Below are various books and products that I have enjoyed over the years and suggested for coaches, parents and players.  I only put things on my site that I personally have read or used, and/or that I have great respect and/or personal collegiality with the author such that I will promote them.  For the most part you should be able to access them by clicking the image. (I am currently updating some image links to their new links so if you cannot get them, simply refer to their titles to get them. 

Coaches Parent and Players

Wayne Bryan—Raising Your Child to be a Champion

This is a must have in your arsenal.  Wayne is not only a great friend but he is a pied piper of tennis world wide and speaks from experience as a parent, coach, and ambassador of the game.  You have to get this if you have not, and read it.

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Angela Duckworth PhD–Grit: The power of Passion and Perseverance.

Duckworth’s Grit is highly regarded in practical elite level deliberate practice training. Her research and expertise is HIGHLY practical and applicable to tennis or ANY pursuit in excellence.  A must read.  I am sure it will motivate you to do some reading in other related areas as well and apply them to your playing, coaching or even parenting.

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Carol Dweck, PhD.–Mindset. 

 

This is a fantastic book I have used for my collegiate players, teaching a course in psychoneuroimmunology and private teaching as well. It is also great for parenting so I will include it in that section as well. 

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Anders Ericsson–The Road to Excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the Arts and Sciences, Sports, and Games.

 

Ericsson is a pioneer in deliberate practice and the characteristics of elites in many fields across the spectrum.  Many draw their resources from his research and again it is very practical. This is a pricey work but worth every penny if you are in leadership, mentoring or influencing numerous people.

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Allen fox, If I am the better player why can’t I win.

I have had many of my players over years read this.  Allen is a very good friend and he hits the nail on the head for just about any level of competitor.  I have my players (full teams at a time) read this ( I have various copies) and submit numerous claims that stand out in each chapter and whether they agree or disagree, why and to what extend and what they will change accordingly.  This book by Fox is out of print and the version listed by Amazon might be available and worth the wait. [The picture of the book shown below is also a version that might circulate used and is not in print either. Many of the principles are in Fox’s newer book below “Mental Match”].

Allen fox—The Winner’s Mind. 

Another great book by my good friend Allen Fox.  Great for not just sports but teaching your youth (and even yourself) about a winner’s mind in other areas.

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Allen Fox—Tennis: Winning the mental match 

A great read as well and has bit of the above books in it. I have read this a couple of times and had my teams and youth that I teach read it as well.

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Alistair Higham–Momentum: The Hidden Force in Tennis.

One of my most popular podcasts is with Alistair.  It is based on a discussion of the principles in this book and it is well worth getting the book, reading it and then listening to the podcast or vice versa to gain further insights. FYI, this particular work is only available in Kindle via Amazon. Alistair still resides in England and coaches elite players there.

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Brad Gilbert—Winning Ugly. 

If you like Brad as a commentator on the Tour (I do) you will really enjoy this book if you have not read it yet. He is a chip off the old block from Allen Fox (who coached him) as did Tom Shivington who was a legendary Junior College coach in Northern California.  Brad knows what is takes to compete with grit.  Great book.  Either version is fine.

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Daniel Coyle–The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.

Tremendous read that thousands of coaches have read.  Like many of my books here you will find that it will spark interest in many similar books and conversations.

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Andre Agassi–Open: An Autobiography

Aside from Andre being of the of the greats, this story will explain why this is a great book to get and read. One of my players who was top 200 ITF (top 200 in the world in juniors despite not playing a lot of tournaments) and one of the top players in his region collegiately and is heading out to try his skills on tour, said to my son, “I do not like reading but I cannot put this down. Every page has something I can learn from or relate to.”  I believe in life-long learning so if a book can get young players to read more and get hooked on that type of engagement, I am for it.    (Click on the image to the left)

 

Bud Collins—Total Tennis Encylopedia. 

Anyone who says they love tennis has to know some of its history and amazing stories.  Great for your library and learning how the game has developed and the characters who have risen against many odds.  Tennis is an amazing sport both on and off court. The tennis world is small and its people are close. Collins was an amazing tennis aficionado.     (Click on the image to the left)

 

 

Dan Magill—Match Pointers

 Whether you played college tennis or not, if you are a collegiate coach you need to get this. If you club pro you need to get this and read some of the great stories and evolution of the game collegiately in our nation.  If you are a parent or player there are greats stories in here as well.  Coach Magill was one of the greatest coaches ever of any sport.  Great coaches then had to do it all—coach, recruit, do the public relations, raise the money, promote the game etc.  But his humility and class in the heat of competition is rarely matched. He tells great stories as well like a true southerner.   (Click on the image to the left)

 

Vic Braden’s last book If I’m only 22 then how one I’m 82.

