Athletics Books

The Paperback version of this book was given to me free when I was a medical student in 1985. I practice rheumatology and am an athlete myself. Whenever a question comes up regarding an athletic injury, if I am not immediately familiar with the disorder or can't find information from other sources, I dust off this book. I can't recall a time when this book failed me or the patient. Its conservative approach with a big measure of wisdom makes it the best sports medicine book I have ever seen. With regard to non surgical treatments, it never seems to get out of date. For this reason it is probably the only textbook I still own dating back to my medical school years. The reason I accessed this site was to see if a revised edition exists, which sadly doesn't seem to be the case. This book is not only the best I have seen for a physicians use, but for a therapist or sophisticated athlete as well. I would welcome any information on a possible successor to this edition.

We have owned this book for many years and reference it regularly. It has been loaned to a number of friends and colleagues many of whom purchased their own copies after reading it. The descriptions of injuries are excellent, and, although is was published a number of years ago, the the advice is still sound. I highly recommend it to anyone who plays sports or exercises or has family members who do so. It is also a great reference to have at gyms and company libraries. I highly recommend it.

We have owned this book for many years and reference it regularly. It has been loaned to a number of friends and colleagues many of whom purchased their own copies after reading it. The descriptions of injuries are excellent, and, although is was published a number of years ago, the the advice is still sound. I highly recommend it to anyone who plays sports or exercises or has family members who do so. It is also a great reference to have at gyms and company libraries. I highly recommend it.

I have played just about every sport known to man in my 43 years of life. I bought this book in 1985 after a softball injury kept me from going to a national tournament. IT IS TIMELESS. It is organized by body section, which makes it an easy reference manual for the non-medical folks like me. Leg injury, find it in the leg section, back injury, back section, etc. I came here because I hurt my back this weekend while loading moving boxes into storage and one of the MANY boxes contains my "sports injury bible" (obviously this book). I frantically searched through as many boxes as I could to find it without hurting my back further, but it is KILLING me that I can't find it (killing me MORE than the injury!). It has become a trusted friend over the years and I came here thinking I wouldn't mind having a backup for now. Mine has been leant out MANY times over the years to teammates and other friends, and saved me TONS OF MONEY by replacing doctor and hospital visits. If you are an athlete and endure the typical weekend sportsman's injuries, and HATE going to the doctor only to hear: "Take two of these and call me Monday", find this book and hang on to it! It shows you how to rehabilitate AND strengthen injured muscles, ligaments, etc. My softball injury was a second degree tear of the rotator cuff muscle (I found that out from reading the book and WITHOUT going to a doctor ONE!). The book told me how to figure out what was wrong, how to fix it, when I could go back to playing (both conservative AND agressive estimates), AND THEN how to strengthen the muscle and surrounding muscles so that there would be MINIMAL scar tissue. Within months my throwing arm was even STRONGER than before the injury. Dr. Southmayd has many interesting stories of helping pro and amateur athletes with their rehabilitation intermingled with the why this works and that doesn't. He writes from an understanding of the perspective of the athlete (when can I get back to playing?!?). I consider myself lucky that I have one of these, bought ignorantly as an alternative to seeing a doctor in 1985. Get one if you can, I can't wait to unload these boxes and find mine!

I just joined a masters' swim team. I was the same age as John Jerome when he swam in this book. I just found this book motivating and that it increased my knowledge and understanding of elite athletes. It also taught me more about the world of competitive swimming. The book mainly dealt with people who were good swimmers/competitive swimmers when they were younger. I wish at least one swimmer like me without previous experience was in the book, but I still found the book had application to me. I reccomend it.

I was a swimmer throughout my younger years. It seems that only swimmers can understand why and how swimmers do what they do.... John Jerome, in his own style and grace, creates a book that really hits home. Super for: teenage swimmers, coaches and parents of swimmers.

Well, I bought two books. The other one is about a guy who is trying to be a cross country skier. I am glad that I read the other one first otherwise if I read John's book first the other one will be super boring. This book is not just about how he becomes a swimmer but rather how people should deal with the inevitable - aging. I enjoy his writing so much that i bought 3 more of his books.

I read this book after a suggestion in Phil Whitten's book on swimming. It was hard to find, but very inspirational to me as I was getting heavily into serious swimming and athletics at 48, the same age as the author was when he got back into swimming. His adventures are thoughtfully described and his experience easy to identify with. The book got me interested in Jerome's other works, which are also very involving.

