Championship Tennis

Step onto the court confident, focused, and prepared to dictate the match and dominate your opponent.
In "Championship Tennis," world-class coach and regular Grand Slam clinician Frank Giampaolo and long-time Tennis magazine editor Jon Levey bring you expert instruction and professional insights to eliminate unforced errors, increase winning percentage, and improve your overall game.
Inside, you'll learn how to
- assess individual skills, evaluate practice sessions, and analyze performance;
- identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement;
- customize your training and conditioning to your skill set, experience, and style of play;
- increase the consistency and accuracy of your shots; and
- control your emotions and mentally prepare for every match.
You'll also find the most effective, unparalleled drills for mastering groundstrokes, serves, volleys, and specialty shots as well as invaluable advice for improving anticipatory skills and recognizing, neutralizing, and countering your competition's strengths and playing styles.
Add a copy of" Championship Tennis" to your bookshelf and turn errors into winners and three-set losses into straight-set wins. This is a must-have resource for players and instructors seeking to maximize potential as quickly as possible.

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Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game

A love letter to America's most beloved sport and an exploration of the deeper dimensions it reveals
For more than a decade, New York University President John Sexton has used baseball to illustrate the elements of a spiritual life in a wildly popular course at NYU. Using some of the great works of baseball fiction as well as the actual game's fantastic moments, its legendary characters, and its routine rituals--from the long-sought triumph of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, to the heroic achievements of players like the saintly Christy Mathewson and the sinful Ty Cobb, to the loving intimacy of a game of catch between a father and son--Sexton teaches that through the game we can touch the spiritual dimension of life.
"Baseball as a Road to God "is about the elements of our lives that lie beyond what can be captured in words alone--ineffable truths that we know by experience rather than by logic or analysis. Applying to the secular activity of baseball a form of inquiry usually reserved for the study of religion, Sexton reveals a surprising amount of common ground between the game and what we all recognize as religion: sacred places and time, faith and doubt, blessings and curses, and more.
In thought-provoking, beautifully rendered prose, this book elegantly demonstrates that baseball is more than a game, or even a national pastime: It can be a road to a deeper and more meaningful life.

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Trail Tested: A Thru-Hiker's Guide to Ultralight Hiking and Backpacking

Justin Lichter, a.k.a. Trauma, divulges hundreds of valuable tips and advice based on his more than 35,000 miles of hiking across the country and beyond. "Trail Tested "is a comprehensive guide to hiking and backpacking. Whether you're a new hiker looking for expert advice, an experienced hiker looking to hone your skills, or a thru-hiker gearing up for a 6-month trip, this book is packed with priceless information to make your trip a successful and comfortable one.
Vibrant images from Trauma's treks will entice all readers of all skill levels to get out and enjoy the backcountry. You'll learn why getting the right gear and learning outdoor skills are integral to making the most out of your next backpacking trip. Some topics included in this guide are:
* Gear advice, including backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, ultralight shetlers, and clothing
* Gear maintenance and repair
* Ultralight tips for novices to gram-counters
* Low-impact camping and hiking
* Campsite selection
* Hiking with dogs
* Navigating the backcountry
* Winter camping
* First aid
* Weather forecasting
* Advanced techniques for creating routes, cross-country hiking, fording rivers, multi-sport adventures, and animal encounters

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Encounters from a Kayak: Native People, Sacred Places, and Hungry Polar Bears

What makes travel special? Perhaps the chill realization that a polar bear's eyes are fixed on you. Maybe it is the chance meeting with a man who buries sharks in a beach, only to dig them up months later, not out of morbid curiosity, but for food. Perhaps it is the undulating wing-beat of a dark shell-less gastropod in the canal of a 17th Century French sea port, or the criminal history of a rusting ship with a tree growing from its hold."Encounters in a Kayak" brings the reader along on the magical experiences that surround sea kayaking. It's about the animals, people, and special places around the globe that have grabbed the attention of renowned kayaker and writer Nigel Foster. His irrepressible curiosity drives him to tease out the unexpected stories hidden behind his subjects. These nuggets from around the world are bound together by water and a centuries-old form of sea travel: kayak. The result is a book of broad appeal for those interested in kayaking, traveling, and adventure.

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On These Courts: A Miracle Season That Changed a City, a Once-Future Star, and a Team Forever

Former NBA star Anfernee Penny Hardaway grew up in Binghampton, one of the roughest sections of Memphis. Due in no small part to the self-discipline and strong values his grandmother instilled in him, plus his singular talent, Penny beat the incredible odds and made it to the NBA. He was such a special player that it seemed inevitable that he would win at least one championship and end up in the Hall of Fame. But dogged by injuries, Penny was never able to live up to his full basketball star potential.
After retirement Penny returned to Memphis and struggled with the question most professional athletes face when their bright-lights careers come to an end: What now? The unexpected answer came from Desmond Merriweather, one of Penny's oldest friends. Desmond had recently been diagnosed with colon cancer and needed someone to replace him as head coach of the Lester Middle School basketball team in the same dangerous neighborhood where Penny grew up. Without hesitating, Penny said, I'm all in.
"On These Courts "is the moving story of Coach Penny helping his young players navigate their way through impossible circumstances: failing grades, incarcerated fathers, gang pressures, and the crime-ridden streets of Memphis. But Penny never shied away. He selflessly provided on-the-court coaching, helped kids with homework, and became a positive role model who is committed to staying involved in their lives. But this is not just a story about Penny; the true stars are the kids on the Lester Lions team Robert Washington, Reggie Green, Kobe Freeman, and Desmond's own son Nick Merriweather who rewarded Penny with his first championship season, winning the state title by one point. A penny.
A story of hope and inspiration, struggle, and triumph, "On These Courts "reveals the importance and power of taking a stand in a community and learning what it truly means to give back.
A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to Penny's FastBreak Courts, part of Penny Hardaways ongoing efforts to help at-risk youth in the Memphis community

