But he realised that he needed to improve his social status - and began playing sports, alongside trying harder in his classes. Vera helped Putin improve, as she began to shower him with attention and discourage him from hanging around the streets with a wayward pair of brothers. But while other pupils enjoyed attending dances, Putin avoided attending and "didn't like socialising" in favour of attending judo classes four times a week. He told the book's authors: "When I began to do sports...I used to work out every other day and then every day. "Soon I had no time for anything else. I had other priorities, I had to prove myself in sports, achieve something, I set goals." The pair grew very close, with Vera becoming a second mother to him, even taking him on holiday.