Even if you are an experienced athlete yourself, and former power lifter (like me), this book is great for the research it presents about children and weightlifting, and for the organization of the material. I found the medicine ball portion particularly helpful. Very good pictures.

Strength and Power for Young Athletes is a tremendous help to athletes with both high and low athletic standards and abilities.It is very easy to read and follow.It has appendixes for each sport and categories for each age group.Pictures and a key of what each machine works helps you understand each machine easier.Nutrition guides of carbs and protien is also a big help.This book is great for keeping you in shape.

This book was an excellent reference that I relied heavily upon to create a strength training program for our Pop Warner football team. Faigenbaum has published results of studies documenting the benefits of strength training for children. This book provides good description of exercises for each muscle group and provides variations using different equipment, .i.e. free weights- dumbbells and barbells, resistance bands and weight machines. One ommission in the book was that his published paper revealed a program that proved superior to others in controlled experiments in terms of results gained.
Program: 3 sets with set #1 being 50% of 10 rep maximum resistance (warm-up), followed by set # 2- 10 reps with 75% of 10 rep max (moderate), and set #3 - max number of reps with 10 rep max resistance.

As a former Olympic Athlete I appreciate the importance of keeping children healthy and strong. This book provides all the tools you need to develop safe and effective strength programs for boys and girls. It is an easy read and the photographs are outstanding. This book is a real WINNER!

Dr. Horrigan and "Doc" Kreis have done a great job with this book. It contains an abundance of information that anyone interested in enhancing sport performance will benefit from reviewing and reading. This text has enough "meat" in it that the strength training professional will benefit by having it on their reference list and the teaching approach is clear and so well illustrated so the athlete can use the materials also.

I just started playing hockey two years ago and was looking for a book to help me become a better player. This book is very detailed and easy to use for a beginner such as me. I have seen immediate results in my strength and conditioning since buying this book.

This is one of the finest and most comprehensive books ever written on sports conditioning. It is not only for the hockey player, but for all athletes in all sports looking to gain an edge. It gives great detail and clarity on ways to improve speed, strength, and overall conditioning. This book will make the average coach look like a genius.

This book is one of the finest and most compehensive books ever written on sports conditioning. It can stand on its own for training not only hockey, but any sport. As a strength and conditioning coach for 14 years, it is the most organized and a highly practical tool for writing and executing programs for the improvement of speed, strength and overall conditioning of every athlete. It can turn an average coach into a genius.

This book is about more than just the obstacles and victories in sports; it gives insight into how players can get the most out of their sports career and LIFE. It is a WONDERFUL book that high school and college students and their parents should read. My 3 children who are in Middle School and High School read it and loved it.

If you have children participating in athletics, this book is a must for their reading list. I couldn't put it down. Read it from cover to cover in one night and then went back and re-read it to appreciate it further. Just when you think that the trials and tribulations in your life are all encompassing, you realize that life is suddenly much better than you imagined it to be. Wonderful read.

I did get the book and I must say that I can't put it down. Just tonight I read another chapter with my pen and highlighter by my side. It is so cool to see athletes with the same dreams, beliefs, problems, and aspirations. I have told my friends about the book, and there is a line to get it after I have finished it. Thanks again for providing a book that can reach, teach, and motivate an athlete

What I found so interesting and worthwhile about this book was the author's unfliching and focused desire to let people see and feel the emotions an athlete lives in the world of sports. You hear the fear of "what if I'm not good enough to make it afterall" and "do I really want to go further". What if that person is injured...have their dreams and aspirations become nightmares? I really liked the idea that someone saw a way to let other atheletes express their feelings and put that together so that they had a voice. Katie could do that because she has felt those same emotions because she too is an athlete. Neat twist and good prespective and talented too.

This is a great book about BYU football. One of the best things is that it was published after the 1996 season, so it includes highlights from one of the greatest seasons in school history. In 1996, BYU became the first school ever to win 14 games in a season. This book is a must for any BYU football fan.

This is a great book filled with history and photos. It is well presented and makes a nice display book. It praises the program for the great things it has done, but also comments on mistakes that have been made. It does tend to focus a little too much on the "Cotton Bowl" season. The only other drawbacks are too many black and white photos, too many "crowd celebration" shots and not enough "behind the scenes" type shots including the locker rooms, team meetings, weight room etc. Overall though, this is a great book and worth the price.

This book is a must for the true blue Cougar football fanatic! Filled with photos, stats, and stories, the history of BYU football is chronicled from its beginnings to the present. And at a great price!

