Mind Over Golf: How to Use Your Head to Lower Your Score
Whether you struggle to break 100 or consistently break par, you've already discovered that golf is the most mentally demanding of all sports. Dr. Richard Coop, one of the foremost sports psychologists in the country, has developed a unique mental approach to the game, helping both skilled pros and beginning amateurs alike to play better. Mind Over Golf examines all the demanding psychological challenges of golf and explains in detail how to conquer them. Golfers have discovered that there are ways to lower their scores that go beyond getting tips on their swing and stance. In order to play better, you have to find the key that allows your natural athletic ability to come to the fore, without being impeded by anxiety about making a poor shot. By following Dr. Coop's principles and ideas you'll be in the strongest possible position, both physically and mentally, to put your best swing on each shot. As Payne Stewart says in his foreword to Mind Over Golf, "Not everyone can swing like a tour pro, but most everyone has it within himself or herself to think like one, and Dr. Coop lays the foundation for that within these pages."
Free Throw
On November 15, 1993, a white-haired, 72-year-old gentleman named Dr. Amberry stepped up to the free throw line and into the Guinness Book of World Records by sinking 2,750 shots in a row. He ended his 12-hour streak without a miss, stopping only because they had to close the gym for the night. In Free Throw, he reveals his secrets. Beginning with the proper mechanics of the shot, he then explains the importance of the mental game and shares his techniques to help players stay on target even while under pressure. Combining these mental and physical elements, he presents a unique and straightforward 7-step method that teaches readers how to become a 90% free throw shooter. The free throw is the Achilles heel of the basketball player -- many players are great from the floor but lousy at the line. "Free Throw" is the only book to address this important skill. Clearly written, with principles that are easy to put into practice, it is an indispensable manual for all basketball players and coaches.
Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour
From the author of Raise a First, Take a Knee: John Feinstein's bestselling classic is "the best-ever account of life on the PGA tour" (Golf Magazine) and a must-read for anyone who loves the game of golf. Traveling with the golfers on the PGA Tour, Feinstein gets inside the heads of the game's greatest players as well as its struggling wannabes. Meet superstars like Nick Price, who nailed a fifty-foot putt at the seventeenth to win the British Open, and Paul Azinger, who marked his return from a bout with cancer with an emotional appearance at the Buick Open. Go behind the scenes for Davis Love III's unforgettable come-from-behind victory in the Ryder Cup. In golf, Feinstein eloquently relates, the line that separates triumph from disappointment is incredibly fine. "One week you've discovered the secret to the game; the next week you never want to play it again."
Basketball
James Naismith was teaching physical education at the Young Men's Christian Association Training College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and felt discouraged because calisthenics and gymnastics didn't engage his students. What was needed was an indoor wintertime game that combined recreation and competition. One evening he worked out the fundamentals of a game that would quickly catch on. Two peach half-bushel baskets gave the name to the brand new sport in late 1891. Basketball: Its Origin and Development was written by the inventor himself, who was inspired purely by the joy of play. Naismith, born in northern Ontario in 1861, gave up the ministry to preach clean living through sport. He describes Duck on the Rock, a game from his Canadian childhood, the creative reasoning behind his basket game, the eventual refinement of rules and development of equipment, the spread of amateur and professional teams throughout the world, and the growth of women's basketball (at first banned to male spectators because the players wore bloomers). Naismith lived long enough to see basketball included in the Olympics in 1936. Three years later he died, after nearly forty years as head of the physical education department at the University of Kansas.
