Athletics Books

This book is good for you if you are just starting out with little experience. It includes things on technique, training, diet, and drills. It really helped me succed.

High school athletes as well as coaches will love this book. It has great photo sequences and is written so the athlete can actually take it to practice. Lots of humor in it to make the technical stuff actually fun and easy to understand.

I first saw this book a my local library back in 1993 and it has helped me with my coaching at the junior college level ever since. I recommend this book to field event coaches of all levels. I have been wondering where I could buy this book, because no retail bookstore carries this subject. I even thought about telling the library that I lost it and paying for it that way! Thanks Amazon.

As any fan of the USC Trojans knows, the football program has a very long and storied history. No college football fan would deny that USC has a place among college football royalty, alongside the likes of Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska and Texas. Of course, getting to that level involved winning games - lots of them - and important ones at that. But of USC's hundreds of victories, which were the most important in contributing to USC's status as a former and current powerhouse?

In this book, Barry LeBrock examines ten of the most momentous victories in USC football history. From the early days in the 1920's when Howard Jones' Thundering Herd took on Knute Rockne's Notre Dame teams and forged a tremendous rivalry that has produced some of the greatest players and plays in all of college football history, to the modern day, when Pete Carroll forged his reputation as the most gifted USC coach since John McKay - the top 10 greatest victories in USC history are included. Of course, there might be some controversy involving the ten games included, but I think almost all USC fans would agree that the ten that are listed in the book are indeed milestones in Trojan history. For instance, USC's 2001 victory over UCLA (a 27-0 shutout) is a curious inclusion, given that USC's 2001 season was a mediocre campaign, with only 6 wins against 6 losses, but it was this game that really set the bar in Los Angeles that USC was back, and UCLA was no longer the big dog in town.

Each of the ten chapters involves a description of the game itself, but with ample background information so the reader can understand what was going on in the world of college football at that point in time, and what the stakes involved in the game were. The descriptions of the players and coaches and atmosphere of the game are truly engrossing. This is a wonderful, enjoyable read for any Trojan fan (or for those who just want to know what USC football is all about) and I would highly recommend it.

I have been following USC football for about twenty years and I thought I knew most of the stories about the Trojans. But this book was full of stories that I had never heard before. He quotes everybody -- from guys who played in the 1920's to OJ to Garrett, from Marcus to McKay, and Leinart and Carroll.
Definietly worth reading if you are a Trojan backer. Excellent.

While Barry LeBrock's "The Trojan Ten," as the title suggests, focuses on what he considers to be the ten most significant victories in the long and celebrated history of USC football, the book is actually an historical compendium of a program that stands at the top of the gridiron pedestal alongside Notre Dame, USC's oldest and most competitive rival.

Currently the Trojans and Irish have each secured 11 national championships. They are also even in the Heisman Trophy department with each school boasting 7 winners.

LeBrock explains how graduate manager Gwynn Wilson of USC, realizing that legendary playing Notre Dame under famed coach Knute Rockne could be the springboard toward a Trojan surge into the top ranks of collegiate gridiron teams, was able, with the assistance of his wife doing a good sales job on Mrs. Rockne, to get the famous Notre Dame to okay the series.

LeBrock also reveals how, when USC fired football coach Gloomy Gus Henderson, Rockne lent the Trojans a helping hand in recommending that they consider hiring Iowa's coach Howard Jones. It was a 16-14 come from behind victory by USC over Notre Dame at South Bend in 1931 with Jones as coach that prompted the school from the West to catapult into the same elite circle with ND. This, understandably, was LeBrock's first choice as he chronologically presented his choices of the ten most significant victories in the school's history.

Two other victories over Notre Dame also fell into the elite ten category, the others being 1964 with a 20-17 upset over the number one ranked Irish and the benumbing 55-24 victory over the Irish after the men of Troy overcame a 24-0 deficit and appeared ready to sustain a humiliating defeat.

While the title scheme and a certain amount of emphasis on LeBrock's part extend to the ten victories selected, the book has much more. He leads into those classic games by giving shape and perspective to the Trojan program during the periods in question before and after the classic victories then reveals the aftermath of the impact on the school's overall program.

For instance, in analyzing the great 1931 triumph solid emphasis is given to the winning mentality developed by Howard Jones in establishing a juggernaut that provided national titles in 1928, 1931, 1932 and 1939.

We then see a passing of the dynastic baton almost one generation after Jones's death from a heart attack following his final season in 1940 to the advent of witty and jovial John McKay, the architect of the 1964 and 1974 storybook wins over the Fighting Irish and the molder of four USC national champions in 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1974.