This book was renamed to "Wild Blue Yonder" before printing, and the correct authors are Dick Harmon and Steve Cameron. It's a beautiful coffee-table-style book, filled with photos, stories, statistics, history - all the stuff a dedicated fan will love. Well worth the price

This book is full of great workout schedules, useful advice and tips from pros and detailed information on equipment, drills and nutrition. Definitely a fantastic way for anyone to either get started or continue on their journey toward triathlon success. I read it cover to cover and have used it continuously for 2 seasons now. Wonderful resource!

With one sprint triathlon under my belt, I was looking for training programs, injury prevention and info on progressing to the Olympic distance triathlon.

SWIMMING CHAPTER: Jargon/vocabulary guide was helpful. I would've appreciated more photos or illustrations for the suggested drills.

CYCLING CHAPTER: Good general information. The VO2 max and lactate threshold discussions were over my head but will probably come in handy as my training advances.

RUNNING CHAPTER: This is my strongest event so I didn't find much new information. The suggested training programs were quite extensive and included discussion on both speed and endurance work.

TRAINING PROGRAMS: Sprint, Olympic, Half-Ironman and Ironman distances.

STRENGTH TRAINING: The weakest chapter in my opinion. Suggested exercises were quite basic. You'd probably do better with a session or two with a trainer or another reference.

As a newbie, the nutrition and equipment sections were very helpful. The pricing guidelines came in handy when scouting out bikes. Interesting chapter on training while pregnant.

Overall, this book is a good resource, especially for those new to one or more of the events.

I am going to use this book to train a 16 year girl triathlete in Surat, India, since there is not a single qualified coach in this area. I feel that I can use this book to understand the sport in detail and guide her during training for the next National School Game. This is going to be my bible for training the triathlete.

This book is very easy to read. Christina has done an excellent job compiling articulate women (pro triathletes, exercise specialists, nutritionists, psychologists, coaches, etc.) to give their expertise on the varying components of training for a triathlon. There are specific drills for each sport as well as training regimens to follow from a sprint to an ironman triathlon. Not only does she cover the physical components of training, but also the mental and nutritional aspects. I have read other books on triathlons, but this is the first book I read where I wanted to get off the plane and jump into the training program immediately. I've been competing for a couple years and learned more from this book than from a camp I attend. Another aspect I appreciated about this book, is everything about it is written from, and for, females. I found myself reading it and feeling empowered by other women and their levels of accomplishment. There are lots of examples and illustrations in this book to keep the reader interested and informed. It's a fun, educational, well-written read. Kudos to Christina and her editorial skills.

I stumbled upon this gem while compiling my "Authoritative Encyclopedia of Scientific Wrestling". Some of the material might be a little dated but it is truly a great book. I sincerely cannot recommend it highly enough.

I don't know when my parents bought the Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia, but it was long before I could ever understand it. I remember thinking that the pictures of the old-time wrestlers was cool but that it would be too much work to read. So, for at least 20 years it sat on a bookshelf collecting dust. Last year, while visting my parents I happened to look at it. I was amazed at the great information it contains. It has hundreds of ideas on getting into better condition. I kept thinking if I had only known this stuff when I wrestled in high school and college what a difference it would have made. I have incorporated a lot of the information it contains in my workouts and have had a lot of success with it. It really reconfirms the notion that "new" is not always better, and gave me a "fresh" perspective on conditioning that can help you too.

A must-have for any beginning wrestler. step by step guidelines to important principles of amateur wrestling. Basic skills and principles to the sport are taught. Lists many helpful body exercises to improve wrestling skills. Also contains brief biographies of pioneers in the sport here in America, such as Gotch, Hackenschmidt, and Gable. Has pictures of different variations of wrestling, such as NCAA tournaments and Indian wrestling to belt wrsetling and Greco-Roman meets.

I honestly don't know why this book is out of print. I suppose everyone bought a copy shortly after it was released--it HAS been out a while. The truth is, I bought two copies just before it was "phased out", and in short order resold the second copy on eBay (for profit, I believe.) Everyone I've come across in the wrestling community who has seen the book simply raves about it. I've even had friends of mine read it (not all were wrestlers) and not one didn't get anything out of it.

