Coaching Books

This book is excellent and worth the read. It shows how Mike Boyle trains his athletes and gives you different ideas/exercises on how to train athletes. The only problem I have, is that it is too text heavy without enough pictures to explain the text. Even with this being said, you can figure out how to do the majority of the exercises based on the text alone. If you want to learn how to train athletes properly, I would definitely get this book.

Is ideal for personal trainers, athletes or anyone who wants to improve sports skills and knowledge, its a great complement for diferents sports

I don't remember if this was the first book I read on 'functional training' but it is the one I kept and remember best. It is interesting that Mike Boyle wrote in a T-Mag article that he wished the title didn't include "Functional Training" since that term has become associated with all sorts of wierd balance drills and exercises on swiss balls.

The big idea is that general fitness counts. The ability to perform movements that are common to lots of sports and actitivies will improve your performance as an athlete.

The reality of things is that even star athletes do not have perfect bodies. Their left and right sides don't match, don't have equal strength.. they can pull better than push, they can't explode from a squatted position, etc.

This is a good book - nearly a great book. Not the easiest read I think think coaches, athletes, and serious fitness folks will get the most out of it. "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" may be better for high school atletes, and "Core Performance Essentials" better for the recreational athlete. But no matter how you look at it, this is a worthwhile book to have.

like the title says. I'm a veteran personal trainer and find this book to be one of the most useful in my library. Clear & concise, thoughtful. Indispensible.

This is the guy to read when you are ready to give up the bodybuilder- based mythology most of us have built our conditioning programs on since the 60's.

Boyle's site is the #1 source to research topics like functional movement, core training, plyometrics and the like. I bought his book after reading every page on the site and in my opinion it represents the cutting edge of athletic performance programs.

Check out sites for Boyle, Verstegen and Gray Cook if you're interested in changing your program to one that will last your lifetime and give you a more stable, functional body. If I'd been reading these guys when I was an active athlete instead of the memoirs of various "physical culturists," I'd have saved myself a lifetime of back pain and been a much better athlete into the bargain.

Still, there's no short cuts, and I guess you have to make the mistakes you're going to make along the way so you'll appreciate the truth when you finally stumble onto it. If you'd like to save yourself a few of those mistakes, though, and you're flailing around the gym listening to bad advice, take it upon yourself to do a little research with Boyle and his peers. You'll save yourself years of wasted effort, and develop a much more useful body in the bargain.

Out of the Box: Coaching with the Ennegram is one of the best, concise, readable books on the Enneagram. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone interested in learning more about the Enneagram

The book provides some thoughts about each Enneagram Type. The authors share their experience when coaching for each Type. Some of which are useful but some are pretty general. The descriptions of the Enneagram Types are over-simplified. Readers should have some good understanding of the Enneagram before reading this book.

Easy to read and understand. The theory is made alive by the many case stories and a very visual language.

"Out of the Box" will open your heart to the unconscious world of people's deep motives, a 'secret garden' that is invisible to almost everyone. But this garden is "hidden in plain view!" The authors guide you to readily see through the facade of casual social interaction into people's souls.

"Out of the Box" has been a gift of multiple breakthroughs:
* in my understanding of people generally
* in my ability to reach and make a difference for the people I care about
* in my self-development as a business coach and husband.

The writing is deep and rich, replete with wisdom. The book is all substance with zero fluff. The authors have chosen their words very carefully to convey precise messages clearly.

"Out of the Box" is more than deep: It is also breezy and entertaining. It is an easy read because of its many stories of deep encounters with real people. It brings peoples' deep motives alive in your heart as well as your mind. The authors appeal to your heart for deep transformation. Any experienced coach knows how key this is. Many teachers teach this, but "Out of the Box" demonstrates how to do it.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know people deeply, and especially for those who care to help people become the "Captains of their Souls." You will be better able to guide someone you care about past their submerged "rocks in the water" to safe harbor in the land of their dreams.