Another game put in LeBrock's top ten was one of the most memorable of McKay's career, when USC battled crosstown rival UCLA for the 1967 national championship. The Bruins featured the quarterback who would win the Heisman Trophy that season in Gary Beban. The game's deciding touchdown in USC's exciting 21-20 win was scored on a 64-yard romp by O.J. Simpson, the Heisman winner to be in 1968.

Once that the McKay years are completed LeBrock segues to the era of Pete Carroll, the next and current USC dynasty coach. His first top ten selection concerning Carroll was a 27-0 shutout of UCLA in 2001 in what he sees as a milestone game in which the Trojans made significant inroads into the future and the recruiting war with the Bruins.

One of my favorite elements of this book is the way that the author explores the USC winning tradition based on the productive careers of three coaches, providing an important insight into winning psychology. Given that there are a lot more people to interview concerning the McKay and Carroll dynasties, this psychological element involving a dynastic football program can be explored at greater detail than in the case of Jones, the great coach who built an impressive Trojan foundation in the twenties and thirties.

Current USC athletic director plays a major role in the development of this book. In addition to writing the foreword, he was recruited by McKay and became USC's first Heisman winner in 1965. As athletic director he was responsible for hiring Carroll over the vociferous objections of many L.A. sports media figures and prominent school alumni, who were proven wrong by Carroll's enormous success.

This book is one of the best books on Track and Field athletics and World Record breakers that I have ever read and I must say that I have read quite a few books since I became a Track and Field statician in 1978. I myself have been very interested in Track since I was young and read about the amazing feats of Bob Hayes in the Tokyo olympics in 1964.I would have to say that this book is very well written compared to the other books that I have read. If you are mildy or very interested in Track and Field Record breakers I would have to suggest this book.

'World Record Breakers in Track & Field Athletics' is an excellent record of prominent athletes and their training routines. Gerald Lawson's text is confident and unadorned, and the athletes he cites are significant achievers. Colourful illustrations serve to enliven the prose. So, too, does the Introduction, tightly written by Anna Bolic, the coach of the Hungarian Women's Track Team. An excerpt is worth quoting;

'Gerald Lawson's book is inspiration to our womens of the field and truck. I use this words when I'm coaching the girls and they love Mr Lawson and his prominent testimonials. Mr Lawson warns about steroids and I say to my girls that they should listen as steroids are bad, especially when they promote facial hair and aggressive gesturings. I know they have followed because the team's razor bill is now down to only $800 a week. Mr Lawson also teaches that smoking before an event is harming to the lunks and chesticals, so now they only light up after a run. My girls want to be just like Mr Lawson, without having to wait months for the operation in a pubic hospital.'

'World Record Breakers in Track & Field Athletics' is essential reading for all athletes and coaches.

I bought this book a couple of months ago and I found it so interesting that I read it in 2 days. If you want to know all the world record improvements for each event buy this book. Each world record has been officially approved by the IAAF so you know it's genuine.

I have been coaching athletes from the ages of 8 to 18 for years. I have incorporating the 10-Minute Toughness, metal-training program with my team. The results have been so dramatic that this book is a must read for every coach and athlete.

I have been an amateur athlete for over 20 years and have never been able to perform at my peak consistently during competition. This book has given me specific tools to not only prepare for competition, but perform at my best when it counts. I now use some of the basic tools that the books teaches with my kids in their sports. It is by far the best book I have read on the subject of sports psychology or mental training, and I highly recommend it.

This book has excellent information for the novice or seasoned trail runner. With it's topography of the trails, the newest runner can pick a trail that is not too difficult. Beautiful photographs.

A recent resident of Venice, California, I looked out to the Santa Monica mountains from my second story window and wondered where the running trails were. I've bounced around LA over the past few years, running in Griffith Park, Fryman Canyon, Porter Ranch, among other routes, but these new mountains drew me to them.

How to find my way? I ran one morning at Will Rogers Park and asked someone about the trails that lured me away from the traffic and the people. The runner said: "Get Stan Swartz' book!" Thus armed, I searched a book store and found it quickly. It was exactly what I was searching for, similar in style to the wonderful book I had purchased years earlier which depicted all the trail running possibilities within New York City.

Now, eight weeks after placing third in my ritualistic 10K at Descanso Gardens, I leaf through the book almost every morning, wondering which route I will take on the weekend, building up my confidence with each page turn.What I find fascinating is that the descriptions of the routes, the distances, and benchmarks, the terrain, ALL MATCH THE REALITY. I know I am on the right trail; I know when I am half way through; I know when to turn left or right; the topographical maps give me an idea of the ups and downs. Now that I have completed several of the runs alone among this spectacular landscape, I inhale the spiritual aspect of running imbued by George Sheehan and combine it with the practical information provided by this book.

