Recommended
Resources
Coaching and Mental Performance Resources
As a lifelong learner, I love to read and there are a lot of books that have helped me learn a great deal about coaching and Mental Performance Skills. I highly recommend all the books below and think that they will be helpful in your journey to mastery as a coach.
* In the effort to provide full disclosure, if you purchase a book or e-book from these links Amazon will provide me a small commission.*
Mental Performance Skills
It Takes What It Takes- Trevor Moawad
Moawad is Russell Wilson’s Mental Performance coach and the CEO of Limitless Minds, this is an excellent book that introduces the importance of maintaining a neutral mindset. An important take away that stuck with me after reading the book was the notion that for elite athletes that choice is actually a myth. It takes what it takes if the goal is greatness there is no other choice. I also found the notion that you want to avoid the peaks and valleys of being too positive or negative interesting. He teaches his athletes to strive for a state neutrality. Purchase the book here: https://amzn.to/2OS3Df0
The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*** Down- Simon Marshall and Lesley Patterson
I really enjoyed this book by the husband and wife team of a Sport Psychologist (Marshall) and an endurance athlete (Patterson). It provides a lot of really practical application for athletes to use as they try to master their minds. My favourite takeaway from this book was the concept of the battle in our brains between the Chimp brain and the Professor brain. They use this analogy to help illustrate the way the brain handles the anxiety that can occur during sport. It is an analogy that I have used with my students and athletes. Purchase this book here: https://amzn.to/2RA5JRH
The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer- Steven Kotler
I bought this book in February and by mid April I have already read it twice. Kotler has done an awesome job of outlining the blueprint for peak performance and how it help work in a state of Flow as much as possible. The steps that Kotler outlines to creating Flow are transferable to sport and coaching. This book has also impacted how I approach my own work and has led to increasing my productivity and changing work habits. This book is available here: https://amzn.to/3abunhU
Coaching Books
The Coaches Guide to Teaching -Doug Lemov
This an excellent book that should be mandatory reading for all coaches. It is a comprehensive examination how to become a more effective coach. Lemov explores how to become a better planner, communicator, improve feedback, check for understanding, build culture and understand how the development stage of athletes impacts how coaches should handle their athletes. Lemov has applied a ton of research on how athletes learn and respond to communication. I think it will be an important book for new coaches. I can not recommend it more highly. It is available here: https://amzn.to/3soV09y
Gridiron Genius: A Master Class in Team Building and Winning at the Highest Level- Michael Lombardi
Mike Lombardi has worked in the front offices of arguably the two best Football coaches in NFL history, Bill Walsh in San Francisco and Bill Belichick during his time in Cleveland as well as New England. Lombardi shares the strategies that Walsh and Belichick have used to win nine Super Bowls and how coaches, CEO’s or frankly anyone can use in their coaching. I really enjoy Lombardi’s analysis and have followed his work for the last ten years dating back to his time with Grantland. His podcast is excellent and provides really great insight into the challenges faced by coaches and front offices in the NFL. The book is available here: https://amzn.to/3e3Sikl
Tactical Periodization: A Proven Successful Training Method – Borndonau & Villleneuva
This is a soccer coaching book but I believe that there is a lot that coaches in most sports can take away. Tactical Periodization theorizes everything your team does should be geared around your game model. The game model encompasses how you will handle the four main phases of the game; attack, defense, transition to attack and transition to defense. All drills, skill work, even mental skills work should be done in a game like setting. It also creates frameworks for the physical load placed on athletes. I believe it is a revolutionary way of coaching, it is spreading to other sports. The book is available here: https://amzn.to/3a8zI9S
