Ski Coaching (Books) Starter Pack
I lined up my favorite sports books- along with stuff I'm planning to read soon- and realized that being an English major in college was actually good preparation for ski coaching. Here's a glimpse into the special breed of hoarder called "bookworm".
And now here's some recommended reading for coaches, without getting too heavy into the sports science stuff:
Let's face it, parents are both your biggest allies and sources of frustration in coaching sport. I don't know that we all need to write a letter to the parents and read it aloud during our first team meeting, but we do need to take a hard look at our coaching philosophies, the state of travel sports in america, and our role within it.
A classic of xc skiing circles, any xc ski coach booklist has to include this one. Here's my Goodreads review from about 5 years ago (and a proof that the internet is forever, I hope you forget about your myspace):
2012 Update: I'm re-reading it at the age of 25. I'm getting pretty excited again. My last review was a long time ago (I'm guessing when I was 17-18 years old) and said grandiose things about how this book changed my life. And maybe it did, but they were too embarrassing, so I've deleted them.
--I've just finished the re-reading. I find it just as inspirational as I did when I was 17 and dreaming of winning races, but I think I see more wisdom in it now. As the somewhat ironic review on the back cover states: "it may not have the drama of Lance's return from near death, but it has as much guts and more real life." It's the guts and real life I love about this book. The bravery of doing the work it takes to really pursue a dream, and the real life worries of failure.
I know it isn't a widely read book, and won't have the appeal of other memoirs, but I honestly think Vordenberg has done an exceptional job crafting this memoir. He's done a wonderful job making insightful dialogue for memory true to a character's spirit, and woven the scenes nicely.
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The Sports Gene Outliers
I decided to put these two next to each other because both are an exploration of the hidden things that account for greatness. The Sports Gene seems to be a rebuttal to the 10,000hrs poularized in Outliers, though Gladwell also talks about how opportunity plays a big role, so I guess you could count genetics in The Sports Gene as being a part of "opportunity". Both break down the importance of purposeful practice.
When I read it in college, I remember being blown away that an author who writes important stuff on climate action would also be involved in cross country skiing. It takes guts to train 500hrs as a late-30-something without a background in training.
Let's face it, if you're a coach you're going to have to sit through meetings where stuff gets decided. It's best to know your enemy.
I think this book has a lot to say about coaching/mentoring in sports, obsession, and dealing with failure. You don't need to love baseball to like this one. It floored me the first time I read it.
Warning to parents: It does deal with serious and controversial topics.
As the book's jacket cover explains, "while athletes calibrate training and diet for better performance, it's a pursuit that often issolates them from friends and family, especially when it comes to the most social meal of the day -- dinner." With disordered eating being such a prevalent issue in nordic sport, I thought this book would be a fun thing to bring on training camps, and have the kids pick a meal to make together. I make it a point that Food is Fuel while they get some socializing done at the same time as a part of cooking together.
I haven't read this one yet, but I'm excited because it has sport science behind it and a lot of cartoon-y pictures to make the info digestible.
And that's all, folks. Any recommendations for me?
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If you're looking for deep cuts of nordic culture reading try: Beyond Birkie Fever, Don't Look Back, Endless Summer, Medal of Honor.
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