One of the questions we like to ask the Wizards we interview is what they have on their recommended reading list with respect to coaching. Not all of them have suggestions, but many do. You’ll notice they cover a wide array of perspectives and ideas. Many are sports related, but many come from other areas of life such as learning and management.
Here is the running list of those books, broken out in to broad categories. They are presented in the order in which they were received with links to Amazon.
Volleyball-specific
- Inside Out of Passing by Toshi Yoshida
- Thinking Volleyball by Mike Hebert
- Insights & Strategies for Winning Volleyball by Mike Hebert
- The Fire Still Burns by Mike Hebert
- Volleyball Coaching Bible, Volume II by AVCA
- Science of Coaching Volleyball by Carl McGown
- Coaching Volleyball Successfully by Bill Neville
- The Volleyball Drill Book by AVCA (Teri Clemens and Jenny McDowell)
- The Volleyball Coaching Bible by Don Shondell and Cecile Reynaud
- Talent and the Secret Life of Teams by Terry Pettit
- A Fresh Season: Insights into Coaching, Leadership, and Volleyball by Terry Pettit
- The Journey to Extraordinary Coaching by Terry Pettit (presentation)
- Strategies of Team Management Through Volleyball by Ralph Hippolyte
Sports related
- Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson
- John Wooden (anything by or about)
- Moneyball by Michael Lewis
- My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
- The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh
- The Sports Gene by David Epstein
- Your Key to Sports Success by Jonathan P. Niednagel
- A Coach’s Life: My Forty Years in College Basketball by Dean Smith
- The Winner Within Pat Riley
- The Champion’s Mind by Jim Afremow
- Game On: How the Pressure to Win at All Costs Endangers Youth Sports, and What Parents Can Do About It by Tom Farrey
- Leading with the Heart by Mike Krzyzewski
- Greatness: The 16 Characteristics of True Champions by Don Yeager
- Raise the Roof by Pat Summit
- Championship Team Building by Jeff Jannsen
- Get with It, Girls!: Life is Competition by Teri Clemens and Tom Wheatley
- The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual by Jeff Janssen
- Choke by Sian Beilock
- The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
- Legacy by James Kerr
- Above the Line by Urban Myer
- How Good Do You Want to Be? by Nick Saban & Brian Curtis
- Back from the Dead by Nick Saban & Bill Walton
Management
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
- In Search of Excellence by Thomas J. Peters & Robert H. Waterman Jr.
- The Zen of Groups by Dale Hunter
- Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
- Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
- Gender and Competition by Kathy DeBoer
- Twelve Mighty Orphans by Jim Dent
- The Entitlement Cure by John Townsend
- Made in America by Peter Ueberroth
- The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner
- On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
- Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaborations by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman
- Managing the Millenntals by Chip Espinoza and Mick Ukleja
- The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon
- The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon
Psychology
- Drive by Daniel Pink
- Give and Take by Adam Grant
- Winners Never Cheat by Jon Huntsman
- The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
- The Gift of Imperfection by Brene Brown
- Mindset by Carol Dweck
- The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- The ONE Thing: by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan
- Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Relentless by Tim Grover
- The Habitudes series by Tim Elmore
- Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
- Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
- The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle
- The Confidence Gap by Russ Harris
- Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf
Other
- Ice Bound by Dr. Jerri Nielsen and Maryanne Vollers
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Consider this list a work in progress. We’ll continue adding to it as new titles are suggested in future interviews.
Of course you should also look at our books.