Five Books That Every Coach Should Read

Coaching involves more than sports knowledge. Unfortunately, when we imagine a coach, we imagine the sport-specific attributes. People evaluate coaches on the visible, which occurs during games, and the tangible, which are the results. However, most coaching occurs at practice. The public criticizes a coach for his timeout usage or his player rotation and use these criticisms to determine the coach's worth. However, timeout usage and substitution patterns hardly determine a coach's worth, especially in comparison to the list of a coach's essential duties and attributes for success.

Knowing your sport is important. However, most youth coaches understand enough about their sport to coach at a youth level. They may not be experts, but neither are the athletes. Rather than focus on sport-specific skills and strategic situations, coaches should seek other ways to enhance their coaching. The following five books are useful for any coach looking to improve his coaching ability, rather than obtain more sport-specific information.

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

Waitzkin is an international chess and judo champion. His father wrote Searching for Bobby Fischer about Josh's formative years as a chess prodigy. Waitzkin credits his ability to learn for his championship success in diverse disciplines. His book offers a unique look into the mind of a champion and his learning process, which is an educational process for any coach, regardless of his pedigree as an athlete.