OT: Recommended reading on coaching philosophies
MGoBoard, please recommend your favorite text on the topic of coaching/leadership philosophies. I volunteer coach youth (ages 5-7) sports and would like to instill a few ideals of growth, competition, sportmanship, etc. This is difficult if you yourself have a lot to learn on the subject! I could see recommendations in a few areas:
- Simplified stories for youths to read that demonstrate leadership, etc
- Reading for adults on the topic of teaching youth about leadership, competition, etc.
- General reading for adults on philosphies of leadership, competition, etc.
[EDIT - and here is a mostly compiled list. I am going to start with the first two books
- Brian McKormick's 'The 21st Century Basketball Practice'
- Inch and MIles was written for children and written BY John Wooden
- "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" by Bill Walsh
- Work Rules' by Laszlo Bock (HR VP at Google
- Matt Christopher books
- The Power of Negative Thinking - Bob Knight
- "Knight" by Bobby Knight.
- "Tribal Leadership"
- "Wooden: A lifetime of observation and reflections on and off the court"
- Quiet Strength - Tony Dungy
- Blue Book and 'The Inner Game of Tennis' by John Wooden
- Managing Magnetball
- "Competitive Leadership: Twelve Principles for Success" By Brian Billick.
- "The Education of a Coach".
- "A Season of Life" by Jeffrey Marx
- The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril
]
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
Just make sure they're drinking whole milk, they'll be fine.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
end of thread.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
The Art of War, by Sun Szu.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
He might as well pick up "The Book of Five Rings" and get the major East Asian philosophy and strategic thinking texts out of the way ("Bushido" is a bit too Samurai specific to make much sense in this context).
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Just yell "huddle the fuck up" a lot.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
- Run to Daylight by Vince Lombardi with W. C. Heinz
- Instant Replay, the Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer by Jerry Kramer and Dick Schaap
- Football's Greatest Coach: Vince Lombardi by Gene Schoor
- The Lombardi Legacy: Thirty People who were Touched by Greatness by Royce Boyles and Dave Robinson
- Coach: A Season With Lombardi by Tom Dowling
- By Their Works: Profiles of Men of Faith Who Made a Difference by Stephen Singular
- When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss
- Vince by Michael O'Brien
- Vince Lombardi "A Life" by: The Editors Of New World City
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
And writing letters to various college coaches on advice about going into coaching, Kirk Ferentz recommended "The Education of a Coach". I'd recommend that too.
John Wooden (yes, he had some flaws, but...) also has several good books on the subject of being a coach, mentor, and leader that are worth reading.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
That book was written in '06, how young are you? I'm 29 and have coached for a while. Your wealth of knowledge is that much more impressive, I always assumed you were 40-50. I've read your posts for years (diff account names) and you know your stuff, inside and out. Keep up the quality contributions, I think I might just order that book!
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
*younger
I was in college at the time. The book was originally written in '05 I think though.
And yes, Ferentz was probably just recommending a newer book about his friend, but it was actually a quality read.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
I'm a coaching junkie regardless of the sport. You got any other quality recomendations?
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:49 AM ^
I find most coaching books are either very specific (for example in football: Teach the Spread QB) or way too high level to take too much out of it. I agree with your recommendations of John Wooden, as I think he's an exception. Bo's Lasting Lessons and other ones of that nature are good for Michigan fans. I've found most other topics you learn through experience (through coaching, teaching in general, or just interacting with kids) and other coaches as well or better than you do from books.
And that's not to completely discredit a lot of coaches that try to write books, I just think most of them write books about their experience and philosophy, and most that write books also are successful, and that's great, but for the most part you're reading some general guidelines these people live by and not learning much that can improve your own ability to coach. I mean, hell, "The Winners Guide" by Jim Tressel honestly isn't a bad read, but then you know what happened in reality, and it just reminds you that a lot of what's written is really a glorified view of coaching and doesn't always help in reality.
I would recommend "Knight" though, by Bobby Knight. I'm a big fan of Bob Knight, and the book is absolutely bias, and from that standpoint it's quite entertaining. And in all honesty, I agree with a lot of the things he says even if my coaching methods differ greatly from his.
April 22nd, 2015 at 11:21 AM ^
In a similar vein, back in the day, Jim Herrmann recommended the book "Competitive Leadership: Twelve Principles for Success" By Brian Billick. Apparently this was Lloyd Carr required reading or something.
I remember liking it but it's been at least 10 years since I've read it.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
I'm looking forward to the serious answers in this thread. I coach 5/6 soccer and would love to have some more insight into coaching philosopies.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
you need at that age are have fun and be nice to eachother.
not /s
Teach proper sportsmanship, teach them the basic techniques, most of all stress to them that this is supposed to be fun, so go out there and enjoy yourselves!
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^
Some kids will fall apart if they lose a one-on-one drill. Some see only winning/losing and miss that both outcomes have valuable lessons. Some fear competition because they may lose.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
Managing Magnetball
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
I don't know which sport you're talking about, but take a look at coachhuey.com (it's football). I'd go to the youth section and post your question there. They also have some threads on offense and defense at the youth level if you are coaching football (seems young for football, but idk).
