Athletics Books

From the PGA Teaching Manual to The PGA Manual Of Golf I have had the opportunity to gain the knowledge that has help me become a good coach and teacher and not just a instructor. If you are serious about your game and want to get better I sincerly recomend that you add The PGA Manual Of Golf to your library. Coach H Turk Walker

After having some trouble with my swing, I knew that I had to better understand the basics of the game in order to improve. I got this book as a gift and it really helped me define the fundamentals of golf and improved my play. I enjoy the game more now. The concise and straighforward presentation was easy to read. The format made it easy to find just what I was looking for. I highly recommend this as a great gift to the golfer in your life!

This is one of the most comprehensive books on golf around. There is a wealth of information on virtually every aspect of the game, from the physical mechanics of making the stroke, to the mental side of playing. Everything in here is required knowledge for anyone playing golf, or someone looking to get started.

Probably my only problem with the book is the lack of exercises listed. A great many appear as pictures with short captions, but many of these drills may be helpful to a variety of players. If performed incorrectly, they may damage your game, which is probably why they were not described in detail, but given that almost every segment ends with "Listed to what your PGA instructor says", it would be nice to know that the PGA trusts its readers to do just that.

Another part that would have been nice, but not neccesary, would be a more in-depth section on club design and construction. With so many people going out to buy custom made equipment, a little more information on exactly what standards are used to determine club length etc. might have put some people's minds at ease when at the pro shop. We all trust the PGA and its professionals, but knowing what they know isn't going to detract all that much from our experience. Rather, it can help us understand why we pay more for fitted gear.

In sum, buy this before you buy any other book on golf. Then, if you still feel you need more even with an instructor, shop around.

This book was a poor choice for me.

I am taking up golf for the first time so I was looking for a book that would be very specific to the fundamentals. I wanted step by step instructions that included detailed pictures. I also wanted concise information on golf rules, etiquette, and equipment technology trade-offs.

This book has a lot of information but it depends on word after word to tell its story. Very few pictures are included to supplement the information. Therefore, it fails almost totally at my first requirement for detatiled fundamentals. The second requirement is partially met. There is information available on many topics but it is not concise.

Overall, reading this book was like sitting through a friend's vacation slide show. I listen to all the general comments and tangents(which someone else may find interesting), waiting for the specific nugget I'm interested in, but ultimately fall asleep.

If you enjoy broad discussions or want a higher level overview, this book may be right for you - but it did not meet my requirements.

I'm a 4.0/4.5 player who has been doing the Power Tennis Training program off and on for the past few years and would strongly recommend it for all players looking to improve strength and conditioning. Chu's book provides a 12 week workout plan (both weight training and court footwork drills) that is easy to follow and gets results. I find myself quicker, stronger, and more explosive after just a week or two. The program gives you more confidence in your level of fitness which translates into more confidence in your overall game. Some of the workout days take a few hours, but if you stick with the program you will be more than pleased with the results. Thanks for a great book Don Chu!

I guess my expectations are too high. This book was very remedial with a lack of content. I was hoping to gain some insight from this book, but the information was basic at the best, with poor choices for athletes. No regard to the biomechanics of resistance training were applied, and no effort to address the neural or physiological continuums that are extremely important to athletic development. The one bright spot is the section on the court drills. They are enough to get you started on agility and foot speed drills.

This book is a set of well crafted exercise patterns. I am really impressed by the way the author has touched upon key development areas, which, one can easily overlook. I am very regular with my gym schedules with a balance of cardio and weight training. Sticking to the book schedule of about 3 month program shouldn't be a motivational challenge. With just one week into it, I have not only seen the results in my court coverage and my game, but also into other "reflex" sensative indoor games like foos ball :)

This is the best investment one can make for playing serious tennis.

As a high school tennis coach and a tournament player myself, I have looked extensively for a training source that is highly specific to tennis and easy to follow. Don Chu's book fits both of these criteria. Chu tells you exactly what to do and how to do it; reps and sets are clearly listed and the exercises carefully explained. Several other books on the market promise a great deal, but Chu's book, in my experience, is the only one that promises to make you a stronger player and then shows you the steps to achieve this goal, provided you work hard. No other book or program on the market can do this in my opinion.