This book is clearly written and concise. The writers speak out of their actual coaching experience, so the book is applied, not theoretical -- refreshing in its brevity and simplicity.

Each chapter is centered around a few examples of the coaching trajectory with actual clients, adapted to illustrate the central strengths, challenges and qualities of each style. The end of each chapter moves beyond the specific examples to offer a broad collection of tips and observations gleaned from years of coaching experience with the various types.

The book has the weaknesses of its strengths. It is focused, clear, direct, and immediately usable in coaching and counseling situations. It also makes no pretense of being theoretical; it is a hands-on text. Although it may help clients break out of the box, the book itself does not. It is a solid work-horse but not a stand-alone text; for the sake of integrity coaches will want to seek out more theoretically rigorous and more deeply elaborated enneagram books to fully utilize the practical information in "Out of the Box."

Again, Tom House gives excellent advice and scientific information to help coaches and parent develop good healthy young pitchers. A must read for pitching coaches and parents of potential pitchers.

I've been coaching my son in his pitching for the last four years now, and this is definitely the best book on technique and skill development I've ever encountered. It really breaks down the sequence of motion, gives pertinent and effective drills to use and deals with both the physical and mental aspects of pitching. Tom House really knows his stuff!

If you're just starting to pitch or have been pitching for years this book is defiantly for you. This book defiantly answered some of the questions that I had about pitching. My arm had been hurting early in the season for about the past three years. As I was reading I came upon a section that told you how to take care of your arm but, it also told you how to make it stronger in the off season. If you're having trouble getting guys out on a 0-2 pitch they give new pitches to try.
The person that wrote this book, Tom House, is defiantly in front of his time when it comes to pitching. He was a major league pitching coach for a number of years, so you know that it's going to be valuable things that you're learning. One of the best things that I liked about this book is that it had major leaguers telling their experiences with the book and that it actually helped their pitching game.
In this book it doesn't just tell you how to keep your arm in shape or throwing new pitches. It also teaches you how to make your arm stronger so you can get more velocity on your fastball. It gives you about 25 different lifts with dumb bells that work your rotator cuff. It also gives you stretches that can make your arm much more limber so you can get more velocity on your ball.
I really like this book and I think that it's is perfect for all pitching ages. I liked it because it gave major league advice. It was a book written by a very respectable pitching coach that defiantly knows his stuff. You know that when you pick up this book you are going to get very valuable information. I know that if I ever have a question about pitching then I know where to look.

The Pitching Edge was written by the former pitching coach of the Texas Rangers. He was innovative and sometimes controversial. This tome is comprehensive, covering the physical, training and mental aspect of being a quality pitcher. The book is not necessarily aimed at youth, but I have used the to help my under 10 year old player learn the basics.

I found that some of the language in the book to be loosely used and obtuse. Therefore I doubt that a young reader would get everything the book has to offer. However, especially when used in conjunction with the companion video, this book is a great springboard for the young pitcher when guided by an adult. (See my review of the video for more detail)

One qualifier is required. House does not agree that young pitchers should be restricted from throwing breaking pitches. That was against convention when the book was released 10 years ago and convention has not changed. For further reference you could check the USABaseball web site for a great positon paper. Simply add (slash)med_position_statement(dot)html to the root url to see the page. These athletes are at beginning of their pro careers and this statement is about how to get them to this state.
I give my ranking about all the other items in the book exclusive of the breaking pitch advice for youth pitchers. I have not allowed my young pitcher to start throwing those types of pitches for fear of arm injury.

I wish this book was around when I was pitching in high school and college. It would have helped me in countless ways (better fundamentals, skill work, and specific exercises for pitchers). Now I'm 44 and pitching in an over 40 league!

If you are in high school or older I highly recommend this book. Dad, it would be good for you to read and then use it to teach a younger baseball player. If you are a high school or college coach, you OWE it to your kids to read this and help them.

