The best coaching books of 2014

1. Bill Bryson: The Home; A short history of everyday life. Interesting look at how domestic life developed in the 19th century in UK and USA.
2. Michael Connelly: The scarecrow. Novel about serial killer and journalist who tracks him down.
3. Vince Lombardi: Run to daylight. Classic account of a week in the life of head coach of the Green Bay Packers
4. Martin Rees: Before the beginning, our Universe and others. Early book from the astronomer royal includes some speculation about the multiverse. Excellent summary of science research methodology and flaws.
5. Chris Hargreaves: Where’s your caravan? Entertaining if rambling, account of his life as a footballer and making the transition to ex player.
6. Insideout coaching: Joe Ehrmann. Emotive story about transformational coaching from this ex NFL player.
7. The black box: Michael Connelly. Detective novel with Harry Bosch, return to form after a few duds.
8. Therapeutic Stretching: Eyal Lederman. Excellent example of good coaching, using research and practical experience, about ways to improve range of motion.
9. Give and Take: Adam Grant. Ideas about giving in work, rather than just at home. How to give without burnout or being a door mat.
10. Rivers of London: Ben Aaronovitch. Fun fiction about modern day magic in London. Similar to Terry Pratchett.
11. How to be fit: Robert Kiphuth. Old text from 1956 with 8 week programme of calisthenic type exercises to maintain physical condition. Good for postural work.
12. The New York Trilogy: Paul Auster. Bizarre post modern detective books in one linked volume. I got lost!
13. The Sports Gene: David Epstein. Thorough overview of importance of genetics in sports and how environment interacts with those genes.
14. The science of running: Steve Magness. Good book about middle distance training. Training aspects are excellent, biomechanics/resistance training less so.
15. Jurassic Park: Michael Crichton. Classic techno adventure, page turner.
16. House of cards: Michael Dobbs. Political intrigue novel.
17. Once a week is enough: David Scott. Excellent read about working in local newspapers. Too many typos though!
18. Confessions of a g.p.: Dr Benjamin Daniels. Part of world book night, entertaining insights into life of a young Dr.
19. The singularity is near: Ray Kurzweil. Hard going book about technology predictions. Had to break my rule and read it in 2 parts. Tech enthusiasts only.
20. An introduction to athlete development: K. B. Giles. A practical guide to physical development, good ideas about session plans.
21. The sign of four: Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes story where Watson meets his future wife.
22. This isn’t a textbook: K.B.Giles. Very entertaining and informative read about working with top level sports people.
23. Before the frost comes: Henning Mankell. Detective novel seen from perspective of Linda Wallender (Kurt’s daughter).
24. Winning Matters: Frank Dick. Great inspirational read about setting up winning organisations. Getting better every day is winning.
25. Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World. Niall Ferguson. Historical account of export of political, military, economical, social and religious ideas around the world. Then its rapid decline.
26. The hidden persuaders:Vance Packard. Classic text about marketing strategies and duping the public into wanting things they don’t need. Mad Men esque.
27. Top Dog: Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman. Short book about what makes competitors tick: environment, genes and social structures. Extensive references at the end.
28. Helmand assault: Ewen Southby-Taylor. Review of 3 commando brigade’s 7 month operational tour of Helmand Province.
29. The Undisputed Truth: Mike Tyson. Gripping story about rise and fall of this ferocious boxer. Drugs and addiction very graphically described.
30. 4 disciplines of execution: Covey. Very good ideas on how to execute Wildly Important Goals amongst the whirlwind of daily life. Need to follow the tasks in the book.
31. Firewall: Henning Mankell. Particularly bleak detective novel with Wallander.
32. In praise of slow: Carl Honoré. Why doing things at the right pace is beneficial. Written in 2004, seems more relevant now with mindfulness being en vogue. Good ideas, but big flaws and assumptions made: journalist trying to cover too much with anecdotes.
33. An astronaut’s guide to life on earth: Chris Hadfield. Excellent and inspiring book about the importance of sweating small stuff, humility and perseverance.
34. The return of Sherlock Holmes: Conan Doyle. Collection of short stories about the detective.
