Visual Tennis; The Winning Edge

For slick on a stick, you just can't beat The Winning Edge. Conceived by author and tennis instructor John Yandell, the tape features tennis brat John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl breaking down their best moves to the background beat of Blondie, The Cars, The Pretenders, and The Motels. If you didn't care diddly about tennis, this would still be a fun tape to watch, with MTV-style editing and special effects galore shot on 35mm film, no less. But there's also some real meat here, and the tennis buff who studies the boys' serves, strokes, and volleys, will be repaid with interest on the court. Although released in 1985 on the Vestron Video label, Atlas Video has repackaged and re-released the tape to coincide with their new video Visual Tennis, made by and starring John Yandell (the creative force behind The Winning Edge). Although the second title is not as glitzy as the first, I actually preferred it, because each stroke is dissected and given a more detailed examination than in the previous video. Yandell's teaching method utilizes visualization techniques to help tennis players learn to play their best, and, more importantly to be able to correct their errors on the court. If you don't already have The Winning Edge, you should. It's really one of the sharpest looking special interest videos ever made. Both titles are highly recommended. (Available from: Atlas Video, 4300 Montgomery Ave., Suite 305, Bethesda, MD 20814.)