The Incredible Hockey Drill Book
"Dave has produced what every coach dreams about . . . a smarter drill book for all situations and ages!" -- Roger Nielson, National Hockey League head coach for 20 years "The Incredible Hockey Drill Book is of great use for all coaches as well as young and older hockey players." -- Jacques Demers, National Hockey League head coach for 10 years (coached the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup championship in 1993) Properly run practices with well-executed drills are the pillars of effective coaching. In The Incredible Hockey Drill Book, former NHL coach Dave Chambers provides more than 600 illustrated, easy-to-follow drills for both novice and experienced coaches. These drills, divided into 24 categories, are designed to teach and improve conditioning, skating, checking, offensive and defensive play, goaltending, special teams, and much more. To help implement these drills, Chambers discusses teaching and learning theories and supplies ideas for drill and practice organization. Also included are 175 motivational slogans that may be used in various coaching situations. Coaches will find The Incredible Hockey Drill Book an invaluable resource for coaching hockey at all levels. Dave Chambers, author of Complete Hockey Instruction, has coached a number of championship teams at the junior, university, and international levels. In the NHL, he has worked as head coach and assistant coach with the Quebec Nordiques and the Minnesota North Stars. He teaches at York University in Toronto.
Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect
Filled with insightful stories about golf, Dr. Bob Rotella's delightful book will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player. Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price (last year's Player of the Year), Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Pat Bradley, Brad Faxon, John Daly, and many others. Rotella, or "Doc," as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. What Rotella does here in this extraordinary book, and with his clients, is to create an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. The most wonderful aspect of it all is that it is done in a conversational fashion, in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Golfers will improve their golf game and have more fun playing. Some of Rotella's maxims include: -On the first tee, a golfer must expect only two things of himself: to have fun, and to focus his mind properly on every shot. -Golfers must learn to love 'the challenge when they hit a ball into the rough, trees, or sand. The alternatives--anger, fear, whining, and cheating--do no good. -Confidence is crucial to good golf. Confidence is simply the aggregate of the thoughts you have about yourself. -It is more important to be decisive than to be correct when preparing to play any golf shot or putt. Filled with delightful and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player.
How to Hit/How to Pitch
A complete self-coaching system for winning baseball.
Heads-Up Baseball
"This book provides practical strategies for developing the mental skills which help speed you to your full potential."---Dave WinfieldWhat does it mean to play heads-up baseball? A heads-up player has confidence in his ability, keeps control in pressure situations, and focuses on one pitch at a time. His mental skills enable him to play consistently at or near his best despite the adversity baseball presents each day. "My ability to fully focus on what I had to do on a daily basis was what made me the successful player I was. Sure I had some natural ability, but that only gets you so far. I think I learned how to focus; it wasn't something that I was necessarily born with." -- Hank Aaron "Developing and refining my mental game has played a critical role in my success in baseball. For years players have had to develop these skills on their own. This book provides practical strategies for developing the mental skills that will help speed you toward your full potential." -- Dave Winfield
Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master
The tennis classic from Olympic gold medalist and ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert, now featuring a new introduction with tips drawn from the strategies of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, and more, to help you outthink and outplay your toughest opponents. A former Olympic medalist and now one of ESPN's most respected analysts, Brad Gilbert shares his timeless tricks and tips, including "some real gems" (Tennis magazine) to help both recreational and professional players improve their game. In the new introduction to this third edition, Gilbert uses his inside access to analyze current stars such as Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, showing readers how to beat better players without playing better tennis. Written with clarity and wit, this classic combat manual for the tennis court has become the bible of tennis instruction books for countless players worldwide.
When Women Played Hardball
"Susan Johnson has created a literary grand slam!"--Billie Jean King The years between 1943 and 1954 marked the magical era of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--which proved beyond doubt that women can play hardball. With skill and style, more than 500 women took to the baseball diamonds of the Midwest, dazzling fans and becoming a visible and supported part of our national pastime. In the words of "Tiby" Eisen, leadoff batter for the Fort Wayne Daisies: "We played ball just like the big boys, we broke up double plays with spikes held high and we stole bases in our skirts. We did whatever it took to win." Among those cheering was ten-year-old Susan Johnson, a loyal fan of the Rockford Peaches. Four decades later she has gone back to meet her girlhood heroines and remember a sensational baseball series: the 1950 championship between the Rockford (Illinois) Peaches and the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daisies--two of the League's most winning and dynamic teams. Filled with colorful stories and anecdotes by the women who played in that spectacular series, When Women Played Hardball offers an entertaining look at the culture the league created--and the society it reflected. This is a story about memories, about dreams fulfilled and dreams denied. It is a celebration of a brief yet remarkable period when women truly had "A League of Their Own."