Good Luck.

Fantasy football is about having fun and humiliating your friends and colleagues at the same time. This book captures that mentality perfectly.

There have been other books where the history of fantasy sports are explored, journeys are made to interview fantasy luminaries, etc. Not here. This is the story of a fantasy football season from start to finish. The participants are all regular joes, and they do what most fantasy owners do. There is talk about the psychology of drafting, trade offers, in-season trash talking, and many other things that make fantasy sports worth playing. I felt like they were telling the story of my league.

Barmack and Handelman do a great job of writing. The book never becomes mundane or boring. The writing is witty, and the different aspects of the fantasy season are presented in all of their glory. Each owner has a distinct personality. Even though they are each labeled as a specific fantasy sports archetype, the authors do a good job of keeping them relatable and human instead of becoming caricatures.

My only complaint is the many Top 10 lists in this book. They often don't even relate to the content. It feels like filler inserted to make sure this book achieved a respectable page count. That's a minor quibble. The reader can easily avoid these.

This is a great book for fantasy sports lovers and those who tolerate them.

This book really makes you take a step back and examine your addiction to Fantasy Football. It is a must read for wives that just don't get the importance.

Hilarious!! I actually bought this book as a kind of a joke for my husband who lives for his Fantasy League during football season..... But as I was sitting around one day, I started to read it and found it totally entertaining, a great read for the Fantasy Football players and their football widow wives as well.

Having recently read the superb "Committed, Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie." by Mark St. Amant, I bought "Why Fantasy Football Matters" in the hope that it would be just as good. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed and it did not compare favourably with St. Amant's book. Too many ham-fisted tangents into irrelevant and distracting lists, not enough substance.

"Why Fantasy Football Matters (and our lives do not)" by Erik Barmack and Max Handelman

One word sums up this book best.

Captivating.

I picked up "Why Fantasy Football Matters (and our lives do not)" and finished it within two days. It was hard to put down because every new chapter takes the reader along the next adventure of a leagues FF season. If you play fantasy football you will enjoy reading this in-depth look at a typical fantasy football league by Barmack and Handelman.

I loved the references to movies and other cultural icons like Bill O' Reilly, Seinfeld, Wile E Coyote, Cool Hand Luke, the Muppets and even DR Seuss. Sure some of the lists were for issues that are not of particular importance to me; however, for the most part, they were an enjoyable look back into some iconic moments from my past.

I especially enjoyed Chapter 20 "Rage Against The Experts E-Mail". It has an excellent diatribe about "expert advice and analysis" and the sometimes stupid questions (and answers) FF columnists get and give. I think every fantasy fooballer has had these thoughts on one occasion or another. It was good to see them in print!!!

As far as criticism, do not expect too much fantasy football wisdom from this book. Just sit back, read it and enjoy the ride. It does have an occasional morsel of knowledge, but if you are into fantasy football these "tips" and "strategies" will be well known by you now.
Another albeit small criticism is that "Why Fantasy Football Matters" was published in 2006, so some of the references to the fantasy football season may seem a bit old to new readers. But this does not distract from the obvious humor in these references.

All-in-all, this is an entertaining book that examines the stereotypical thoughts and actions of a 12 man fantasy football league from pre-season through their post season blues. I guarantee something in the book will remind you of your league and make you laugh out loud. Along similar lines if you enjoy this book you will also love "Committed, Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie." by Mark St. Amant which I have also reviewed (and others have mentioned in previous reviews). It too is a humorous look at a fantasy football league's season and the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF).

Sam Hendricks, Author of "Fantasy Football Guidebook" and "Fantasy Football Almanac"

This is a keystone book for practical Christian coaching. Dr. Collins provides great examples from his personal story, as well as the experience of many other coaches. He includes a model of coaching which establishes a foundation for academic discussion. A pleasant surprise is the many bibliographical references which provided treasured information for my research on this topic.

