Athletics Books

I've had chronic back pain all my life and have tried many different approaches to find relief. \ I have found that the Acupressure Warmup techniques to be very effective in relieving my pain instantly. Because my pain is chronic I find myself stiff and sore after work and in the morning when I wake up. After applying the techniques I can go throughout the day with much pain and muscle spasms.

In my massage practice, I encourage people to use self help for managing their health. This book is a great one to have for
in home care. Written & illustrated in a clear easy to use format, it gives the layperson simple instruction on point location. Utilizing tennis balls, it allows you to work on specific problem areas, using the body weight pressure to relieve aches & pains. The techniques are simple to use and are aided by the addition of meridian stretches shown in the back of the book. As an another bonus, symptoms of imbalance are included to guide your choice of areas to address. A great companion book to this one is Acupressure's Potent Points by Michael Reed Gach. I also highly recommend The Touch of Healing by Alice Burmeister, which incorporates the ancient Japanese healing art of Jin Shin Jyutsu.

The truly simple and amazing precedures explained in the book produce incredible results not only to relieve pain but to keep you from injury. I am in my 50's and play tennis four times a week. Prior to using the Acupressure warmup routine, I was prone to injury. I have been warming up with this method for five years now and have been pain and injury free, and it only takes 10 minutes! I have recommended this book to dozens of friends who have had similar success. My husband who travels a good deal, uses tennis balls on his back pressure points while driving or flying to relieve back pain. I highly recommend this book to young and old.

This book is a useful resource not only for helping me to manage my own aches and pains, but I also recommend (and frequently lend) this book to my patients. As a physical therapist, I am always looking for ways to teach people to take control of their own pain and this book acts as a great adjunct to my own treatments. I currently work with chronic pain patients and several of them have borrowed my book and subsequently ordered their own copy as these techniques have given them excellent relief.

"Airball: My Life in Briefs," is about Kirby Nickel, a 7th grader who lives with his grandmother and has never seen his mom or dad. Kirby is the Captain of his 7th grade basketball team, and the book tells the story about Kirby and his team as they go through their season with the hope of visiting their hero Brent McGrew. Kirby wants to meet Brent because he thinks that Brent is his dad.
The book starts out at basketball practice and the coach announces that if they have a good season that he will take them to see Brent McGrew when he gets his jersey retired at the University of Kansas. Brent is a famous NBA basketball player who played in Kirby's town when he was younger. Everyone is excited about possibly seeing Brent McGrew, but they are not sure if they will be able to because the team has not been good since Brent McGrew played there. Kirby's coach also was not sure that they would be able to win, so he came up with a plan to have them practice in their underwear.
That week the coach orders uniforms, but he doesn't give it to the team. Instead he makes them practice in their underwear until they get better at basketball and they become a team. They start to play better so for their first game, the coach gives them really nice uniforms. Kirby and his team like the uniforms, but they don't play very well. At halftime, Kirby said that they don't deserve to wear the uniforms so they take their uniforms off and play in their underwear for the second half. In the second half, they come back and win the game so they decide to wear underwear as their uniform for the rest of the season and they win all of their games without their uniforms.
During the season, Kirby finds some clues that Brent McGrew may be his Dad. In Kirby's attic, he found a Brent McGrew jersey, a medal, and a picture of his mom and Brent dancing. He also realized that he and Brent had the same birth mark. So, at the end of the season, when they meet Brent McGrew, Kirby gives him an envelope with all of the clues showing that Brent might be his dad. Brent said that he wasn't the guy in the picture, but the coach took a look at the pictures and said that they were pictures of him. He then realized that he was Kirby's dad. They were happy after that and the book ended with Kirby and his team scrimmaging again Brent McGrew.
I recommend this book to other kids my age because I like basketball and it was funny.

This book was great it kept me wondering what was going to happen next, and If you like basketball you will love the book Air Ball my life's in briefs.

The book Air ball my life's in briefs is about a boy named Kirby Nickel, who grew up in a basketball loving city, but the thing is he didn't really like it. Kirby thinks that the Kansas City star Brett McGrew is his father. Kirby and his friend Bragger find evidence to prove it. They go through so much trouble trying to find out the truth. Kirby had to try out for the basketball team, and his friend Bragger voted him for team captain, and Kirby couldn't turn it down. But the only way he could meet Brett McGrew was he had to be the leader of the team. Kirby didn't want to be captain for the fact that he didn't know one thing about basketball, and he didn't want to deal with the coach. At the end of the book you will never guess who his dad is.

This book is hilarious! I laughed so hard I thought I was going to wake the entire house. And, every time I stopped, I turned the page and laughed again.

Poor Kirby! Kirby loves basketball as much as everyone in his basketball-crazy Kansas town. The problem? He isn't very good. But, he must make the team and have a winning season if he wants a chance to go to Allen Fieldhouse to participate when KU retires the jersey of Stuckey's own future-NBA-Hall-of-Famer, Brett McGrew.

Kirby thinks McGrew is his dad and it's Kirby's and only chance to meet him. But, first--he and the rest of the seventh grade team must live through the coach's extreme coaching tactics: Stealth Uniforms. Yes, they're playing in their undies!

If you've ever experienced life in a small town that revolves around youth or college sports--a town where the youth sport IS their "professional" team, you'll appreciate this book. Mix in the coach's new uniforms (Emperor's New Clothes-style), a boy who risk just about anything (including the humiliation of playing basketball in his underwear) to meet his long-lost father, a trouble-making cousin who helps Kirby become captain of the team, the thrill of victory and some harmless nosing around to find proof that McGrew is his dad and you have a recipe for a great afternoon of rural basketball reading fun!

