Koncocoo

Best Volleyball

Dream Like a Champion: Wins, Losses, and Leadership the Nebraska Volleyball Way
In Dream Like a Champion Cook shares the philosophy behind Nebraska’s culture of success and reveals how he’s had to learn, evolve, and be coached himself, even in his fifth decade as a coach. (Jon Johnston Corn Nation 2017-12-12). “Great coaches and teachers relentlessly strive for learning and improvement—in their people, in their teams, and in themselves. In Dream Like a Champion John reveals his relentless quest for better team chemistry, improving communication skills, proper goal setting, and attention to detail—which together result in peak performance.”—Tom Osborne, former Husker head football coach, University of Nebraska athletic director, and U.S. congressman. His growth mind-set and ability to constantly develop new leadership skills make him a special breed of coach.”—Jack Riggins, co-founder of Performance Mountain, retired U.S. Navy SEAL, and assistant football coach at Midland University.
Reviews
"Must read for all volleyball,or sport fans."
"A great biography of Coach John Cook!"
"great read for cornhusker fans!!"
"My two favorite quotes, which work in worlds beyond sports were; "if you remain open-minded, your ego will evaporate with experience" and from Top Gun; "never leave your wingman." The thing that made me the happiest was hearing Coach Cook talk about how he has learned over time to switch from coaching with anger to coaching with love. I've watched too many times him slamming his clipboard on the scorers table in frustration when he would call a time out."
Find Best Price at Amazon
Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence
Gary's lessons and David's writing provide examples of the importance of the mental game." Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." In Mind Gym , noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack teaches athletes the lessons he's learned about how the mind influences athletic performance as much as physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--Mack shares the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle."
Reviews
"Great book-easy to read and provides a lot of good insight into mental training and imagery."
"This is my go-to sports psychology book for encouragement."
"I have always tried to emphasize the importance of mental training to my athletes and clients."
"Great book."
"Actually, the book was recommended by one of my former athletes, a state champion."
"Excellent book to get an athlete to consider the mental aspect of sport."
"Best book ever for mental strength on any sport and just all around confidence in life."
"Athletes at all levels could benefit from the advice and the author knows how to tell a good story. Another story about staying calm while being fired was much more applicable and we didn't need this second story to illustrate the same point."
Find Best Price at Amazon
Volleyball Drill Book, The
With drills covering every facet of the sport, The Volleyball Drill Book is the most comprehensive resource for today’s players and coaches. Whether you wish to develop new skills or fine-tune your game, rely on the drills that have produced the sport’s top players and most dominating teams. The Volleyball Drill Book is the one and only drill book you’ll ever need. The AVCA provides education to volleyball coaches, recognition of elite players and coaches, promotion of volleyball competitions throughout the world, and networking opportunities for volleyball products and services providers. In 14 years of coaching at Washington University, she compiled an impressive overall record of 529-77 and holds the NCAA DIII record for a career winning percentage of .873. With a career record of 480-122 and a winning percentage of .800 that ranks fourth all time among DIII coaches, McDowell led Emory to a national championship in 2008 and a second-place finish in 2010.
Reviews
"So many drills, so little time!"
"Excellent book for Volleyball Coaching!"
"My practices are never boring and practices are very smooth knowing that I have more drills."
"Lots of great information."
"Great to look up new drills quickly."
"A great book to reference for ideas for drills for various types of skills."
"This books give a variety of drills with different levels of difficulty."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Volleyball

Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence
Gary's lessons and David's writing provide examples of the importance of the mental game." Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." In Mind Gym , noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack teaches athletes the lessons he's learned about how the mind influences athletic performance as much as physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--Mack shares the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle."
Reviews
"Great book-easy to read and provides a lot of good insight into mental training and imagery."
"This is my go-to sports psychology book for encouragement."
"I have always tried to emphasize the importance of mental training to my athletes and clients."
"Great book."
"Actually, the book was recommended by one of my former athletes, a state champion."
"Reading Mind Gym helped me work through fears and insecurities that were holding me back from skiing at the best of my ability."
"Excellent book to get an athlete to consider the mental aspect of sport."
"Best book ever for mental strength on any sport and just all around confidence in life."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Midwest U.S. Biographies

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of. Spencer. , Iowa. . As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history. She lives in. Spencer. , Iowa. .
Reviews
"Being a relatively recent (5 years) cat guardian, I cannot imagine life without my kitty."
"While Myron doesn't shy away from telling the bad with the good, there are numerous passages explaining Dewey's playful side and the uplifting effect he had on his human companions. (As an aside, I actually felt more sorrow for Myron's parent's cat, Max, who was killed due to neglect at the veterinarian's office in the prime of his life.). Thank you Vicki for the book and for taking care of a wonderful feline friend, and thank you Dewey for being an emissary for the human-animal bond and reminding ourselves of the value of love and friendship."
"If you've ever owned a cat, you will just eat up every word, every adventure, every cuddle in this book."
"Because I enjoyed the first book about Dewey, I wanted to see how much of the story would be included in the children's book."
"Dewey is a delightful story for cat lovers."
"I read this book as a book club selection and would never have read it otherwise, not being a fan of sickly-sweet cat books."
"My children thought the song was for our cat, not the other way around, the years do not dim the LOVE."
"Although I knew what was coming in the end of the book, I still found myself sobbing out loud (in my gym on the exercise bike!)."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Rugby

