. There are also practice schedules that can be used by coaches. A Great book!

if you are interested in getting the most out of a tennis practice session, this book has every drill you could ever want to perform.

This book was useful. I am an advanced player, but learned a lot from it, especially a lot of useful drills to emphasize his "directionals".