Resources to Learn How to Get Better at Getting Better

I am convinced that going forward in sport the biggest gains and the so called marginal gains too will come from how we get better at getting better. How we can improve our teaching, how we make practice and training more meaningful and effective will be the biggest difference makers. I am going to make this a major focus for the rest of my career. In that spirit, I am sharing with you this list of resources. This is by no means exhaustive, it is just the books I have in my library that I have read. I am now in the process of re-reading some of these books and going through them all and reviewing the annotations and underlinings to put together an action plan of principles we can all use as coaches. It’s going to take some time. I am interested in hearing from you about other resources and ideas in this area. We will all get better at getting better by sharing.

• Aposhan, Susan. Natural Intelligence: Body-Mind Integration and Human Development. Williams & Wilkins. Baltimore. 1999
• Berthoz, Alain. The Brain’s Sense of Movement. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 2000
• Brown, Peter C., Roediger II, Henry L., Danile, Mark A. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA 2014.
• Butler, David S. Sensitive Nervous System. Adelaide, Australia: Noigroup Publications. 2000
• Carey, Benedict. How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens. Random House. New York. 2014
• Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial. New York. 1990
• Coker, Cheryl A. Motor Learning and Control for Practitioners (2nd Edition). Holcomb Hathaway, Publishers, Scottsdale, AZ. 2009
• Connor, Marcia L. Learn More Now: 10 Simple Steps to Learning Better, Smarter, and Faster. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ. 2004
• Coyle, Daniel. The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills. Bantam Book. New York. 2012
• Coyle, Daniel. The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.>. Bantam Book. New York. 2009
• Davids, Keith. Button, Chris. Bennett, Simon. Dynamics of Skill Acquisition: A Constraints-Led Approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishing Company. 2008
• Doherty, Ken. (1985) Track & Field Omnibook.
• Duhigg, Charles. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House. New York. 2012
• Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House. 2006
• Farr, Steven. Teaching As Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher’s Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco. 2010
• Foley, John. Glad To Be Here: My lessons learned as a Blue Angels flight leader and pilot. CenterPoint Publishing. 2015
• Gawande, Atul. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Metropolitan Books. New York. 2009
• Gazzaley, Adam and Rosen, Larry D. The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 2016
• Gilbert, Wade. Coaching Better Every Season: A year-round system for athlete development and program success. Human Kinetics. Champaign, Il. 2017
• Gray, Peter. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Basic Books. New York. 2013
• Green, Elizabeth. Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach It to Everyone). W.W. Norton & Company. New York. 2014
• Goleman, Daniel. Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Harper Collins. 2013
• Halvorson, Heidi Grant and Higgins, E. Tory. Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence. Hudson Street Press. New York. 2013
• Hannaford, Carla. Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head. Great Ocean Publishers. Arlington, Virginia 1995
• Helfand, David J. A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age: Scientific Habits of Mind. Columbia University Press, New York. 2016
• Herman, Amy E. Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston & New York. 2016
• Hurson, Tim. Think Better: An Innovator’s Guide to Productive Thinking. McGraw Hill. New York. 2008
• Jensen, Frances E. and Nutt, Amy Ellis. The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. Harper Collins. New York, 2015
• Johnson, Steven. Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life. Scribner, New York. 2004
• Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. New York. 2011
• Kaufman, Scott Barry – Editor. The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talent or Practice. Oxford University Press. New York. 2013
• Kaufman, Scott Barry. Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. Basic Books. New York. 2013
• Kelly, Tom. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm. New York: Doubleday. 2001
• Knapp, Barbara. Skill In Sport. Routledge & K. Paul, 1963
• Lakoff, George. And Johnson, Mark. Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London. 1980
• Lemov, Doug., Woolway, Erica and Yezi, Katie. Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco. 2012
• Leonard, Charles T. The Neuroscience Of Human Movement. Mosby. St. Louis. 1998
• Leonard, George. Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment. New York: Penguin Books USA.1992
• Leonard, George. The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons From An American Sensei. New York: Penguin Books USA. 2000
• Levitin, Daniel J. The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. Dutton, New York. 2014
• Levitin, Daniel J. A Field Guide to Lies. Dutton. New York. 2016
• Longstaff, A. Instant Notes in Neuroscience. BIOS Scientific Publishers, Taylor & Francis Group. London and New York, 2000
• Leslie, Ian. Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It. Basic Books. New York. 2014
• Medina, John. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. Pear Press. Seattle. 2008
• Magill, Richard A. Motor Learning and Control: Concepts and Applications. Ninth Edition. New York: McGraw Hill. 2007
• Meadows, Donella H. and Wright, Wright – Editor. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing. White River Junction. Vermont. 2008
• Michalko, Michael. Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques (2nd Edition). Ten Speed Press. Berkeley. 2006
• Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Grand Central Publishing. New York and Boston. 2016
• Nater, Swen and Gallimore, Ronald. You Haven’t Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden’s Teaching Principles and Practices. Fitness Information Technology. Morgantown, WV 2006
• Nidefer, Bob. The Inner Athlete: Mind Plus Muscle for Winning. Thomas Y. Crowell Company. New York. 1976
• Peters, Steve. The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence, and Happine ss. Vermillion, London. 2011
• Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. New York: Riverhead Books. 2005
• Pink, Daniel H. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Riverhead Books. 2009
• Ramachandran, V.S. and Blakeslee. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. Quill. New York. 1998
• Ratey, John J. and Hagerman, Eric. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Little, Brown and Company, NY, London, Boston. 2008
• Renshaw, Ian, Davids, Keith and Savelsbergh, Geert J.P. Editors. Motor Learning in Practice: A Constraints-Led Approach.  London, England: Routledge Taylor & Francis group.  2010
• Restak, Richard. Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain’s Potential. Three Rivers Press. New York. 2001
• Siegel, Daniel J. The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. W.W. Norton & Company. New York. 2007
• Stafford, Tom and Webb, Matt. Mind Hacks: Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain. O’Reilly. Sebastopol, CA 2005
• Tutko, Tom and Ogilvie, Bruce. Problem Athletes and How to Handle Them. London. Pelham Books.1966
• Vanek, Miroslav and Cratty, Bryant J. Psychology and the Superior Athlete. Toronto, Ontario: Collier-Macmillan Canada, Ltd., 1970
• Vickers, Joan N. Instructional Design for Teaching Physical Activities. Human Kinetics. Champaign, Il. 1990
• Vickers, Joan N. Perception, Cognition, and Decision Training:The Quiet Eye in Act. Human Kinetics. Champaign, Il. 2007
• Whiting, H.T.A. Acquiring Ball Skill: A Psychological Interpretation. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. 1969
• Williams, Mark A. and Hodges, Nicola J. Skill Acquisition in Sport: Research, Theory and Practice. Routledge. London and New York. 2004
• Wrisberg, Craig A. Sport Skill Instruction for Coaches. Human Kinetics. Champaign, Il. 2007
• Wulf, Gabriele. Attention and Motor Skill Learning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishing Company. 2007