I'm currently reading Complete Conditioning for Tennis on my iPad and I can finally say - I get it! I get the iPad book! At last, I understand why a book designed for the iPad can be so much more than the hardcover edition of the same book.While an iPad is a lot of fun to have around, I've never understood why I would read a book on my iPad. Sure, I can download a book to my iPad pretty much instantly instead of having to wait until I can get to the store to buy it. And, yes, I can have my entire library of iPad books anywhere and everywhere that I have my iPad. And maybe, just maybe, the digital version of the book is a little bit cheaper than the hardback.
But I can honestly say that my iPad version of Complete Conditioning for Tennis offers a whole lot more than I could get from a regular book. First of all, it includes 62 high-def looking photos and 13 photo slide shows. These are truly fabulous pictures - very clean and crisp. If you don't believe in the split step, as I have been known to not believe in it, you will after seeing a slide show of Roger Federer performing it.
Next, it has 75 video clips to make sure that even the most imagination-challenged of us knows exactly what we're being told to do. So, as I'm reading about the One-Leg Stability Test, if I'm having trouble picturing what that might look like, I can just click on the video to see a demonstration. The video is embedded right on the page with the explanation, see?:
Very cool. In fact, I have to admit that this is honestly the first iPad version of a book that I think is more valuable than the hardcover book/DVD set. Because, frankly, I'm too lazy to get up and put the DVD in my player to see the One-Leg Stability Test demonstration. And I'm guessing you might be too.
And I haven't even told you about the contents of the book! Everything you need to get into tip-top tennis shape is here - from "Agility and Footwork" to "Solid Shoulder Stability." And all of this content is focused just on us tennis players!
How can you get this book? Well, it's actually an iPad app so go to the iTunes store and search for Complete Conditioning for Tennis. You should be directed to this app which costs $19.99. Download it as you would any other app. Because it is an app, once you have it on your iPad, you can launch it directly, as opposed to going through iBooks or Kindle or some other book-reading app.
I'm still reading this one and poring over the videos because there is just so much great information here. If you too decide you are ready to reach your highest level of tennis conditioning, give Complete Conditioning a try. And be sure and let me know what you think of it.
FYI - The publisher of this book, Human Kinetics, provided me with a free copy of the iPad version of this book to review.
© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved
Images taken from Complete Conditioning for Tennis page on iTunes