35. In this corner…! Peter Heller. Excellent compliation of 40 interviews with world champion (American) boxers from 1920s -1970s. Mentioned in Tyson’s book, some hard stories in there. Importance of road work and clean living mentioned by all the boxers.
36. Soldier: General Sir Mike Jackson. Autobiography about the chief of the general staff, including insights into Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Bosnia. Intelligent, thoughtful and insightful, especially about the Army’s future and its part in nation building.
37. Hotel: Arthur Hailey. 1965 novel about 4 days in a New Orleans hotel,  bestseller at the time. Racial prejudices expressed overtly, underlying sexism revealing of attitudes in workplace then. Coincidence that, like my career, it followed straight after soldier!
38. Willpower: rediscovering our greatest secret. Roy Baumeister & John Tierney. Great book analysing the lost virtue of willpower and how it underpins successful behaviours. Covers a wide spectrum from the failure of diets to bringing up children.
39. Sport and recreation in ancient Greece: Waldo E. Sweet. Interesting research on the old sports. Aimed at undergraduates with questions, nice insights.
40. Greybeard: Brian Aldiss. Classic SF novel, recently re released. A bleak look at a future England where no children have been born for 40 years. Extremely well written and thought provoking.
41. Drive: Daniel Pink. Interesting, if albeit lightweight, read about intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards and motivation. Drive is enhanced through autonomy, mastery and purpose.
42. Mindset: Carol Dweck. Very interesting and thought provoking read about human potential. Good to see a female view point on things; vastly underrepresented in this type of literature.
43. Raising Steam: Terry Pratchett. Trainspotters delight about the new railway on discworld. Far less fantasy in these novels now compared to colour of magic.
44. Motor Learning in practice, a constraints led approach: Renshaw, Davids & Savelsbergh (eds). A very useful book on coaching using task and environmental constraints. Introduction and boxing chapters are duffs: pretentious academic twaddle. The other chapters (particularly Renshaw) offer really useful insights and practical examples.
45. Educational Gymnastics: Inner London Education Authority. Great little book on how to teach gymnastics to primary school children.
46. Berlin: Antony Beevor. Story of the last days of German collapse in World War II. Savage brutality, futility of it all, utter madness. Tough read, but puts other things into perspective.
47. His Last Bow: Conan Doyle. Collection of short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.
48. The Mechanics of Athletics: Geoffrey Dyson. Classic biomechanics text from 1962 by then British Head Coach. Good diagrams, simple explanations.
49. Agincourt: Christopher Hibbert. A small but detailed account of this battle. Really interesting appendices too.
50. Olympic Gymnastics for Boys and Girls: Walter G Dunn. Useful progressions for simple gymnastics kit from 1981. Easy to understand, great for what I need to do.
51. Killing Pablo: Mark Bowden. Rather long and dull account of the hunt to kill Pablo Escobar. I was recommended this book, but had absolutely no interest in any of the main protagonists.
52. Finding your element: Ken Robinson. A lightweight book about helping you discover your real passions and aptitudes. Maybe good for younger people, or those stuck in a rut.
53. Sports Training Principles: Frank Dick. 6th edition of this excellent book. Guest authors featured on updated chapters on nutrition, strength, psychology. New layout includes excellent reflective questions.
54. Sporting supermen: Bernard Gallagher. Light relief as Wilson the Wonder, Alf Tupper and Roy of the Rovers are featured in this entertaining comic nostalgia.
55. Legacy 15 lessons on leadership:Jim Kerr. Short book using the All Blacks as a vehicle for learning about leadership and creating excellence from each member of the team. Very readable.
56. Show and tell: Dan Roam. Great visual book on how to present better. Broken into data and story telling.
57. When pride still mattered: David Maraniss. Outstanding biography of Vince Lombardi. Very detailed and thorough, shows how a coach’s philosophy was formed.

Look here for more ideas: Reading list 2013

  

Thanks, as always, to The Hayridge, World Book Night, Rob Frost, Patrick Phelvin and Pete Bunning for lending or donating. Abe books also highly recommended as cheap source of books.

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