Tennis as a Wisdom Practice

When he was in his late 60s, author Carl Frankel got some unexpected news. If he started playing tennis tournaments in the 70s division when he age-qualified, he could be one of the top 10 players in the country. Tennis as a Wisdom Practice tells the story of his pursuit of ranking success and what he learned along the way.

Tennis as a Wisdom Practice is much more than a tennis saga, though. It's also about two other quests that are ultimately more important, the pursuit of wisdom and the pursuit of mastery. This book is for you if you like tennis. It's also for you if you're looking to get better faster at just about anything that requires focus and commitment, including the game of life.

Do thoughts like these resonate for you?

• "Habits are choices that are hibernating."


• "Competition dunks us in the adrenaline-fueled Immediate Now. Competing successfully requires a part of us to simultaneously climb out of the Immediate Now to a more inclusive sense of time where things matter less and we maintain a sense of larger context."


• "We are submerged in narratives of our own creation. What if we didn't view death as an enemy? What if we positioned it as a partner and a friend?"


• "Celebrities are stand-ins for the Olympian gods our culture tries to do without. That's why our hearts go thump when we meet them."

If so, Tennis as a Wisdom Practice will be a great partner for you in your pursuit of a good and wise life.

On top of all this, Tennis as a Wisdom Practice is also a piece of reportage about the largely unknown supersenior tennis circuit and the people who populate it. This is a story in its own right, about vital men of a certain age who are keeping on keeping on, raging in the most social and athletic way possible against the dying of the light.

A love song to tennis and a paean to the joys of lifelong learning, Tennis as a Wisdom Practice offers a boundary-busting approach to the game that can accelerate your path to mastery on the court and in your life.

• "A wonderfully entertaining yearlong journey on the senior tennis circuit with great insights into the pursuit of mastery. A wise and passionate meditation on the path to a better life." (John Tashiro, US top-ten player, 50-and-over singles)


• "A thinking man's tennis player, Carl Frankel brings an observant, inquisitive, anad insightful mind, along with a fluid writing style, to the joys and challenges experienced by every serious tennis player." (Steve Gottlieb, winner, four national senior titles)


• "Combines two timeless themes, the journey to wisdom and the journey to mastery, insightfully and cleverly. Damn, the dude can write! There is much to ponder in these pages. Serve yourself an ace with this great story." (Eric Booth, author, bestselling The Everyday Work of Art)


• "After reading the book, it's not clear to me whether the author is a better writer or tennis player - he's awfully good at both! Frankel has written many books on a multiplicity of subjects over several decades. In this book, just the idea of a quest for mastery, tennis or otherwise, hooked me. His account of attempting to scale the heights of national-level senior tennis will resonate with anyone who plays and tries to get better (faster)." Jimmy Parker, winner of 142 national titles

Tennis as a Wisdom Practice also features a preface by Bob Litwin, the winner of 26 national senior titles who is widely viewed as one of the best senior players of his generation.