Books for coaches to read

[hockeygod]

Since Christmas, I have finished reading several books on my reading list, started a few more and sourced out some additional books that interest me in the future.

Read:

Presentation Zen
Garr Reynolds

Creating Extra-Ordinary Teachers: Multiple Intelligences for the Classroom and Beyond
Branton Shearer

Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge
Bob Probert, Kirstie McLellan Day

The Making of Slap Shot : Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Hockey Movie
Jonathon Jackson

The Score Takes Care of itself: My Philosophy on Leadership (Bill Walsh)
Steve Jamison and Craig Walsh.

Win Forever: Live, Work and Play like a Champion
Pete Carroll, Yogi Roth, Kristoffer A. Garin

Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar
James Marcus Bach

The Dirty Truth:
T. J. Anderson

Always compete : an Inside Look at Pete Carroll and the USC Football Juggernaut
Steve Bisheff

Reading:

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
Lou Aronica, Sir Ken Robinson

The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent and IQ is Wrong
David Shenk

Think Smart
Richard Restak

Herb Brooks
John Gilbert

A Game Plan for Life : the Power of Mentoring
John Wooden

Urban's Way: Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators and his Plan to Win
Buddy Martin

Scorecasting : the Hidden Influences Behind how Sports are Played and Games are Won
Tobias J. Moskowitz

To Read:

The Winner's Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success
Jeff Brown, Mark Fenske

The Mentor Leader
Tony Dungey

Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer
Bruce Boudreau and Tim Leone

Eddie Shore and that Old Time Hockey
Michael C. Hiam

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
John C. Maxwell

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovations
Steven Johnson

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Daniel H. Pink

Selected: Why Some People Lead, Why Others Follow, and Why it Matters
Anjana Ahula, Mark Van Vugt

The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies and Expertise
Robert Sternberg, Elena L. Grigorenko

Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers and Changemakers
Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
Kathryn Schulz

The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Applied Intelligence
Robert J. Sternberg, James C. Kaufman, Elena L. Grigorenko

Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative
Sir Ken Robinson

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Eric Fink]

I just heard of a new book. "The Art of Scouting" Shane Malloy

I ordered it and it is on the way so I'll update more later. It's about the scouting process and what and how a NHL scout looks for and does. The author has a website and there are reviews listed if you simply google the name.

[Left Wing]

Eric wrote:
I just heard of a new book. "The Art of Scouting" Shane Malloy

I ordered it and it is on the way so I'll update more later. It's about the scouting process and what and how a NHL scout looks for and does. The author has a website and there are reviews listed if you simply google the name.

I want this too. I messaged Tom on Facebook asking Shane was related. He isnt 🙂

[hockeygod]

Shane was on a local Calgary radio show (FAN 960) last week promoting his new book. I have read the first chapter and look forward to getting into the 'meat' of the content.

Not sure if you have read Gare Joyce's "Future Greats and Heartbreaks" book about scouting – it came out a few years ago. He also wrote a blog for some time afterwards that he updated with some of his thoughts.

(PS Tom spells his last name with an "o", not an "a"!)

My experience mirrors what numerous pro coaches and scouts say – some of the qualities that are placed in high demand (after skillset) are competitiveness, work ethic and passion for the game. Maybe we should start a new topic for this? ("Player Qualities in Demand?)
—————————–
The Finnish association held a symposium for the IIHF about 4 years ago because the Russians didn't put one on while hosting the World Championships. I went and Kai was there as well.
It came down to raknkings like this.
1. Game intelligence.
2. Competitiveness.
3. Skating
4. Skill sets.
These were tought to predict the players success along with adequate size..

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

I just received an email from a company (PHE Canada) that I order books from. I just received this one about a month ago and it looks good. For any coaches looking to gain further insight on the "Game Sense" methodology, I would recommend you take a look at this book. The title is TGfU – Simply Good Pedagogy: Understanding a Complex Challenge. It is normally $49.95 but is on sale for $32.18 – I think it may have a time limit – check the site.

http://www.phecanada.ca/store/tgfu-simply-good-pedagogy-understanding-a-complex-challenge.html

The description is as follows:

A product of the 4th Annual International TGfU Conference
An ideal text for preservice teacher education programs!
This Canadian TGfU resource brings together the ideas and perspectives of leading global TGfU proponents as presented at the 4th International TGfU conference held in Canada. This text highlights the current research and practice from around the world in games teaching/coaching as inspired by the TGfU approach. A selection of accepted papers form the basis of the texts:

Learning to play games as a complex challenge
TGfU generating new ideas in the PE curriculum
Coaching approaches for developing game senses in novice and expert players
Worth the work: Lessons learned from implementing TGfU

This book includes a detailed introduction of the TGfU long term planning approach and outlines how TGfU promotes problem solving, critical thinking, decision making and overall better games players. This resource will help teachers to understand and apply the concept and implementation of quality physical education programs.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

I have added yet another item to my 'to do' list this summer – update the book list with those I have read this year or so… There have been some good ones! (Summer's are time to do some PD and prepare for next year!)