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Stumbling Towards the Finish Line: The Best of Ironman Columnist Lee Gruenfeld

Best-selling novelist and non-fiction writer Lee Gruenfeld has been entertaining the triathlon world with hilarious essays, in-depth profiles and insightful observations for more than a decade. Now his best writings have been collected into a single volume that will let long-time fans relive their favorite pieces while introducing new readers to his unique voice. Anyone who likes sports - any sports - and great writing will love this collection of amusing, penetrating, and often totally off the wall observations.

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Heart of a Tiger: Growing Up with My Grandfather, Ty Cobb

Herschel Cobb's moving account of his relationship with his legendary grandfather reveals a side of Ty Cobb that few people ever saw, that of loving nurturer. A baseball icon and arguably the best player who ever lived, Ty Cobb's infamously cold, competitive nature allowed him to excel on the ball field but undermined his relationship with his children. Devastated by the untimely death of two of his sons, Cobb relished the opportunity to reconnect the broken family ties when young Herschel and his siblings visited him during the summers. In the pages of this book, Herschel, whose cruel, abusive father and adulterous, alcoholic mother filled his childhood with turmoil, recounts how his grandfather provided the stability, love and guidance that Herschel desperately needed. Beautifully written and insightful, this memoir describes the healing bond between Cobb and his grandchildren, and constructs a wholly different legacy for the notoriously tough Cobb as gentle and affectionate "Granddaddy".

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Smoky Joe Wood: The Biography of a Baseball Legend

Though his pitching career lasted only a few seasons, Howard Ellsworth "Smoky Joe" Wood was one of the most dominating figures in baseball history--a man many consider the best baseball player who is "not" in the Hall of Fame. About his fastball, Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson once said: "Listen, mister, no man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood."
"Smoky Joe Wood" chronicles the singular life befitting such a baseball legend. Wood got his start impersonating a female on the National Bloomer Girls team. A natural athlete, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox at eighteen, won twenty-one games and threw a no-hitter at twenty-one, and had a 34-5 record plus three wins in the 1912 World Series, for a 1.91 ERA, when he was just twenty-two. Then in 1913 Wood suffered devastating injuries to his right hand and shoulder that forced him to pitch in pain for two more years. After sitting out the 1916 season, he came back as a converted outfielder and played another five years for the Cleveland Indians before retiring to coach the Yale University baseball team. Joe's final reward for courageously enduring the eccentricities of his father, his sister's polio, the 1926-27 baseball scandal, and the loss of his beloved wife and a son was an honorary doctorate in 1985 from Yale and its president, Bart Giamatti.
With details culled from interviews and family archives, this biography, the first of this rugged player of the Deadball Era, brings to life one of the genuine characters of baseball history.

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Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness

"Death Grip "chronicles a top climber's near-fatal struggle with anxiety and depression, and his nightmarish journey through the dangerous world of prescription drugs. Matt Samet lived to climb, and craved the challenge, risk, and exhilaration of conquering sheer rock faces around the United States and internationally. But Samet's depression, compounded by the extreme diet and fitness practices of climbers, led him to seek professional help. He entered the murky, inescapable world of psychiatric medicine, where he developed a dangerous addiction to prescribed medications--primarily "benzos," or benzodiazepines--that landed him in institutions and nearly killed him.
With dramatic storytelling, persuasive research data, and searing honesty, Matt Samet reveals the hidden epidemic of benzo addiction, which some have suggested can be harder to quit than heroin. Millions of adults and teenagers are prescribed these drugs, but few understand how addictive they are--and how dangerous long-term usage can be, even when prescribed by doctors.
After a difficult struggle with addiction, Samet slowly makes his way to a life in recovery through perseverance and a deep love of rock climbing. Conveying both the exhilaration of climbing in the wilderness and the utter madness of addiction, "Death Grip" is a powerful and revelatory memoir.

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The Top Ten Guide to Fly Fishing

One of the most accessible guide books on the market, this guide not only provides all the information beginning and intermediate anglers need in order to start catching trout, the information is also presented in a quick and easy, highly-browsable format of top-ten lists.Curious how to tie and use the ten best knots and rigging techniques? Ever thought about the ten most essential things to look for when selecting a new fly rod? What are the top dry flies for trout? What mistakes do most new anglers make when learning to cast?A fun conversation starter and a set of streamside tips rolled into one, this lighthearted look at a serious sport will give beginners the value of solid instruction while more seasoned fly-fishers will enjoy quibbling with the author's rankings and choices.

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