Occam's Racquet: 12 Simple Steps To Smarter Tennis - Softcover

Cootsona, Marcus Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615513816 ISBN 13: 9780615513812

Publisher: Pro Tennis Press, 2011

Synopsis

Written by tennis teaching professional, Marcus Paul Cootsona. Occam's Racquet focuses on the twelve most important parts of the physical and mental games of tennis. No matter what strokes you use, the ideas in here will make you the most effective player you can be.

About this title

About the Author

Marcus Paul Cootsona is a tennis teaching professional in Northern California. He began playing tennis at age four and competed in tournaments until college. At that point, he realized that instructing was more suited to his interest in the game than competing and he began his tennis teaching career. Marcus has taught tennis for the past 29 years to all level players and has developed a simplified, modular approach to understanding the game. During that time he has also been an award-winning tennis specialty store owner, an importer, a retail consultant, a playwright and a screenwriter. Given enough time, he will surely find another career or two to pursue. Currently, he lives in Northern California with his wife and son and with two dogs he is teaching to play. His hobbies are golf and napping.

Reviews

Professional tennis coach Cootsona offers cuttingly humorous, brightly intelligent advice on how enthusiastic players can improve their games. This debut guide is a seriously enjoyable work of tennis wisdom. Cootsona, who has spent the past 29 years on the court as an instructor, has somehow managed to keep his sense of play and a twinkle in his eye. But as he cracks wise, with quotes from Gandhi, Goethe, Nietzsche, Churchill, Yogi Berra, Huey Lewis and the News, and, of course, William of Ockham, his advice simply shines. He’s not a man with a system; instead, he advises readers to tailor their games to their own physical abilities, learning styles and playing personalities. Despite the sport’s “pervasive subtlety and illusive proficiency,” he points out that tennis comes down to core elements: Hit the ball in the court, seek simplicity, and use your head as well as your groundstrokes. He urges readers to follow the “Three Commandments”: Get your first serve in, close on the short ball, and hit the ball back three or more times. Tennis isn’t complicated, Cootsona reminds readers, but it is difficult, so one word guides all of his pointers: practice. He has no qualms about dishing out his beliefs: what tools are best to have in one’s playing arsenal, why control is key, and why it’s important to have a positive disposition and play to one’s abilities and limits. He focuses on helping readers to learn how to play a good game and conduct oneself with grace on the court and in the world. Overall, he shows how it’s important to square the face of the racquet but also to square one’s mind. A fine tennis advice book about having fun while making a better you.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pro Tennis Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0615513816
• ISBN 13: 9780615513812
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192