You don’t need medals to perform like a champion

If you’re writing a book – or thinking of writing a book – don’t assume you know what it’s about. The real story will emerge when you let it come, not when you force fit your ideas into some chat-based template.

Instead, mull things over. Talk it through with peers. Interview friends, colleagues, even customers.

This happened

This is exactly what’s happened to Alan Cooke and Nicola Deaton, rockstars in the table tennis firmament, over six long months of deep conversations.

Originally called Reinventing Table Tennis, their book was intended to cover tactics and gameplans and to help players and coaches get better at table tennis. A worthy goal, surely?

Consider their careers, after all.

Alan Cooke is a six-time English National champion, five-times Commonwealth Gold medallist, played in four Olympic games, and became head coach of the GB team for a decade, culminating in a bronze-medal win at the 2016 World Table Tennis Championships.

Nicola Deaton is a five-time women’s singles champion, was England number 1 in every age group, and was a medallist at the European and Commonwealth games. Blue Peter heroine, as well, being featured twice as an inspiration to young people everywhere.

And maybe Blue Peter was part of the trigger that changed things. Because the book’s focus has shifted dramatically now. The newly minted title Reinventing Performance is not just about the game of table tennis. It’s about how you show up in the game of life. It’s about resilience, mindset, learning, and adapting off the table as much as on it.

This matters

Here’s why their story matters to you.

Their combined journey teaches us the real game isn’t played on a table – but in the mind. In routines. In adapting to challenge.

Now the book digs into resilience in adversity, the matchplay mind and how you manage the daily pressure you feel.

Then it moves on to how learning becomes a habit and how the idea of peak performance from the sports world can power your life off-the-table.

If this sounds like something you’d read, don’t wait – pre-order today. It’s a chance to support a narrative that’s about far more than sport.

Plus we’re planning a limited edition commemorative edition for the launch. More on that soon.

This isn’t just our most exciting book — it may well be yours.