My husband said the book was very helpful when he ran in the Atlanta 10k.

I bought this book for a Runner/Biker/Marathon-enter(er)... and he loved it! He was interested in the material, info, and said the book was a GREAT read!

Injury Prevention: Barrios takes the reader through details of injuries and preventions for most runners.The author offers cross-training to help prevent injuries and help speed up the healing process.
Recommended for all runners at all fitness levels to help understand the causes of injuries and the training protocol to prevent them from occuring again and again.

I was expecting more in-depth information on running injuries, but this booked contained less information than a lot of other general running books.

For example this morning I referenced the book on hamstring injuries, and the only information they had on hamstrings was on stretching.

Very disappointed in the content.

If you've ever ran in college, and have forgotten some of the tougher workouts that your coach forced you into, this is probably a great reference text for you. I bought this book after I ran Chicago and qualified for Boston to get myself some new insight on what harder workouts I should try on the indoor track during the winter.

Two of my favorite workouts are Frank Shorter's 800s and Castella's "400s with Fast Float workout," both of which put a new, tougher spin on doing 400s and 800s. I ran the 400m workout a week before a race to get some nice turnover and speed that I could recover by race day. Needless to say, there a great number of workouts in this book that will break up the monotony of regular speed training done on a track.

The edition I purchased had 75 distinct workouts, covering long runs, off-road/cross-country and fartlek training, as well as intervals, hills, and tempo runs. The toughest ones for me were the long run workouts. Can you imagine running 2hrs straight at 10K pace as a workout or 20 miles on hilly terrain, with the second 10 being faster than the first half? For training?! YIKES! Needless to say, some of these are a little excessive for average runners. Still, fun to attempt!

Now, keep in mind these are pro athlete workouts, so EXPECT to have a lot of pro names dropped. The authors spoke with a lot of pro athletes/coaches to get the workouts they used/created; hence the extra background discussion that doesn't necessarily pertain to the workout itself (see Pre's 30-40s 200m workout). I honestly like a little background as to why and how the workout came to be.

For the cost of the book, I think every competitive athlete should purchase this book. If you're thinking about turning into a competitive runner or shooting for a PR without having a coach to give you ideas, I think having a text like this one is a necessity. It has a short section on how to pick your workouts and how to not take the workouts line for line, pace for pace, to avoid overtraining.

Like I've mentioned, this is a good text to have for training ideas, but if you don't run more than 30mi/wk, you might not get much out of it. As it mentions in the text, having a good solid base is crucial before attempting some of these workouts in order to recover and not burnout after a couple weeks of training.

Highly recommended as a hard WORKOUT reference, not a general reference of running.

I haven't found this book very useful as a training aid. There is certainly some useful information here, but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. Sandrock seems to be more fond of name-dropping than discussing the pros and cons of various training strategies. For instance, should long runs be done at a slow pace (à la Joe "LSD" Henderson), or at a medium/hard pace (Lydiard)? This, and other interesting topics are barely discussed.

Though the book may rather be intended as a source of motivation and inspiration, I found that I had to look hard to find the good bits among all the blah-blah.

I agree, this book is for serious runners, or runners who are ready to get serious. You are not going to improve that PR by doing the same old thing. I am going to integrate these workout's in to my plan. Sandrock states in his book to build a base first,and be true to your self. None of us is Shorter, or Salazar, adapt it for you.

Mike Sandrock follows up his previous chronicles of stud runners with this well done book. Competitive runners will enjoy the chance to see what others profess to doing for their hard sessions. I thought the book gave me good ideas for new workouts to incorporate in my training (although at a slower pace of course.)

This book has plans for every week of the year and I customized it to fit my schedule. This book is a no-brainer and gives you a great program that fits every fitness level. I highly recommend this book.

this book would be great for someone interested in becoming a marathon runner. I just wanted to make running part of my lifestyle not win marathons. The book claims to be good for either. It isn't.

This program is perfect for runners of all fitness levels. There are plans for each week of the year, and you can customize them to fit your own schedule.