I bought this book as a requirement to one of my graduate classes. It is a good book on mentoring and relationship building, not coaching as in athletics though some of the points could be used in athletic coaching. The essence of the book is comparable to 'life coaching' except it is within a christian context.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in Christian coaching or counseling. Whether you are new to coaching or have only been a counselor, or are a pastor you need to be aware of this way of helping people become the best that they can be. This book will be one of your handbooks.

Secular books on coaching include basic premises that are at odds with the core tenants of the Christian faith. This book aligns coaching principles with those tenants.

Collins wrote the textbook used by many seminaries to teach Christian counseling. Collins here applies his wisdom to the field of Christian coaching. (He explains the difference well)

Coaching is a good leadership development tool as well as a tool for helping people to escape hurts and hang-ups. It is different from counseling in that it does not require the coach to be the all-wise counselor, and it helps the coached person to see on their own what steps need to be taken. (Similar to Carl Rogers)

Coaching is a useful tool for a church or group to help each other to grow.

I had never coached before and was placed in the position of coaching my son's first grade basketball team at a local league. I was nervous not knowing what to do about coaching, not having ever taught or coached 5 or 6 year old boys. The book was extremely helpful in breaking down the fundamentals of basketball and helping with drills and basic concepts of basketball. Although we have only had about 5 practices so far, it's gone very smoothly because of the tips in this book. I highly recommend getting it to help set a basic foundation for new parent coaches who have no clue on what to do.

The only area that may need help is what to teach kids regarding basic offensive strategy. But that will develop with age.

I was asked to coach my son's basketball team and I didn't know much about basketball. This book got me quickly started with the key fundamentals.

Covers basketball fundamentals and team coaching. Many great drills. Best suited for the younger teams - but a wonderful starting place for coaching youth basketball.

It was my first time coaching basketball. I coached 1st graders. I coached because nobody else volunteered to do it. With that in mind this book was perfect. It has all the basics you need to understand the game and it provides planned practices according to players age.
If you are ever in my situation with little knowledge of the game and forced to coach a kids team, I highly recommend this book.

I bought 4 basketball coaching books for my husband when he signed up to coach our son's Kindergarten basketball team. He has never coached basketball before. This is the only book he wanted to keep. He uses it to come up with basic drills and general coaching tips. It's good. If you buy only one, I'd recommend this one.

Very informative. Not written in the most exciting format but has great advice to help your writting skills in e-mail.

Email Power "... is a coaching and training method to help you create trust and rapport, reduce conversation time, and increase the quality of your relationships. Ultimately, it is to get what you want from every email you send. The foundation of most of the book is based on The Language Response System, a process for analyzing email conversations and determining the emotion, tone, and communication style of the people with whom you're corresponding - all in 60 seconds.

It then teaches you how to respond to a sender using the correct language response. You learn how to enter the world of your client, customer, employer, [colleague], or friend and respond in a way they can understand creating the results you desire. You can transform your relationships one message at a time and The Language Response System can get you there."

I used this book to teach an Email Power course to state government staff. Immediately, the quality of the participants' writing became more convincing and resulted in clear understanding with little misunderstanding and conflict. Email is the major language of business, government, and non-profits today. Therefore, it provides the best means for studying and applying the Language Response System. Furthermore, most of the class participants used the techniques they learned in all of their communications media, including conversation.

The Language Response System is a powerful communications system, and the book, Email Power, is a classic at the level of On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I enthusiastically recommend it to everyone who writes and speaks on the job.

Highly recommended!! I didnt realize it until I saw this book that possibly 75-90% of my interaction with clients and coworkers is by email, and I wondered "Am I communicating effectively??" Sometimes, but not always. This book helped me focus my writing style, word selection, and language in order to best communicate with my target audience, to make a connection, in the most effective way.

Also the book gets to each point quickly, summarizes all key points and accumulates them in a "checklist" form (I really need that), and is set up nicely for easy future reference. It also provides helpful insight into improving your verbal and visual communication skills in general.

