Tennis and Life by Richard Eyre
Review by Jimmy Parker
January 2018
Anyone who’s played tennis competitively has probably come to the realization that tennis and life have a lot in common. That tennis is a representative slice of life shines through clearly in Richard Eyre’s "Tennis and LIFE."
Richard is a New York Times #1 bestselling author who is also, not coincidentally, a senior tournament player. The lessons he gleans from his on-court activities he carries off-court to great and insightful effect. It’s fun to discover what metaphors he is going to draw from the inevitable ups and downs we encounter when we take the court, and the parallels to what we do as we bob and weave through life.
The first part of the book presents a dozen “ways in which tennis mirrors life.” Eyre comes from an orientation of self-help and inner illumination, and he makes some very useful analogies. His method is to first describe some aspect of tennis – e.g., “Only in tennis do you get a second chance.” Then he explicates its counterpart off the court: “In life, there is always another opportunity.”
He then embarks on a series of lessons to be learned from playing singles and their similarities to issues that come up elsewhere. Likewise for doubles. Each one is an easy read, and based on an enlightened approach to living a balanced life. They’re so familiar to all of us who have strived to improve our tennis games, and yet written in a way that adds new perspectives – taking ourselves lightly, transforming anger, the disproportionate importance of beginnings and ends, etc.
Overall, this little book is a delightful and palatable way to become a better you – both on and off the court!
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