Winning Ugly

Haven’t started but recommend

Fun and engaging read from the master of winning ugly.

It is just a very practical book with real tips that you can use. It took me a long time to decide to buy it because of the title which put me off, but the title is not about winning ugly, it is about putting all the chances on your side to win. My favourite tip: chosing to receive on the first game in most cases against standard players. Works all the time for me since my serve takes 1 set to really warm up but not my return, meaning, I win most of my first game when I use to lose them most of the time. It is a fun book too especially if you read the biography of J. McEnroe after and cross reference the events...

If you love tennis and winning,you must read this book.

Loved this book, lots of insights.

The young Brad Gilbert was told by his tennis coaches that he was not good enough to be a professional tennis player and would never make it, yet he went on to become a world top ten tennis player for many years, beating the best players of his day including Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, he even beat Agassi. He also won an olympic medal in tennis. He won millions of pounds in prize money. In the preface of the book, Steve Jamison says: "Brad wins because he outthinks and outplans opponents". The "winning ugly" concept just means to not try to do everything perfectly and gracefully. Brad Gilbert realised that he was not as good as the other tennis players physically, so he would have to use his mind to find a way to win. He monitored his training regime, and focussed his mind on gaining victory. He thought about his gameplan before, during, and after every match. Brad says: "No matter how hard you work, no matter how great your talent, your mind is the ultimate weapon. Most players use it against themselves......when you are the master of your mind, you will master the art of winning more.....And always remember, it's better to win ugly, than to lose pretty." Brad Gilbert is the underdog who came out on top, and he is a shining example of how to become successful, despite whatever disadvantages and flaws you think you may possess compared to other people. He later went on to prove his methods were real, consistent, and transferrable, by becoming a tennis coach and making top tennis players out of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray. Brad had no special abilities or talents for tennis, but he found a way to win, and continued to do so. On paper he was not expected to do well, but in the real world, he proved everyone wrong. He did this by compensating for his weaknesses and creating a consistent plan for success. He proves that if he can overcome his flaws, adversities, and lack of talent, to become successful anyway, then anyone can.

I read Tim Gallwey's "Inner Game of Tennis" several years ago, and had focussed on the right brain aspects of tennis. Enjoying my tennis, but not winning much. This book provides a really good balance. Perhaps winning doesn't really matter to you either, and you play just for fun. If so, Brad asks "Why do you keep the score then?" One of his key points is that you need to hate making unforced errors. But the reason I make unforced errors is that I don't practise/play enough, and don't want to lob the ball over the net all the time. All in all, a very enjoyable read. But I still prefer Gallwey!

Excellent insight into tactics and strategy

I'm a 6.0 player and here's my story with winning ugly. For some time I used to have very good strokes and a very solid constructed game that would normally destroy anyone in my league or even higher, yet it didn't. Instead, I kept struggling with my matches, especially against players ranked lower than me. Sometimes I'd barely win and sometimes I'd lose like an idiot. Regardless of the result, most of the time I would: first blame my strokes, then blame my lack in physical preparation and lastly I would blame my point preparation. Bottom line was, my mind and mental preparation weren't considered or blamed for my results. Then one day I watched this Chris Evert interview on the tube and she was saying how grateful she would have been if "Winning Ugly" had been available for her when she was a student learning. This puzzled me, as Chris Evert eventually had over 90% of winning percentage through her career. Then Mary Carillo -the interviewer- agreed and said something about the book helping players who struggled with results. I felt related to what I had just heard and decided to buy the book. So what happened next was a dramatic change in my game over the next months. The first thing Brad made me realize was that I had been struggling because of my mental preparation and approach to the game, not because of my beautiful shots. Then I realized an epitome that has been sealed in my brain: in order to win matches, I had to use my mind first, then my strokes. To be fair and honest, the initial results were mixed. It was hard to stop playing "hitting big" tennis and start playing "percentage" tennis -or as Brad calls it, "winning ugly". It was hard to play a 30-15 differently than a 40-0; I was used to normally play both points the same. Now, I do play a 30-15 way different than a 40-0. After about two, three months I started seeing results. This guy I used to play against, who was actually quite even with me... all of a sudden I started to beat him. Badly and soundly. I kept using my strokes, only this time I was doing it smarter. That's the result Brad's book can do for you. The book is about strategy and mental approach to a tennis match. It states several key moments during a match and how to prepare for them, so that you are ready when they come -because yes, they will come-. I personally like this down to Earth phrase from the book: "there are people who play just for fun and don't care of winning or losing, but isn't it more fun winning?" As other reviewers have stated, Gilbert uses examples from his career to prove his points and the majority of the time he does it pretty well. However sometimes the stories go a bit over abroad and sound more like "the Gilbert miracle" rather than a chapter of Winning Ugly... but it's only by a bit -it may bother some people though-. I think it would have been interesting if Brad would have included at least a couple of examples from players not being him or his pupil Agassi. There is also a hidden lesson not from Gilbert and it's Ivan Lendl's. I gained much more admiration for Ivan knowing his methods and how and why he employed them. I actually adopted some of his strategies, because they prove incredibly useful against most opponents. I even used the "hey Mr referee, can you please tell my opponent to not take much time during serves" gag. Summarizing, Winning Ugly is a valuable -perhaps the most valuable- mental asset a tennis player can have. I recommend it to every player who is into tennis and has a true competitive nature.

De los mejores libros para aquellos que disfrutamos jugando tenis

I have bought this tennis book multiple times after lending it to friends who read it and want to keep it!! In an entertaining format, It has all the tips necessary to take your mental game to the next level.

テニスに勝つために何が求められているか書かれている。技術ではない他の要素を、ブラッドギルバートの経験からゲームの進め方や試合の準備等、テニスでトーナメントに出ている人あるいは出ようとする人には参考になると思う。英文も平易で、気楽に読める。英語を楽しみながら、テニスについても知ることができるので、どちらも趣味の人にはお勧めだ。

The book give some very good advice. Strongly recommended to get one if you want to improve mental strength.