This book is good for someone that is looking for a plan. It has three different levels, A, B, and C, depending on what your goals are. If you just want to run (x) number of miles a week, then search the internet for plans that do just that. What I like about this book is that it offers advice on steadily improving both your running technique and distance. It has guidance on drills and tempo work, as well as advice on how to recognize and treat injuries. What I didn't like about the book was the fact that the A plan only exercised three days a week, and the B plan exercised four, but the mileage was too aggressive. Using my own intelligence, I am using a hybrid of the two. But that in no detracts from the usefulness of the book for a new runner like me.

The book was ok but I felt that it read like an camouflaged advertisement for Adidas. The author was clearly one-sided. It also seemed to go into irrelevant details and was boring at times.

Most fascinating account of a family and the business that they started in a small community that reached such great heights. Especially interesting to me, because of a few day's visit to the German town of Herzogenaurach and nearby Army Base in Bavaria, several years ago.

the book was in great condition and I am enjoying reading it! Thank you so much!

Between the pages of this book lie the family saga of two brothers who ended up being torn apart due to war, personality and family. There is not really a happy ending although there is reconciliation among the posterity. Developing a better shoe and running a company are not necessarily the same thing as the players find out in this biography of two major shoe giant companies: Adidas and Puma. Although the book was good, it felt tedious and drawn out in place. I'm sure the author was trying to make sure that all the major players were included but maybe some of them should have been left out in the editing process. This was an interesting read into the world of sports and the attire accompanying the players and teams. Look for everyone from the soccer great Pele' to David Beckham and Joe Montana. I did appreciate the thoroughness that the author devoted to this work.

I would recommend that you spend a little time Googling instead of wasting your money on this book. It is WAY overpriced. Technically it's 108 pages, but if the layout were professional (i.e., using a normal-sized font, without the random textboxes (some of which are missing text as they stop mid-thought) or quotations in huge fonts) this book could easily be 50 pages - and most information is on the Internet.

This book was great. It had all the information in one place and was a quick, accessible read. It filled in the gaps in my knowledge about how my kid should approach coaches and how we should make a good media guide and video, and it gave me tips from an insider perspective. It even gives examples of professional sample letters for students to submit to prospective coaches. It's also a book that could help the whole team (we found lots of info to share and pass on) and something our busy kids would still sit down and read (and I can't imagine my son plunking down with one of those huge books and doing that). This book had everything I needed to know in one place. I could have googled for weeks for information and still not found everything in this book (I tried!). The price was right and I checked it out ahead of time with the search inside to get a feel for what it was like. It provided everything it promised.

The Student Athlete Handbook for the 21st Century offers concise, practical advice to student athletes making the transition from high school to college.

From selecting a college, to contacting coaches, to succeeding during the all-important freshman year, the book provides a guide through a sometimes daunting process.

It's also an ideal resource for a younger athlete, perhaps a high school freshman or sophomore, who hopes to participate in college athletics and wants to get a head start.

This book provided us with an excellent (and accurate) depiction of what a student athelete should be aware of as he or she gets ready for college. Other books we read (or tried to read) were so sterile and/or out of date they didn't provide any sort of relevant guidance. I _highly_ recommend Grimes' book, even for students who aren't fully sure they want to pursue a college career. You might just find it helps them realize college isn't a bad idea and isn't too hard to do and play sports at the same time!

I always find myself buying triathlon training books, then ending up being disappointed because I haven't learned anything new from it. This book falls prey to that sometimes (EVERY triathlon book has a chapter devoted to nutrition that goes over carbs, protein and fats), but it also contains a lot of really good information about technical aspects of each sport (like how to handle hills and cornering on your bike), really planning a good training program to meet your own needs (in terms I could follow), and lots of other stuff that I'd never seen in the dozen or so other books I've looked at. There is even a section on preparing for specific distances, during different seasons.
There are no references for any of the information given, so it is an easier read, but you don't know where the authors gathered the information from, which worries me a little. What concerned me even more was that some of the information that was given can actually be dangerous--the list of suggestions to make long runs more interesting included running with headphones and running at night--without any caveats.
This book was worth the money just for the new info I picked up, but make sure to use some common sense when it comes to using the advice. It might be better to use this book as a complement to other resources.