The Joy of Sports
"...an exhilarating exercise full of uncanny insights..." -PublishersWeekly
Cricket Explained
Cricket Explained offers the sports enthusiast a user-friendly introduction to baseball's British cousin, a game that shares with America's national pastime the common ancestor "rounders." This is the definitive beginner's guide to the game of cricket, written by Robert Eastaway, a world authority on the sport, and co-inventor of the Coopers & Lybrand World Cricket Ratings System. Cricket Explained takes the reader from the game's fundamental --basic rules, terminology, equipment --to the finer points of strategy, individual playing styles, and cricket lore. The book includes a combined glossary/index for easy reference and is illustrated throughout with the lighthearted drawings of British cartoonist Mark Stevens. So even if you don't know "short leg" from "silly mid off" or a bowler from a batsman, you'll come away from Cricket Explained with an understanding for this truly international sport which, like baseball, is loved both for its elegant simplicity and its vexing complexity. Among the topics covered in Cricket Explained's concise, user-friendly entries are: -- Cricket's history-- Making sense of the action on the field-- Batsmen and the batting order-- Fielders and fielding positions-- Fielding and batting tactics-- Scoring and statistics-- Bowling strategy-- How many players are required-- How runs are scored, outs are made, and a game is won-- Umpires and the rules-- Bowlers and their individual styles-- Different types of cricket played throughout the world
Baseball in 1889
Even before the 1889 baseball season began, battle lines had been drawn, revels this history of 19th-century baseball. In the National League, The Players Brotherhood, led by New York Giants shortstop John Montgomery Ward, challenged the insulting classification system devised by league owners. While American Association players had no brotherhood, they proved capable of organizing impromptu responses to abusive treatment by owners. Owners battled with their players and yet struggled to control overflow crowds on weekends and holidays as both major leagues staged the closest, most exciting pennant races to that time. Americans responded by pouring into ballparks in record-setting numbers.
My Life in Baseball
"Highly successful in knitting together this story of the life of a most remarkable and dedicated player-perhaps the most spirited baseball player ever to have graced the diamond."-Library Journal This Bison Book edition of My Life in Baseball is introduced by Charles C. Alexander, a professor of history at Ohio University, Athens, and the author of a biogrpahy of Ty Cobb.
The Anatomy of a Golf Course
Behind every golf hole lies an influence on every golfer's game that few golfers ever contemplate: the course architect. Why a hole dog-legs left and not right, why bunkers end up where they are, the length of a hole, the view from the tee--all these factors and many more are the result of choices made by the golf architect to challenge, and sometimes intimidate, any golfer's game. Tom Doak, one of America's youngest and most successful golf architects, here discusses his craft and explains the strategies behind a golf architect's decisions. Knowing why a course is laid out is critical to how the course should be played. Knowledgeable golfers and beginners alike will find The Anatomy of a Golf Course fascinating--and stroke saving--reading.
The Science of Hitting
"Baseball's last .400 hitter share[s] his secrets in this primer still used at all levels of the game." --Paul Dickson, author of Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick Now fully revised with new illustrations and diagrams, the classic--and still the greatest--book on hitting from the last baseball player to break the magic .400 barrier, Ted Williams. Ted Williams was arguably the greatest pure hitter who ever lived. A lifelong student of hitting, he sought advice from every great hitter--and pitcher--he met. Drawing on that advice, as well as his own legendary life in baseball, Williams produced the all-time batting classic, The Science of Hitting. Using its detailed illustrations, anecdotes, and concise coaching, players of all skill levels will learn how to improve their fundamentals and gain keen insights into the finer points of hitting, including: -How to Think Like a Pitcher and Guess the Pitch -The Three Cardinal Rules for Developing a Smooth Line-Driving Swing -The Secrets of Hip and Wrist Action -Pitch Selection -Bunting -Hitting the Opposite Way The Science of Hitting is a must-read for all baseball players looking to improve their turn at bat and for all coaches and parents teaching the sport.
