the book is useless
it is equally useless for an expert and for a beginner. Actually I was amazed how much text can people write and say nothing useful. Do not buy this book, I would gladly sell you mine for few dollars
More style than substance
There are some nice stop-action photo sequences of various strokes, but the actual techniques described are pretty basic and can be found free on the internet - lacking the world-class depth that the title would lead you to believe. Deficiencies are quite glaring in the serve section, where nothing is mentioned about hitting the different serves such as slice, kick, topspin etc. As the book is a compilation of many different authors, it lacks a unifying process for describing and teaching the strokes, which are broken up into different chapters, making it overall too general and inconsistent.
An Scientific Treatise on Tennis - dry and with some holes
An all-star cast was called to write this authoritative primer on modern techniques. There are contributions from Jim Loehr, Dennis van der Meer, Howard Brody (tennis physicist), Vic Braden, Jose Higueras (reknown clay court coach), Bruce Elliot (Australian biomechanist), Don Chu (strength and conditioning expert), etc. The graphics are quite good and the reseach is based on the latest in sport science. Some problems do exist, however. It appears that the book is written for the serious tennis player in addition to coaches and teaching pros. However, the use of language is dry and scientific in many areas. Even advanced players may find it too theoretical. Practical implications are often up to the reader to draw. The use of high-speed multiple-frame photography isn't exploited enough considering the resources of the contributors and editors. Disappointing sections are the backhand (Braden and Jack Kramer) -- barely an effort considering it follows a brilliant section on the forehand (Crespo and Higueras), volleys and overheads (van Fraayenhoven & Schapers) -- which attempts to cover too much in little details as possible (except for approaches), and tactics and technique (Herbst and Patrick McEnroe) -- also didn't seem very well thought out. Best sections include Revolutionary Rackets (Stan Smith and Brody) --which is written for the player(!understandable and enjoyable!), Kinetic Chain (Kibler and Van der Meer) -- well thought out analysis, court surfaces (Coe and Miley, ITF), specialty shots (Paul Dent and Patrice Hagelauer) and the forehand. A must for the serious coach/pro and a good buy for the serious player if you like reading analyses. Comparable in science for the teacher is the German Tennis Association "Tennis Course" series. Roetert and Groppel's book, however, is a rarity in that it analyzes top pro modern techniques rather than giving a template for beginners and intermediates as most books do.
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