A very appropriate book for our "digital times". Signed, Bank Executive

Thank you for opening my eyes to my communication errors. More and more of todays sales connections are being done via E-mail. My use of E-mail has been one of a "get to the point" communication style. I never gave much thought to what the person receiving the E-mail was going to feel or think, I assumed they would know. After implementing Mr. Griffiths tools of E-mail, I got the interview, negotiated the salary I wanted and now have a new and rewarding sales position.

Email Power: The Ultimate Guide is a how-to book for making the most of email communication written especially for CEOs, executives, salespeople, entrepreneurs, students, and anyone else in the academic or professional world. Chapters address how to recognize the communication styles of email one sends or receives, how to tighten one's writing so that one's message is immediately accessible, how to navigate the emotional terrain of email that may contain volatile emotions or attacks ("flames"), common acronyms and emoticons in email, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended, especially in the modern era of cyber-communication.

I am not sure this style is for everyone. I am trying to get strong which requires heavy weight and low reps. I think using "high intensity" training will cause you to burn out before you build up. This method can take you only so far. Then you will have to change your workout plan.

I am a 41 year old Army Lieutenant Colonel and fitness is part of my job and life. For roughly the past 25 years, I have been a gym rat. I spend a great deal of time on-line and reading books on strength training and bodybuilding. HIT training is something that intrigues me, because of all the stuff that I read from Arthur Jones, Dan Riley, Mike Mentzer, Dorian Yates, and Ellington Darden.

I bought Coach Philbin's book and was impressed by the logic of the methods. After reading it and doing some more digging, I was really surprised to see that his facility is within an hour drive of where I live. I was recently able to go there and get a workout with one of Coach Philbin's trainers. It was phenomenal! The workout was exactly as presented in the book - short, intense and effective.

Because of my training, I need more than theory to become a believer. The book is a great manual, but the workout reinforced it in spades.

Concise and to-the-point read. I highly recommend it for gym rats like me.

John Philbin's book has many good points and I learned a few things I will apply to my personal workouts. However, in some respects, he makes High Intensity Training much more complicated than it needs to be for a majority of people. Overall, it is a decent book, but I think newer trainees looking for basic information on HIT may wish to look elsewhere.

The sections I enjoyed included his discussions of "time under tension" as a third progression factor in addition to repetitions and weight. This is a handy way for people to measure the pacing of their repetitions.

Another section I found useful was the section on nutrition and sleep and recovery in general. I think many people who lift weights do not pay enough attention to this area.

The sections I found a little complex and perhaps not as accessible to many included his areas for workout structure and his section on excercises. I think many people would benefit from just learning a few basic exercises, such as squat, deadlift, overhead press, dips, chin-ups, and bench press, and learning to be intense on those before worrying about much smaller movements which are listed in this book.

I guess I was a little bothered by the "micro" details of working out, when at its heart HIT is simple to understand but difficult to execute. The basic premise is to work VERY hard and VERY briefly. However, perhaps John Philbin is trying to further the science of HIT with his experience, and perhaps my personal bias towards effective simplicity taints my review.

In any case, this book is good, although I think those interested and new to HIT should check out The New High Intensity Training by Ellington Darden.

Coach Philbin's professional reputation caused me to try a block of personal training sessions with him. But I was a little apprehensive. So I read his book during the first two weeks of training. The ability to understand his philosophy and approach proved invaluable. I was able to develop a comfort level with the quality of his program. Some fifty training sessions later it is apparent that the book accurately captures Coach's intensity, expertise and dedication. If you can't train with him personally - train with the book in your gym bag.

I have some of the greatest workouts since reading this book. I also enjoyed getting workout tips from a professional strength & conditioning coach (which I am also in school for) so I can learn how the best athletes in the world train. The book also goes great with my exercise physiology class so it helps me study too.