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[RookieCoach]

Dean,

Lucky me! I purchased Book 2 from Tom's website the day before they went on mail strike , so it couldn't be mailed. I will be like a little kid checking the mail everyday , hoping that the book arrives soon.

Purchasing the book is the least that I could do for Tom , as I feel I have gained so much knowledge from his website and all the time Tom puts in each day with the drills (Games) etc.

I haven't coached a team for years , but still run and help with practices of different levels each year.
I have a passion too find and gain knowledge of the game of hockey , which I can pass on to young players today.

Coaching seems to be something you can't let go . I t always draws you back in.

The best part is , parents can't complain (sorry,Don't complain as much) when you are a NON parent coach.

I will give my feed back after going over the book when it arrives.

RookieCoach

[hockeygod]

RookieCoach wrote:
Dean,

Lucky me! I purchased Book 2 from Tom's website the day before they went on mail strike , so it couldn't be mailed. I will be like a little kid checking the mail everyday , hoping that the book arrives soon.

I haven't coached a team for years , but still run and help with practices of different levels each year.
I have a passion too find and gain knowledge of the game of hockey , which I can pass on to young players today.
Coaching seems to be something you can't let go . I t always draws you back in.

The best part is, parents can't complain (sorry,Don't complain as much) when you are a NON parent coach.

I will give my feed back after going over the book when it arrives.

RookieCoach

RK,

I consider Tom's book the 'bible' of coaching! I hope you like it and will be curious to hear what you think.

When Tom first gave me a copy of Book 1 late in the 1990's, I wasn't advanced enough in my thinking to understand or like it. I got overwhelmed by all the coding and practice setups. So I threw it on my bookshelf and ignored it (like any good Neanderthal, old-school hockey coach. After all, if I don't understand it, there must be something wrong with the book – it couldn't be me!)

Anyways, fast forward to 2007 when Tom gave me Book 2. The light bulb had been clicking since 2003 and voila – "the bible" appeared! WOW! It actually was epiphanic when I read it. I have highlighted the entire thing and made notes in the margin. It is well worn and well used. I have promoted it to many people and have been helping sell them for Tom. It is well worth the $25!

Tom can correct me on this, but I don't think there is much difference between books in content – rather he has a much better format and binding for Book 2. (Tom – feel free to chip in here!)

I am writing a new coaching 'bible' based on the activities and philosophies I have learned from John "The Colombian" Castrillon that will continue to shed light on Game Intelligence Training. Once we get it done, perhaps Tom will advertise it on his site. I will probably have to buy him a couple of beers for that…! (Had a great lunch today with Tom, Dan MacDonald and "The Colombian". Tom used his RIM Playbook to video some of our conversation and diagrams; he said he might put it onto this site if it turns out OK.)

I agree about coaching – it is a 'sickness' that once it gets in your blood, you can't get rid of it! There is no cure!

Parents – in Russia, after about age 8, they are not allowed into the rink for practice.

Regards,

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Tom Molloy]

Rookie Coach, I put the book in the mail a few days ago when they took the lock of the mailbox. It should get there next week. I look forward to your comments.

Dean you are right and wrong about the similarities of book 1 and book 2.

Book 1 has 80 pages of text that describes the coaching philosophy, using games to teach the game, the coding system and finishes with removable coaching cards for the beginning levels 0-1-2. These 55 coaching module cards are double sided with 110 modules and are thick enough to stay rigid and can be carried in a pocket. The idea is for a coach to move through the levels taking skating, skills and game cards as his practice plan. If you go through all of the cards by the end of level 2 the players will have practiced a lot of skating, learned to shoot and carry the puck as well as how to pass. Each one of these skills has games that use these skills under game condition as well as games to teach good playing habits.

Book 2 has the same first 80 pages in the first 86 pages. The game table on page 77 in book 1 is better than the one in book 2. Page 87 is new and it is about Playing Principles and has 8 pages written by Juhani on how game situations teach the game. It finishes with a page describing the international playing symbols.

Page 97 starts the section on How to Play in Various Offensive and Defensive Situations and I go over each situation starting with a 1-1 and progress to team play including specialty teams finishing with how to practice specialty team play on page 147.

