Absolute Tennis

Absolute Tennis is a thorough and comprehensive guide to improving your tennis. In this insightful and visually engaging book, Martin Smith, an NCAA Division I Southern Conference Champion and long-time Director of Tennis at the New York Athletic Club, shares his extensive knowledge of tennis technique, strategy, psychology, and fitness in easy to understand language. His meticulous explanations of the strokes coupled with narrated individual and sequenced photos of the world’s best players will help you develop powerful and consistent swings, play with more confidence, and win a lot more. Recognizing that tennis is a highly athletic, tactical, and mental game, he dedicates a large part of the book to the body, singles and doubles strategy, and the mind. You will learn how to improve your footwork, movement, and endurance, integrate winning game plans that highlight your strengths and expose your opponents’ weaknesses, and use your inner voice to remain focused, positive and energetic, helping you attain peak performance. A forward thinker, he not only discusses the strokes of today, but also the future. Martin goes through the evolution of the game, and makes a compelling and persuasive case for three unconventional strokes that may become accepted techniques as the game continues to evolve and become faster.

Nick Bollettieri is one of the most influential people in the world of tennis who is renowned for his passion for excellence and the game. His training program is recognized as one of the best systems for developing top players. It was this proven method that Bollettieri used to coach 10 top-ranked players in the world (Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic, Marcelo Rios, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams) plus a multitude of other world-class players, including Petra Kvitova, Sabine Lisicki, Kei Nishikori, Nicole Vaidi?ova, Tommy Haas, Radek Stepanek, Ivo Karlovic, Mary Pierce, Jimmy Arias, and Anna Kournikova. Bollettieri founded the world-renowned Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in 1978 to educate students in a dual environment of intense tennis training and academics. Within 10 years, Bollettieri expanded his vision, joining forces with IMG to turn the tennis academy into a multisport training facility now known as IMG Academy. His insights into the game of tennis are sought by organizations around the world. He has written numerous books on tennis, contributed to many television and video programs, and is recognized for his promotion of the sport. The Bollettieri name is synonymous with tennis excellence. The coach has achieved numerous honors and awards, including induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014. He has also been inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame (2004), honored with the prestigious Sports and Service Award by the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (2003), inducted into the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (2002), and ranked as one of Tennis Magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in Tennis (2000) and as one of Sporting Life’s 25 People Who Have Influenced Tennis in the Past Century (2000). He was named National Coach of the Year for Tennis by the United States Olympic Committee and awarded the Tennis Educational Merit Award by the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Marty Smith has been the Director of Tennis for more than 20 years at the famed New York Athletic Club, the No. 1-rated athletic club in the United States. A native of Australia, he was a top five-ranked Australian junior players from the 12s to the 16s and was the four-time Southern Conference singles and doubles champion at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He graduated from UTC with a double degree in Economics and Finance and also received his MBA at St. Thomas University in Miami. He is a resident of Pelham, NY.