I will tell you that your job as coach is basically to make sure that you have the proper number of players on the field. I've never coached, but I have reffed kids before, and it's a blast, but those kids have no idea what is going on. There is a ball on the field and they are going to try to do something to that ball, but that's about as much as you can expect out of that age group. I got into reffing for the same reasons that you listed and I think that's the right direction for you to go at that age level.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
this book is all you need for the age groups you are working with. Inch and MIles was written for children and written BY John Wooden. It explores the different character traits one needs to be successful in life, in a kids terms. Good read, we broke it down in one of my college Coaching Philosophies courses once...
http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Miles-The-Journey-Success/dp/0756914108
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
by Tony Dungy
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
I want to read The Matheny Manifesto. Sounds good. I love how he diagnoses the problem at the heart of youth sports and it starts with parents and coaches.
Also, as we all know, he's a Michigan grad. Bonus.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
First thing is set up a schedule for your practice. Set up drills that help them learn fundamentals. Also get some other parents involved to help run the drills, you can find all kinds of drills on YouTube if you don't know any. You will want to break the kids up into small groups 3 or 4 to a group is a good number. Any more and they tend to get bored and start goofing off.
Also teach them how to win and loose. Yes it's ok to celebrate when you win, but do it in a way that is respectful. When you loose teach them to use it as motivation to get better.
Also keep rotating the kids around to learn different positions.
As far as kids 5-7 reading, maybe the little engine that could or the hare and the turtle story. I think you should try to instill in them more about how fun sports can be over trying to get them into sports philosophy.
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April 22nd, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
Just throwing my $0.02 but I found "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" by Bill Walsh to be a pretty interesting read. This may be because I was going through a West Coast offence/why am I not smart enough to go to Stanford phase at the time.
To throw a completely off the wall one in, I'm currently reading 'Work Rules' by Laszlo Bock (HR VP at Google). It is not directly analogous to what you asked for but it does discuss some of the research they have done into motivation and retention.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
at that age (5-7) its mostly going to be about developing base skills by simple repetition and positive reenforcement when the player does something right. Most coaching clinics will tell you to de-emphasize winning games and keeping stats. European hockey development programs really do this very successfully however here in america parents seem to want games and stats which is not really best for the kids. Individual development and improvement relative to the kids initial skills are whats important and not comparative performances. If you are coaching baseball, as thats in season right now, thats a tough sport particularly batting as some kids can hit and some just cannot. So keeping kids upbeat when they strike out the 30th time in a row can be challlenging but thats your task.
Now if you are coaching older kids-teens or young adults and need more psychological approaches, I would recommend a book that Pete Carroll credits for inspiration. That is The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey. As a player (hockey) I was always interested in why some games I would be on fire and everything went my way then there were games that were just the opposite. Sometimes the games I would think about more seemed to be my worst performances. This book gets into that as to why and how you should prepare your mind for competition, anyway its interesting reading for older athletes-high school and up.
April 22nd, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
Thanks for taking the time to type that out. I would add that understanding or having a philosophy would position a coach to put things in perspective for players who are frustrated with their lack of improvement or inability to win.
My goal isn't so much to hit them over the head with philosophy but to be able to provide answers, if needed. I learned far to late in life to see one's deficiencies as opportunities.
to start over."
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
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April 22nd, 2015 at 11:40 AM ^
Harbaugh
April 22nd, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^
Has anyone heard of the "Harbaugh Handshake"? It's very inappropriate so dont look it up.
April 22nd, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^
April 22nd, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
Have kids age 5 up to 13 in various programs, built / building them from the ground up. The kids will learn from your words, your attitude, the atmosphere you create and promote.
I strongly recommend Brian McKormick's 'The 21st Century Basketball Practice' for any sport. It looks at various approaches to coaching and how kids respond. Excellent & my #1 choice, no matter the sport (I have also coached youth baseball, soccer, and am doing some cricket this year, but the book applies to all).
Wooden's Blue Book and 'The Inner Game of Tennis' have been great motivators and philosophical guides for me. I've rec'd Wooden for parents frequently, with positive feedback.
Of course I love 'Bo's Lasting Lessons', and his overall themes of honesty, decisiveness, principles, and giving people a chance to become better resonate.
The 'Inside Youth Sports' website has good stuff in it sometimes. I'm also on 'Breakthrough Basketball' a lot, though that is more sport-specific.
Kids play sports for fun, friendship, some degree of success / improvement, with winning way down the list. Make them want to come back, have fun, meet friends, and they will get hooked by athletics. Plan every practice, let kids make decisions and mistakes, give them variety, be steady and unbiased.
The greatest coaching book I've ever read is "A Season of Life" by Jeffrey Marx. It follows a high school football team whose basic covenant is develop "men build for others." I think it can apply to any coach in any sport male or female. I literally read it in a weekend and it completely changed my approach to coaching. Highly recomend.
The Basketball Philosophy of Pete Carril.
This not a fundamental or broad theory book like many already mentioned but it has snippets of greatness.
Toughness - Jay Bilas
The Saban book is unreal. I am a varsity high school coach and I've made coaches and players read it in our program.
Relentless is also another solid book.
April 22nd, 2015 at 10:50 PM ^