A clean, fun book for anyone who can read at the middle grade level or higher. No profanity or sexual content that I recall--just boys parading around in their briefs! A great fall, back-to-school read!

This book is delightful. I chuckled, grinned, laughed out loud, and empathized with each character in turn. Kirby Nickel is a seventh grader who lives in Stuckey Kansas, population 334, a basketball crazy town. Kirby is clumsy and nerdy, shunned by jocks, terrified of his P.E. coach, an orphan raised by his grandmother. He's the self-described worst basketball player ever. Stuckey is the hometown of Kansas
University hero and NBA icon Brett McGrew. Stuckey has not had a winning season since McGrew was in school and Coach Mike Armstrong is determined this year will end that losing streak. Most boys in Stuckey dream of basketball scholarships, playing for Kansas University, then heading off to the NBA like their hero, McGrew. Kirby dreams of riding the bench with cool confidence, of injuries to keep him off the team, and of locating a father who disappeared before he was born. He believes Brett McGrew is his father. But will McGrew
reject him? Kirby knows too well that sometimes the thing you want the most in the world doesn't want you back.

K.U. is retiring McGrew's jersey and invites the 7th grade team from Stuckey to participate. Kirby's team members are seriously bad players. To boost their confidence and enhance
team spirit, Coach Armstrong presents the boys with invisible "stealth uniforms". In other words, they practice in their underwear. To Kirby's surprise, he's elected team captain, a position he takes seriously. The boys improve dramatically while practicing in their underwear. They learn to function as a team, thanks to Kirby's influence and the stealth uniforms.

The characters in Airball are perfection, presented with humor and compassion as each learns the value of teamwork, friendship, equality, and hope while playing skivvy basketball. Kirby is an appealing character. Coach Armstrong is a strong role model who sympathizes with the team because he has his own secret dreams and disappointments. And Kirby's teammates are typical boys longing for acceptance and striving to excel. Airball is perfection and highly recommended.

I almost couldn't put the book down. Finished it in three nights. Anyhow, the writing style is fantastic and the story is compelling. Lots of ups and downs. The best part is that the book is about real people. Definately read this book.

This is not just a book about basketball. Ask anyone who ever played a sport, and they can probably tell you how much their coach influenced their life. At a time in life when boys are becoming men, a positive male role model, whether it be a parent, coach or a teacher, can make all the difference. Neil Swidey's insider's view of the lives of the players, their families and Coach O'Brien was both heartwarming and disturbing. But this is not unique to Boston. All over the country, we continue to spend money building more jails instead of improving our schools, after school programs and parks. This is a good read for young or old. And not just men.

This book juxtaposes basketball and real life. In doing so Swidey provides a multiple perspectives.

Sometimes the reader is present almost as a fellow team member during very private times in the coaches and player's lives; both on and off the court. You know what music they are listening to - the complex dynamics that are playing out under the surface - what they are thinking during emotionally charged situations. The author has an uncanny ability to bring the reader into these young adult's lives.

Other times Swidey provides a 360 helicopter vantage point that allows the reader to see all character's points of view at the same time; and an ability to see how relatively small events in the present; have big consequences as events unfold.

From either point of view the story is compelling. While based around a basketball coach and his team's on and off court struggles - it is more accurately about a good but flawed man's attempt to help good but flawed kids navigate their urban maze.

I am not usually a reader, but I had a hard time putting this book down. Swidey does an excellent job capturing what has been an incredible story in Boston over the past few years. It's about basketball but, it is also about so much more. He describes how the aftermath of school desgregation in Boston has left the public schools in crisis, and how having someone who cares can make such a huge diffrence.

This resource is worth 5 stars - it is specifically for adults and is easy to read, easy to access. All steps are described and illustrated. Worth purchasing especially if you are a beginner.

This book provides a good solid basic technique overview. It has been used as a textbook at some colleges, and was highly reccomended by my former headmistress. I found the text interesting and helpful, and the illustrations sufficient. Of course, no book can replace a talented instructor, but as a supplement to a dance program, this book is superior.

Finally a good ballet instruction book that's encouraging and doesn't talk down to adult beginners. The more ballet classes I take, the more I realize how well this book distills the important aspects of ballet. Sketches and photos showing correct (and incorrect) body positioning are appropriately used. When I started ballet, I picked up a handful of books, and I always reached for this one when I had 10 minutes to learn a new tidbit. The brief history of ballet in the final chapter is added bonus. If you're an adult beginner, start with this book and the David Howard videos, plus a good teacher once or twice a week. You won't be auditioning for the American Ballet Theatre, but you'll become a proficient dancer pretty quickly.

I have the 3rd edition of this book, which was required for a college Ballet I class. As a beginning, adult, male student, I found the book to be very detailed - which I like. She gives you illustrations of steps, with the French name & pronunciation, why your doing it (e.g. to stretch certain muscles), a description, etc..

Initially, working at the barre (e.g. how to stand, plie', positions of the feet) Sandra gives correct & incorrect drawings. Of course, no book or video can replace being in class nor should it. With ballet you need a teacher to correct what your doing wrong so you can learn from it. Then having good books, videos, etc. as reference material helps you learn.

The book is written for us beginner adults, not children and not the pro's, which is really nice. Since we don't have nearly the flexibility of them. It also includes some history in the back of the book. Illustrations show men as well as women. Also included is what to wear to class, what to expect in class, how you should act, etc..

Get her other book once you get beyond the basics.