What I’m Reading Now

Thank you Winning Hoops for this opportunity and a forum to share ideas. It might shock some of you that know me that I am not going to discuss Xs and Os in this first entry.   Trust me, I will have plenty of things to share with you on that down the road (been thinking about showing some of the latest plays I got from watching the Euroleague playoffs).  But for now, I want to share with you some book titles you should consider picking up.

First off, most coaches always purchase books written by other coaches.  It could be a football coach, a baseball coach or a cycling coach. The goal is to find some nugget of information or a suggestion to help you become a better teacher and coach.

However, there are some good books out there that you may have walked past during your last trip to Borders or Barnes and Noble. Note: You might want to walk past the “AIG Guide to Financial Management” or “I Can Make You Rich” by Bernie Madoff and save your money!

The first book is Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers form Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin. Colvin delves into some commonly held myths about performance and shows some interesting discoveries. Without giving too much away, I will tell you that some of these discoveries are things that good coaches already know. It is just nice to see it confirmed from another source, especially one usually associated with businesses. By the way, there is a great interview with the author on the Charlie Rose show that I would highly recommend as well. The link is

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9856

The second book is Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dr. Carol Dweck.  Dr. Dweck is a researcher in psychology and has done work with children and motivation.  Her studies have lead to the discovery of how a certain mindset or set of beliefs help individuals become successful. One chapter of her book discusses two of our most beloved coaching personalities, Bob Knight and John Wooden. Dr. Dweck also discusses how coaches and teachers can use these discoveries to help their students and players.

If you have these books already, let me know what you think.  I will be sharing more book suggestions with you in the future.