Other books that might interest you

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  Love Game - A History of Tennis...

  Elizabeth Wilson

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  A journey through the history, culture, and mystique of tennis from “an original and provocative mind” (The Wall Street Journal). 
   
  If you’ve watched Rafael Nadal spin a forehand at 4000 rpm, Maria Sharapova arabesque out of a serve, Serena Williams utterly destroy a short ball, or Roger Federer touch a volley into an impossibly angled winner, you know how exciting tennis can be. This book reveals the long history and unique culture behind the sport. With a penchant for tennis’s inherent drama, historian Elizabeth Wilson finds its core: a psychological face-off between flamboyant personalities navigating the ebbs and flows of fortune in the confines of a 78 x 36–foot box—whether of clay, grass, or DecoTurf. 
   
  Walking the finely kempt lawns of Victorian England, she shows how tennis’s early role as a social pastime that included both men and women—and thus, lots of sexual tension—set it apart from most other sports and their dominant masculine appeal. Even today, when power and endurance are more important than ever, tennis still demands that the body behave gracefully and with finesse. In this way, Wilson shows, tennis has retained the vibrant spectacle of human drama and beauty that have always made it special, not just to sports fans but to popular culture. 
   
  Telling the stories of all the greats, from the Renshaw brothers to Novak Djokovic, and of all the advances, from wooden racquets to network television schedules, Wilson offers a tennis book like no other, keeping the court square in our sights as history is illuminated around it. 
   
  “A sporting history unlike any I’ve read—one that, in its sophistication and thoughtfulness, shows up the hollowness of most other accounts.” —Observer

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  Cricket 20 - Inside the T20...

  Tim Wigmore, Freddie Wilde

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  WISDEN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020
  Winner of The Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2020 Heartaches Cricket Book of the Year
  'Fascinating . . . essential reading' – Scyld Berry
  'A fascinating book, essential for anyone who wishes to understand cricket's new age' – Alex Massie, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
  'An invaluable guide' – Mike Atherton, The Times
  'excellent . . . both breezily engaging, and full of the format's latest, best and nerdiest thinking' – Gideon Haigh, The Australian
  'The century's most original cricket book . . . An absorbing ride . . . some of their revelations come with the startling force of unexpected thunder on a still night' – Suresh Menon, editor Wisden India Almanack
  Cricket 2.0 is the multi award-winning story of how an old, traditional game was revolutionised by a new format: Twenty20 cricket.
  The winner of the Wisden Almanack Book of the Year award, the Telegraph Sports Book Awards' Cricket Book of the Year and selected as one of The Cricketer's greatest cricket books of all time, Cricket 2.0 is an essential read both for Test and T20 cricket lovers alike, and all those interested in modern sport.
  Using exclusive interviews with over 80 leading players and coaches – including Jos Buttler, Ricky Ponting, Kieron Pollard, Eoin Morgan, Brendon McCullum and Rashid Khan – Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde chronicle this revolution with insight, forensic analysis and story-telling verve. In the process, they reveal how cricket has been transformed, both on and off the field.
  Told with vivid clarity and insight, this is the extraordinary and previously misunderstood story of Twenty20, how it is reshaping the sport – and what the future of cricket will look like.
  Readers will never watch a T20 game in quite the same way again. "For people that love cricket it's really important to read it," said Miles Jupp. "I found it extraordinary."

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  There is no Map in Hell - The...

  Steve Birkinshaw

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  In 1986, the legendary fell runner Joss Naylor completed a continuous circuit of all 214 Wainwright fells in the Lake District, covering a staggering distance of over 300 miles - plus many thousands of metres of ascent - in only seven days and one hour.
  Those in the know thought that this record would never be beaten. It is the ultimate British ultramarathon. The person taking on this superhuman challenge would have to be willing to push harder and suffer more than ever before. There is no Map in Hell tells the story of a man willing to do just that.
  In 2014, Steve Birkinshaw made an attempt at setting a new record. With a background of nearly forty years of running elite orienteering races and extreme-distance fell running over the toughest terrain, if he couldn't do it, surely no one could. But the Wainwrights challenge is in a different league: aspirants need to complete two marathons and over 5,000 metres of ascent every day for a week.
  With a foreword by Joss Naylor, There is no Map in Hell recounts Birkinshaw's preparation, training and mile-by-mile experience of the extraordinary and sometimes hellish demands he made of his mind and body, and the physiological aftermath of such a feat. His deep love of the fells, phenomenal strength and tenacity are awe inspiring, and testimony to athletes and onlookers alike that 'in order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd'.

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  Nine Innings - The Anatomy of a...

  Daniel Okrent

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  You'll never watch baseball the same way again. A timeless baseball classic and a must read for any fan worthy of the name, Nine Innings dissects a single baseball game played in June 1982 -- inning by inning, play by play. Daniel Okrent, a seasoned writer and lifelong fan, chose as his subject a Milwaukee BrewersBaltimore Orioles matchup, though it could have been any game, because, as Okrent reveals, the essence of baseball, no matter where or when it's played, has been and will always be the same. In this particular moment of baseball history you will discover myriad aspects of the sport that are crucial to its nature but so often invisible to the fans -- the hidden language of catchers' signals, the physiology of pitching, the balance sheet of a club owner, the gait of a player stepping up to the plate. With the purity of heart and unwavering attention to detail that characterize our national pastime, Okrent goes straight to the core of the world's greatest game. You'll never watch baseball the same way again.

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  The Turnaround - How to Build...

  Darrin Donnelly

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  Confidence is essential to success, happiness, and peace of mind. Whether it be in sports, business, or any other area of life, the most confident people tend to be the most successful. But despite knowing how important confidence is, it's easy to lose your self-confidence and start doubting yourself—especially during difficult times.Revealing the confidence-building techniques used by some of the greatest coaches of all time, this book will show you how to build and maintain confidence while eliminating self-doubt and insecurity.In this inspirational fable, Danny O'Connor is an insecure fourth-string quarterback on one of the worst college football teams in America. But his life changes when a new coach, Bud Sullivan, is hired and begins showing Danny and his teammates how to build the confidence needed to turn around their losing ways.Over the course of three years, Bud lays the foundation for one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history and Danny learns invaluable lessons that will last him a lifetime.As this story plays out, you will learn the practical, real-world methods used by some of the greatest coaches of all time for instantly generating self-confidence.

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  Friday Night Tykes - Tiki Barber...

  Tiki Barber, Bart Scott

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  After a special screening of Esquire Network’s controversial documentary series, “Friday Night Tykes,” former NFL players Tiki Barber and Bart Scott weigh in on the state of youth sports in our culture. Barber and Scott are joined by parenting expert, Dr. Robi Ludwig, Psy. D.; Brian Morgan, President of Texas Youth Football Association; and Matt Maranz, founder of 441 Productions and Executive Producer for Friday Night Tykes, for a candid conversation surrounding youth sports, safety, parenting and coaching, moderated by ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap.

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