[.ca] Winning Doubles (ISBN 1558213309)

Didn't like it.:
This book was not very impressive. It contains a small section of text up front and then a bunch of FULL PAGE pictures for the rest of the book. Instead of using 1/4 page pictures (or, better yet, pencil drawings), he used full page pics. He calls the players on the court "Player A, B, C, and D", instead of "Server, Receiver, etc", which makes it hard to follow. Some of the advice is pretty lame. For example (I'm paraphrasing since the book is at home): \oregarding service returns\c: "Hitting low right over the net is a good return if the server is coming in. It is also a good return if they are staying back. \o...\c Hitting a power return is a good return if the server is coming in. It is also a good return if they are staying back." I purchased two books on doubles strategies at the same time and this one was by far the inferior.

A good starting place for the newcomer to doubles:
The text has enough meat in it that one can overlook the dismal pictures Perlstein used to illustrate his playbook section (only a few of the photos do not show a tennis court in half shadow). However, the instructions are clear as to what each player should do in the numerous examples presented. In other parts of the book, Perlstein covers basic tennis etiquette, rules of the game, the dynamics of playing with a partner as compared to the game of singles, and includes a very helpful chapter on troubleshooting common errors. This is a good book for a beginner/intermediate player because it covers the fundamentals of doubles in a straightforward way. I almost didn't buy it because of the poor photos; but decided to purchase it because I took a few minutes to read the text. I'm glad I did.