Vic was a dear friend as are many of these authors but he was very special.  He ran a clinic with me many years ago and I remember he had recovered from significant illness but flew all the way up regardless and poured his soul into teaching.  If I was ever in Southern California, my old stomping grounds we would have lunch or a coffee and he was always the quintessential friend asking how others were doing.  He sacrificed so much in the true sense of the word for the game, for others when he could have benefitted otherwise.  This book, if you can get it as it is not available on most places, is a great read. It is so personal that it has printing errors in it because he wanted to get it done prior to leaving of the Ausie Open. It was not long after that that he passed away. Great stories and memories of the game and his role in it.  A monumental place.

 

Vic Braden—Mental Tennis.  

Anything Vic did was worth looking at. Another example.

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Joe Ehrmann—In Side Out Coaching: How sports can transform lives

See my blog post on this but this is a must read for coaches and parents who want to really think hard about what kind of coach their kids should be coached by. Coaches would benefit greatly as well in thinking about why they do what they do and how. Great book.

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John Wooden—They call me coach.

Legendary UCLA Basketball coach goes without saying. One of the most influential books among coaches of all sports nationwide.  A must read.

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Mark Kovacs, PhD and E. Paul Roetert, PhD–Tennis Anatomy (click on Image below)

This is a fantastic book for any coach or parent. It gives you not only the what, the why, but also that how.  That is, it gives you the very useful pictures/explanations for movements specifically related to tennis, what happens and what structures are involved (muscular, skeletal, etc) but then what needs to be done to strengthen that area or develop speed etc. This practical guide can augment any exercises you are doing and even if you have a great routine, this will provide background information to help you be more informed. (Click on the image to the left)

John Medina, M.D.–Brain Rules: 12 Principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school.

This is a fantastically practical book. My students love this and it is a informative, down to earth, and often humorous read.  It discusses a myriad of topics with the latest research to back it up such as cognition improved by exercise, the connection between sleep and the power to learn (or perform), stress and its affect on how we learn and perform etc.  Parents, players (high school and college for sure) and coaches will learn a ton of valuable information from Medina.

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Titles from Dr. Jeff Schwartz, M.D.

This is a fascinating book and highly practical.  He goes into detail about the research, and how he has shown in various instances how through program people are actually able to see permanent changes in neural pathways–change habits and their brains. This is practical beyond the stroke, and OCD patients, but can be used in the throws of daily life, and the stress and habits of competition. For many years “experts” thought children and adults had vastly different abilities to re-wire the brain. This is not so.  But again, I emphasize the practicality and you will be challenged on numerous levels personally, philosophically, and practically and particularly with respect to tennis competition and its stresses, thought habits, etc.  (Click on the image to the left)

 

In this 2011 work, Dr. Schwartz further develops his four step process of relabeling, reframing, refocusing, and revaluing in one’s journey of changing habits. In our podcast, we will be applying this to tennis and competition in general.

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Jim Collins–Good To Great: Why some companies make the leap and others don’t.

For many of you this is a familiar book.  While it mainly applies to business, the principles are useful to coaches and players alike. After all, who doesn’t want to move from good to great?

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Todd Gongwer–Lead for God’s Sake: a parable for finding the heart of leadership

You will want to listen to my upcoming podcast with leadership author, speaker, and consultant Todd Gongwer as we go over the principles in his book Lead for God’s Sake.  Todd has spent over 25 years building his expertise in leadership and team dynamics through a broad range of business, entrepreneurial, collegiate, and professional sports. His powerful leadership and cultural development principles have been embraced by some of the most successful leaders in business and education, along with countless coaches and athletes from championship programs in the NCAA, NBA, MLB and NFL. Listen in to the upcoming podcast and get a copy of Todd’s book.  (Click on the image to the left)

 

Sian Beilock–Choke:  What the secrets of the brain reveal about getting it right when you have to.

Sian Beilock does a masterful job in detailing current thought and research in choking, why we underperform in many areas, not just sports. Why do we forget, blow questions in an interview or mess up in presentations etc.  Informative and practical read. (Click on the image to the left)

 

 

 

John Nelson–Sensei Tennis: Martial Arts (and more) in the Mastery of Tennis.

John Nelson was an elite collegiate coach with numerous coach of the year awards (conference, regional and national) to match his team conference championships and NCAA finishes.  In this book, also discussed on my podcast with him, many of the principles in martial arts can be applied to and benefit tennis players (or any other sport for that matter).  (Click on the image to the left).