Kelly and company hit the market in their new book "Master Team Leadership". Instead of offering the "do's and don'ts" so often prescribed in other management mantra, the authors help their readers examine thier own leadership issues in a series of cleverly crafted dialogues. The dialogues represent authentic interviews in a real life context between a manager and an executive coach. In these dialogues, the managers share issues while a coach listens in a consultory capacity.

These dialogues serve as models for anyone who is leading a team. Ask yourself: "Have you ever known that you are supposed to act as a coach in a particular situation, but not known how to really do that?" If so, the answer to that question and more on coaching is covered in this book.

Along with the dialogues are descriptions and examples of the behaviors that a good coach elicits during those difficult conversations with team members.

Moreover, the model illustrates an empowering leadership posture, a coaching-based approach towards leading a team, and the necessary skills associated with successful team leadership.

In an age where so many books are story based, this text helps readers to gain a concrete understanding of the fundamentals of coaching. The practical paperback would be ideal to accompany any workshops on training managers, supervisors or line employees on coaching behaviors or for any workshops with a coaching component.

QUICK TO THE POINT AND EFFECTIVE!

To illustrate each of the seven coaching skills, there is a sample coaching session which shows how a coach would hone in and discuss each skill area. Very artfully done. The authors are all executive coaches and you can tell they are skilled practioners instead of academics.

This is a very clear, sharp guide that addresses a common on-the-job problem -- although many can follow, few can lead, and even fewer know they can lead when they land the leadership position.

What impressed me most was the excellent packaging of the idea -- using the seven skills (with the acronym), the lists of questions, the step-by-step plans, the boxed tips, and the self assessments to help reinforce learning and retention.

The sample dialogues were particularly helpful. Even when you give people specific instructions, seeing them acted out successfully by others can be exactly what's needed for complete understanding.

Mastering Team Leadership is a very straightforward guide to mastering communications skills in a group environment. Technology has served to accentuate the need for these skills. Mark Kelly provides and framework for pulling the team together and getting everybody pulling in the same direction. This book is a good read for all team members wishing to develop their team skills.

I have two sons so I was very interested in hearing how Claude Harmon raised his four boys. It seemed he was very harsh with them, encouraging competition between them and at times belittling them. I've worried sometimes about being too demanding with my sons. But after reading this book I began to feel that, in the long run, it is a good thing. Some of the Harmon boys went through intense periods of rebellion but they all seemed to honor family above all else.

Now, about golf. A book like this made me realize all I have to learn in playing golf. I'm a 9 handicap but this showed me that there is a world of knowledge to learn about this sport. And yet, Claude Harmon would also continually return to the basics of grip, allignment and balance. I think I will play better golf and enjoy it more after reading this.

One note: this is Butch Harmon's point of view and, as such, many might claim it leaves out a lot. That's to be expected. I'm sure that Butch is no saint, and he's made a bundle playing and teaching golf. But it's still a good book that you'll enjoy.

There is way too much information about Tiger Woods in this book and not enough about Claude Harmon. Who cares whether Tiger did his first long TV interview on Oprah? So what if people clapped for Tiger in a restaurant in Vegas? Most people who haven't been living in a cave for the last ten years are aware of how great Tiger is and what a record he has amassed. I understand that a teacher is proud of his student, but I can read that stuff in Tiger's book. And Butch goes on far too long about how important it is for people to learn from as many sources as possible. It really sounds like Butch is mad or insecure about Tiger leaving him.
On the positive side, there are a few good stories about Claude Harmon and some of the greats from his era.

You don't need to be a golfer to enjoy this book. I'd been playing golf all of three weeks when this book was loaned to me. The title of the book is apt. The lessons indeed apply both to life and golf. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Excellent copy arrived in a timely fashion. A pleasure to do business with.

The Pro; I though it was a very good read, It;s nice to know about others, and how they were able to get started.

Playing lessons ;I did not carefor at all.