This was the 1st triathlon book I bought. It gives an overview of the equipment, types of training in chapters on swimming, running and riding, time requirments, nutrition and sample training plans.
It is NOT a training book perse. It will give the reader an idea of what it takes to start triathloning without overwhelming him and her.
I think Triathlon 101 is better but it's a personal opinion.

I found this book to be fairly helpful. I especially liked the descriptions of form drills for all 3 disciplines. The informaiton was useful. What I did not like is that since I am new to the sport of triathlon, there were phrases used that I did not understand. This was most evident in the workouts. The text would describe everything well, but then in a listing of a sample workout it would use terms not explained in the text. This made it hard to figure out what to do sometimes. Also the author says he'll show you how to have many peaks in a season, but then really doesn't ever give that information.

A fantastic book and on the "top two" of my recommended reading list for beginning triathletes. If you are going for detail and want in-depth and technical information on how to develop a training plan, go with the Triathlete's Training Bible. If you want a solid overview of the sport of triathlon, this is the book for you.

Swim, Bike, Run is written in a very straight-forward style and gives sound, practical advice. I am an avid reader of "things triathlon," so I've read just about every book out there. The most telling insight into how much I value this book is that this is the book that I consistently return to and read the night before a race. I also look to it for a "refresher" when I want to improve form/technique and when I am evaluating how my training is going mid-season. The swimming section is particularly effective and the illustrations greatly helped me on technique issues.

A great read and highly recommended.

I bought this book because I wanted some techniques to help with physical training. I thought that it would provide some short stories to compliment the information but it kinda reads like a text book, which isn't all that bad. For the price and the wealth of information that is contains it is a good buy. Also it is written by a Doctor so, you know that it has to have some basis in truth. I would reccommend it to anyone who wants to know how to enhance their Total Mind Body Training...

I have read a multitude of books on peak performance training. Many over the last few years have sections that copy from this book word for word. It is good to finally find the original.
Highly recommended not only for the martial artist, but for anyone interested in peak performance athletic training.

The book is an invaluable source not only for peak athletic performance, but for accessing your top level performance in any field. I found it extremely helpful and heartily recommend it.

The book is useful to the martial artist that is looking to avoid plateus in her/his training. However, the most recent info to back up his claims seemed to come from th 70's. This made me wonder if recent research is a basis for claims stated.

This diary is perfect for the beginning triathlete. This diary will help you prepare for a triathlon with a 12-week training plan.

This was very informative--especially for someone just starting out. I would recommend it to anyone interested in getting started with Triathloning.

The Triathlete's Training Diary for Dummies is a good book for getting someone in shape for a triathlon, but not necessarily completely prepared for one. The book does give a 12-week training plan that splits the workouts between distance, sprints, and weight training but does not specify how much time should be spent on each of the three sports. For instance, I could follow the entire training plan without setting foot in a pool or on a bike. The training plan also does not specify practicing more than one sport during a workout, so you may not be prepared for the difficult bike to run transition.

Also- be prepared that well over 50% of the book is blank training diary pages. Although the book has good information it does not answer many of a first-timers questions that could be covered with more text and less blank pages.

Overall I would say the book is worth the money if you would like a training diary with a few pages of helpful hints on triathlons. It's a great way to log your workouts in an organized format that lets you see your progress over time.

If watching the Ironman inspires you to get off of the couch and enter a local triathlon, make your first purchase The Triathlete's Training Diary for Dummies. The Diary is more than a training logbook - it also contains a simple, soup-to-nuts guide that will show you how to train for, and successfully complete, that first race. As someone who has moved just beyond the novice level in the sport of triathlon, I can attest to the folly of trying to gleen information about triathlons from various articles and books that are all too often geared for the mature racer. The Diary would have made that first race sooooo much easier!

Experienced triathletes will likely be familiar with all of the training and racing information in the Diary. As for the logbook portion of the Diary, my only compliant is that it does not contain a section for weekly/year-to-date totals - which are very helpful in determining training progress as well as giving one a sense of satisfaction as to what has been accomplished during the course of a year.