We had to put the practice modules on regular sized paper instead of the thicker removable coaching cards because the book would be too thick.

The first three beginning levels 0-1-2 are the same as book 1 and are followed by more advanced levels 3-4-5-6. Levels 5-6 are transition games.

Level 3
Level 3 focuses on game playing roles 1-3, the player with the puck and the player checking the puck carrier as well as more advanced skating exercises and routines. It has an exstensive body checking section as well as a large games section. Most exercises are from the B formations. The games focus on using individual skills within a game situation.

Level 4
Level 4 uses more advanced flow drills which are coded C and use the length of the ice and focus more on teaching game play situations and team play. So game situations 2 and 4. Offensive and defensive support. The games focus on Learning to Play the Game more than on individual skills.

The system has a total of 295 cards. So the last 185 are only in book 2. In book 1 the cards are numbered 1a – 1b because they are double sided. Levels 3-6 there is only one number.

Book 1 is for the first 2 or so years of hockey and book two is for after that. Juhani and I are both PE teacher/hockey coaches and it is written following a Progressive Scope and Sequence.

The videos Cancoach did that are on this site are all from book one.

The levels are only and example of how to use the system and were prepared for the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation. It is there official national program in the Geman version.

I started this site to compliment the book much like Daniel Coyle has his site about the Talent Code. Once you have written a book it is written and the purpose of this site is to answer questions about the coaching method and to keep up to date with the changes in the game. When I see a new drill or think of something new I code them within the ABC system, so they can be found easily and add them to our data base.

I learn new things all the time and am happy that organizations like USA hockey and German hockey are finally seeing the benefits of using games. It is too bad that they have to go through the whole process and try to re invent the wheel instead of acknowledging that a lot of work has already been done and then adding to the existing body of work. They are still in the infant stages of understanding how to use games in practice and how to progress from situation drills to Transition Games. But that is a topic for another day. (not only our method by Bill Beaney and others have been using games for years)

Probably not too exciting of a posting but I thought I should explain how Book 1 and Book 2 differ.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[hockeygod]

Tom,

This is a great overview of how your Books 1 and 2 are similar and different. Thanks for taking the time to explain. Suggestion: you might want to link this (or a shortened point form brief) to your message on the home page under your books for sale – so coaches know the similarities and differences.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Thought I would cross-post these comments about two good books… they were under another thread "Tarasov leading training with music"

Last week I finally started reading "Russian Hockey Secrets" (Pocket Books / Simon & Schuster) – otherwise known as "The Road to Olympus" (Griffin Press, 1969) by Anatoli Tarasov – (Standard Book Number 671-78619-9 / SBN 88760-002-6). This is a very hard book to find – I had to go online and search used bookstores to find it. It was $1.25 new back in the day – I spent $30 plus shipping for a decent used copy. Well worth the money – I am up to page 50 and it is excellent. He provides great descriptions about the evolution of Russian hockey on and off the ice. Particularly interesting are the off-ice exercises and games he played.

The North American 'experts' at the time (1950's and 1960's) thought that Canadian Lloyd Percival was insane, ridiculing him about his beliefs about hockey and how one should train. (I recommend picking up his original book, "The Hockey Handbook" 1960 SBN 498-08846-4 A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc South Brunswick and New York). It is another tough book to find… again I had to search online for a decent used book. I ended up buying three for my collection as they are significant works. One to use as a working copy; the other two are for display!

Anyway, the Russians used Percival's book as their guiding light to design their hockey system – to outstanding results. Obviously, the cultural differences between Communism and Democracy allowed the Russians to have quicker results in a top-down system. "Tarasov's way or the highway" – and hockey provided a better lifestyle than strictly a military life – so the same ideas would germinate differently and have different results in the two widely opposite cultures.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

I finally finished "The Genius in all of Us" by David Shenk. Well worth the read!

"… David Shenk debunks the long-standing notion of genetic "giftedness." We are not prisoners of our DNA, and greatness is in the reach of every individual."

"Forget everything you think you know about genes, talent and intelligence. In recent years, a mountain of scientific evidence has emerged suggesting a new paradigm; not talent scarcity, but latent talent abundance."

He mentions similar stuff to the "Talent Code", "Mindset", etc.

Half the book is his consolidation of recent research, stating that the equation to predict one's potential for greatness is G x E… not the Mendelian belief of G + E – a critical distinction. The other half he uses to provide a detailed reference on his sources… also interesting to those who want to learn more about expertise, etc.