Legacy
In Legacy , best-selling author James Kerr goes deep into the heart of the world's most successful sporting team, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand, to reveal 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business. Legacy is a unique, inspiring handbook for leaders in all fields, and asks: What are the secrets of success - sustained success? If you read only one leadership book in your life, make it this one.
Reviews
"The book tells the story of a group of talented individuals that became an outstanding team."
"I want all my players to read this book and I am doing a book study with my assistant coaches on this book."
"I bought this book to see if it would be interesting for my son, as a high school athlete."
"One of my favorite leadership books!"
"Love the all black, always been my team of excellence,(being a kiwi and all) the chapters are easy to navigate and not a hard a read for beginners."
"Legacy is a great read on leadership theory written around what has worked for the winningest team in sports."
"An excellent review of how a little nation became the most dominant country in world rugby, with the greatest win ratio of any international sport."
"Outstanding expose of what make the All Blacks the world's most successful sports team."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Lacrosse

Thinking Inside the Crease: The Mental Secrets to Becoming a Dominant Lacrosse Goalie
Chris Buck, a coach and sport psychology consultant, has worked with hundreds of goalies from youth to the MLL over the past twenty years, helping them with their technique but realized the best goalies in the world are the ones with the best mental game as well. He has consulted with professional and amateur athletes alike, implementing mental conditioning programs in a wide variety of sports, including lacrosse, golf, tennis, soccer, basketball, track/field, crew, fencing, hockey, and baseball. He has worked with goalies all over the country and Canada who have committed to, or are playing at, elite programs such as Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Drexel, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Villanova, Rutgers, UVA, UPenn, Dartmouth, Union, Tufts, etc.
Reviews
"Chris does a great job in explaining what else a goalkeeper needs to think about and do to expand his/her game."
"Fantastic book for lacrosse Goalies!"
"Good read for every goalie."
"Great book for the teenage Goalie to learn to manage his skills and mind set."
"Phenomenal advice that helped me improve my technique immensely."
"Bought for my son who plays lax, but awesome book for any athlete!"
"Love this book and how it's written."
"In Thinking Inside the Crease, Christian Buck has created a goalie handbook, which specifically addresses the mental obstacles that can cause a goalie (at all levels) to go into a tailspin."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Cricket

The Cricket in Times Square (Chester Cricket and His Friends)
After Chester lands, in the Times Square subway station, he makes himself comfortable in a nearby newsstand. One night, the sounds of New York City--the rumbling of subway trains, thrumming of automobile tires, hooting of horns, howling of brakes, and the babbling of voices--is interrupted by a sound that even Tucker Mouse, a jaded inhabitant of Times Square, has never heard before. Despite the cricket's comfortable matchbox bed (with Kleenex sheets); the fancy, seven-tiered pagoda cricket cage from Sai Fong's novelty shop; tasty mulberry leaves; the jolly company of Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat; and even his new-found fame as "the most famous musician in New York City," Chester begins to miss his peaceful life in the Connecticut countryside.
Reviews
"My granddaughter read this book with her entire school."
"Since to this audiobook on the way to Alaska with our kids in the car."
"the book is the best i want to read the next one!"
"My son needed this book for school."
"Required reading for son's class served its purpose."
"My niece, who is 4, loved this book."
"Excellent book for children - --."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Track & Field Sports

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. Christopher McDougall is the author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen and Natural Born Heroes: Mastering the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance.
Reviews
"There are people out there who truly love what they do while driving their bodies to complete exhaustion to the point of it being almost dangerous to their health."
"A non running chef enthusiastically recommended this book when I was last in his restaurant. But this is one brilliantly written book that deserves to be the national best seller that it has become because people tell each other about it."
"He ultimately gets an education in evidenced-based, experiential, and peer-reviewed research that turns mainstream theories of running bio-mechanics, extreme endurance and the evolution of man on their sides. But the reviewer tires of the narrative rambling through the remainder of the 300 pages, and wishes that the author would simply get to the point, further suggesting that busy readers bypass the excess and skip right to these four chapters. You do not have to be an extreme endurance practitioner or enthusiast to realize and experience the thesis of the book, that man was born to run. Fortunately, Wikipedia and Google search make short work of that task as long as you don't reside in the Copper Canyons of Mexico (their internet coverage is not quite as ubiquitous as elsewhere). I intend to write a more detailed exposition focusing particularly on the research referenced throughout the book, but that will require a second reading, and no doubt a few more runs under my belt.)."
"As always, I love books where the author presents new information in an engaging fashion!! There's Ann, for example, a short, slender, community college teacher, who was the female champion of the Western States 100 FOURTEEN TIMES, and during one fun four year stretch, she ran an ultramarathon every other month. Yet she seemed to get stronger and faster the more she ran. Oh, and while barefoot or wearing homemade sandals, not fancy running shoes. The entire book was really fascinating—since I find running in general to be downright boring, if I find a book about running to be this entertaining, then the author did a great job!"
Find Best Price at Amazon