I look forward to trying out as many of the runs as I can, venturing out even to the longest ones at 13 miles. When I can, I will join the other runners on Sunday mornings. The three authors have given me a great gift: the ability to explore historical terrain with the eyes of a contemporary "critter"...a trail runner who feels at one with the wondrous varieties of Nature described so completely by those who have gone before me. Thank you.

When I read this book three years ago I never heard of a Decathlon and I never thought I'd be one. When my mom got me this book for me for the first time I was interested, and wanted to find out what this book was about. I was in track but I only ran the mid-distants runs. I do like to play around with different events and when I did I would do better then the best on the track team. So I began to compete in some events durning track meets just to find out that I was doing well in them. But my track coach would disapprove of trying too many events and not concentrating on my mid-distant runs. Well, I read this book and was introduced to the decathlon and I wanted to do it, and I did. I have competed in the decathlon for two years and have increase my score by 1000 points over that time and plan on doing even better next time. I am now training very hard for it and this time I'm going to be more ready then ever. This has done great things for me and Dave Johnson's life is so similar to mine. I was also a rebal in my early years and then I got a sign from God and was instantly changed. I would appreciate it if Dave Johnson's would read this. I want to think him for changing my life. -Aaron M. Mills

This is a book that you can often compare to times in your own spiritual life. I am 12 years old and got this book last Christmas. I have read the whole way through it lots of times, and it has never been any less exciting.

This book is a must for all public and college libraries so that the thousands of young women in high schools and colleges who run every day have access to the history of their sport. It includes everything anyone would want to know about women's track and field history...louise mead tricard (author)

As a Physical Education teacher and former Chair of a SUNY Department of Health and Physical Education, I found this book to be an excellent resource. It is well researched, compulsively thorough, and presented clearly. The book is a boon for those looking for any information related to women's track and field from its inception in 1895 to 1980. It follows the significant setbacks and victories of women's track and field in an interesting narrative backed up by reams of statistics.

Jean William's edited text is a favorite of mine. I use it in our graduate program at Georgia Southern University. The authors have done an excellent job of presenting both the "whys" and "how tos" of the intervention techniques in sport psychology. Several leading sport psychologists have made significant, easy to understand, contributions to this text. This book has accomplished the rare feat of being able to be used as an academic text AND a "performance enhancement" book for the interested athlete, coach, exerciser, or other performers.

As a performance enhancement specialist, I am constantly looking for activities and exercies to do with my clients. This book helps to develop PST programs, including various activites to do with your athletes. This book was used as a text in a Sport Psychology class that I took. I have found it to be extremely helpful and fully recommend it.

This is probably the best book on athletic rehabilitation. It is extremely comprehensive. The content refers to numerous scientific articles related to the topics. In spite of it being printed in 1996, in many ways, it is still valid today. It is unfortunate that the authors stopped at first edition. A revised new edition would have included results and implications from the more recent studies. Should a latest edition come out, I would warmly and strongly recommend it to all professionals who are active in the field of athletic rehabilitation.

A wonderful work written by 85 contributors(67US), all experts in their field, that really helps me since 3 years i have this book to treat successfully all my patients,not only high-level athletes but also general population, as i'm working as a Physical Therapist, in the Physical Therapy Department of Social Security Institute (IKA) of Greece in the city of Thessaloniki.

After a year of computer/instrument tendonitis, I FINALLY found this book, which really gave a lot of good, CURRENT information. Better yet, I made the pilgrimage to see Dr. Paull in Stouffville, Ontario. It was worth the 10-hour drive. She gave me a lot of important information that contradicted a lot of misinformation given to me by well-intentioned doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncturists, pharmacists, etc. who seem to just perpetuate the status quo of repetitive strain injuries and rehabilitation without really researching new information about them. Read this book, consult Dr. Paull and start playing again. Christine Harrison, the musician who co-wrote the book, had a musician's horror story to tell and she is now playing professionally again after a FIVE YEAR UNNECESSARY hiatus. The book also has excellent information regarding stretches, posture, excercises and anatomy. READ THIS BOOK AND GET THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO START PLAYING AGAIN! I did. I guarantee you can, too, if you follow Dr. Paull and Christine Harrison's advice. Good luck.

P.S. Doing hand strengthing excercises to get better? STOP NOW. You are probably hurting yourself. The only thing you should use to strengthen your hands is your instrument.

Every musician who wants to avoid a playing injury or is recovering from such an injury should own this book. This is not a read-once book but a book to use and refer to until one has it memorized. It gives easy-to-follow instructions for safe warming up, exercises and stretches to do at home and even some for doing on stage, ways to avoid injury and means to stay healthy when one has recovered. The psycological and social aspects which confront injured musicians are sensitively dealt with in "The Athletic Musician". The title already tells us that this is a relevant approach to treating the subject of musician's health. Read it, it could save your career!