I was taught Gregor Mendal's genetic's in Junior and senior high… and it was accepted that Genes were the primary component to what we would become… we had very limited influence on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel

Shenk, using the research of others, says that while Genes play a role, they are not nearly as significant as previously thought. The Environment has a much larger role – fortunately! And we can all choose to impact our own environments! I look at it as a philospohical difference between Determinism (Genes) and Freewill (Environment)…

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[RookieCoach]

Tom,

I received Book 2 Hockey Coaching ABC's today in the mail.
I had the book in one hand , the tongs in the other hand , and the glasses on the end of my nose while attending too the BBQ.

Being a new viewer or user of your website , I never really thought about the meaning of the book. I figured it was something about teaching the game , but never thought about the ABC part.

I understand that the A or
A formation drills are for the individual skill.
B formation- are for the partner skills .
C – formation exercises use the skills learned in A and B in a game like situation .

I will go back over this again I'm sure , so I totally understand the coding or formations.
Understanding these formations will help with drills or games selected from your library to fit the theme of the practice.

Being a bench coach for a game really means nothing too me. But teaching the young players skills for the game and for the coaches, then watching them apply the skills in a game is what I enjoy most. Seeing a young player gain confidence from practice , and not hating going to practice is the best reward.

I have been coaching for over 20 years now (at a different level than yourself ,Dean ,obviously) , and the one thing I always believe is that as a coach ,/ mentor ./ instructor / if I can gain the respect for young players by showing that I am organized and am there to help them get better and enjoy the game , they will always give a great effort regardless of their ability.
I don't know what it is , but I keeping coming back too this site daily looking for new things.
As said to Hockeygod the other day ," coaching keeping pulling you back in, it's in your blood I guess"
Thanks
Tom

[Tom Molloy]

Rookie Coach, I am glad you got the book and have had a chance to go through it.
When I first met Juhani and he explained the system and how it is organized I didn't realize how logical the system is and it took me a few years to really implement the ideas.

I taught my Physical Education classes using lots of games and tournaments but I coached hockey like everyone else. So I implemented the method more in my classes than on the ice and slowly adapted so that all of my instruction on and off the ice followed the ABC philosophy. This made me a much more organized teacher and a coach who won almost all of the time and not just when I had a lot of really good players but most importantly my practices really improved for effectiveness and enjoyment.

I am in this group called 'Drill of the Week' which consists of coaches all over the world in pro, jr. and college who take turns contributing drills and other practice activities. I find it very difficult to understand most of the diagrams. Some use international symbols and some don't. Without a coding system like the ABC's it is hard to figure out just where the drill fits into the larger scheme of things. They are great drills but if everyone used the international symbols and coded 1-the starting formation, 2-drill focus it would make it a lot easier. Right now I have to go through all of the drills to find anything instead of just looking for C2 and knowing it is a games situation drill starting from a lineup on one side of the ice in the nzone, or D4 and knowing it is a game in one zone.

My practice plans are usually on the back of a business card from places I used to coach. It will look something like A3 – 2 puck overload 5', B6-3pass,3 lanes, 3 shots 5', D4 – 2 pass x 2 x 5"-10', C2 – 1-0,2-0,3-0 4-0,5-0 -10'. B600 – 2-2, 2-1 Regroup with D-10'. DT 1-1, 2-1, add regroup-15', E1-2 shot S.O 5'. The code eliminates the need for a diagram because it tells where the drill starts and flows to and I name the drills.
The drills and games in the seven progressive levels at the back of the book are only examples of how to organize a program and can easily be added to.

I plan on eventually coding the material I have but a consistent international language of letters and numbers would make it easier for coaches who use the same alphabet and would be easy for nations like Russia to adapt to their alphabet.

The coding is only part of it because the two themes of the program are: "Enjoy the Game" and "The Game is the Great Coach"

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[RookieCoach]

Tom &Dean ,

Day 2 – of reading Hockey Coaching ABC's Book 2.

The first day I made it through the first 86 pages.

Day 2- I started in with the Playing Principals and Team Play. I found myself in this section reading one page then going back to the section with the 3 Phases and 4 Roles.
The book would talk about ex; creating a 1on1 situation then the playing roles and game phases. Well I guess I didn't read that section well enough so I had too back pedal a bit. Now I wrote out a book mark with the phases and playing roles on it so I could keep with the page i am reading for reference.
Dean , now i see why you used a high light for everything.
It is kind of a different language for coaches , something that we are not used too. I guess i;'m not anyways.
I am finding a different view point on coaching so I seem to be taking more time with each page. Kind of studying each page as I go.
I totally understand most structures,, zones , plays in the game of hockey but i' am trying to see it from this new view point.
I am enjoying the book so for , and it is making me think things over trying to find a balance .

I will report back when I get another moment to read. Going to be a while though 1 page at a time.

RookieCoach

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