The book is thick, and full of info. Yes, it has old photos of wrestlers and styles from history and around the world. Yes, it has tips and recommendations on weight lifting. Yes, it addresses diet and nutrition. Yes, it delves into physiology and the basis behind much of its suggestions. (Key example: getting stronger increases your conditioning. You can wrestle a 150-lbs. opponent harder and longer than a 175-lbs. opponent. So if the 175-lbs. opponent *feels* like a 150-lbs. opponent, you've indirectly extended your conditioning.) If you don't feel you need all that the book offers, that's certainly no reason not to acquire it; simply save the unwanted portions for later (and if you're active in the sport, eventually you'll need most of what's in here.)

This book is a classic, and upon reading it you quickly understand why the training methods it teaches work. "They don't make them like they used to" certainly applies here.

Five stars for historical value, detail, sound methodology, and abundance of useful material on numerous aspects of training.

Before this excellent book came out, very few people knew how strong and athletic Coach Davies is. Now everyone will know! The drills in this book are both unique and I have no doubt that they will be very beneficial to extreme athletes. Naysayers will say that many of the exercises in the book are not practical and will not carry over to extreme sports. Ask them how long they have been surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding. Furthermore, ask them how many extreme athletes they have trained.

It is clear that every exercise in this book is well thought out and has been tested in the lab. In addition to being a manual of killer exercises, Coach Davies reveals several programs so that you have a clear idea of how to put all of the intense exercises together. Whether you are an extreme athletic or someone who simply wants to take his or her training up a huge notch, get this book.

Coach Davies takes extreme sports conditioning to the next level in this book. He introduces techniques that even the pros can't do on their first *100* tries! Coach Davies excites the reader to start training by introducing a program that defies all preconceived ideas of working out.
The content of the book is laid out very lucidly, and the multitude of pictures show even the newest grom how to work out 'Renegade Style'.
Coach Davies walks you through every exercise, then gives a recommended training program, which, instead of vaguely laying out "this many reps on this day of the week," details SIX WEEKS of specific daily workouts. This takes the book to a higher level than most fitness books that give you a general idea of how to work out, but don't suggest a workout plan.

This is not only the book for getting better at surfing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, or skateboarding, but it is a book for anyone who wants to get better balance and feel healthier!

This book is the first of it's kind as it addresses the needs of ahtletes in extreme sports. Coach DAvies presents his material in an excellnet progressive manner as he describes the motor qualitites that are necessary in regards to being a successful extreme athlete. All athletes can benefit from this book as it details the importance of agility, range of motion, dynamic and static balance, explosive strength etc...

Davies also presents a sample workout program at the end of the book. If you are serious about your conditioning levels the investment that is required for this book is simply a giveway.

thank you
Coach Jamie Hale
www.maxcondition.com

The stuff Coach Davies does in this book is awful. I mean I cried I was so mad. How in the world can he do close grip snatches on a stability ball when I can barely stand up for prolonged periods of time? This book is a huge ego-checker. If you are into extreme sports and serious about your training, this book is a must have.

If you've read a lot of Coach Wooden's books, you may be familiar with his wisdom, maxims and his wonderful pyramid of success; this book studies the methodology of his teaching and how he applied his wisdom to the successful transfer of knowledge and skills. If you're a teacher, buy this book!

Any coach should take the philosophies of John Wooden to heart, they work! Using his teachings you can win games and the players have a heck of a lot better experience. After a dismal record in only my 2nd season fresh out of college I started researching his work, and applying it - only to have one losing season over the next 7. Started to get away from his teachings recently making my frustration levels go through the roof so bought this book as a refresher, it helped and recommend it to all coaches.

Ron Gallimore and Swen Nater combine their incredible knowledge about teaching and basketball to deliver a new and insightful look at the teaching practice of John Wooden. The book is a wonderful balance of personal stories from Nater and insights about teaching and learning from Gallimore that demonstrate just how incredibly wise, intentional, and gifted The Coach was and is. This book demonstrates the hard work, preparation, courage, and commitment to continuous learning that defines quality teaching. A must read for every teacher and coach.

Swen Nater knows John Wooden - that much is clear. Clear too, is what a great teacher John Wooden was and, continues to be. This is a book any teacher can learn from. Sure it is great for coaches, but when a teacher is looking for guidance on how to handle varying student potential within their class, is it better to treat everyone the same - or to treat each individual differently, according to their personality, talent, ability, commitment etc. as Wooden did? Swen does a great job of interjecting his own life's experience into the priniciples Wooden taught. And he uses those of "Alcindor", Wicks, Walton, Allen and others to make the stories fit the lesson. This is textbook material, or should be required reading for aspiring or experienced teachers - 5 Stars plus!