A Developing Strength Coach’s Book List

If you are looking for a list of sport science, strength and conditioning, and coaching books by opening this webpage, you will be sorely disappointed.

In my experience, we practitioners (coaches, SpoScis, trainers, physios, etc.) have enough book knowledge. We have the sport-specific know-how in words. A lot of us have also put that knowledge to the test in practice by coaching real humans. We know that stuff.

What we often miss is how to really work with humans.

And that has very little to do with sport-specific book smarts and how much we memorized to pass our CSCS and how many articles from PubMed we read this year.

In fact, as Brett Bartholomew always preaches, we tend to neglect the practical, human side of coaching because of the machine, the rat-race, of the sport industry that we are fighting to survive in ourselves.

So put down that textbook. Close those 14 tabs of articles that you will barely skim and won’t remember tomorrow. You know that sport stuff.

But do you know how to speak? Do you know how to lead, how to serve from the front and the back? Do you know how to use words in ways that move and motivate? Do you know your values, and do you live them out? And do you know why you even do this?

If you’re interested in those things, then this booklist is for you.

The Language of Coaching by Nick Winkelman

Here you go… a sport coaching book!

This book is a brilliant look into cues - why we need it and how to do it effectively.

Words mean things. Athletes recognize tones and body language. Each human benefits from a different form of communication, and it’s our job to find that sweet spot for everyone we work with, in order to connect with them (and connect them to The Work) most efficiently.

Nick is an expert. This book is good.

Game Changer by Dr. Fergus Connolly

If you’ve ever looked back on your sport knowledge and thought “why does any of this even matter?” or
why did I have to learn this?”, read this book.

If you tend toward words like “mind-body-spirit” or “athlete health” or “holistic approach”, this is a book on integrative (“holistic”) sport science practice and you need to read it.

If you are a sport scientist or a data nerd, spending equal time with numbers as with people, read this book.

Basically: you should read this book. It’s one of my favorite references ever.

Dare To Lead by Dr. Brené Brown

Without exaggeration I can say that I recommend any and all Brené Brown content (books included) with my whole chest and would put my reputation on the line behind her work. She strategically breaks down the science of human feeling and connection into action steps, but in the most realistic sense.

“Yeah, that’s shit. Here’s how we can fix it as leaders.”

Considering that is part of the job description of a coach (if you read the fine print!), you should probably read this book. If you want to keep it simple, precise, and leadership-specific, start with Dare To Lead. If you are interested in human behavior and emotion, however, start with Daring Greatly.

And get read to get your feelings hurt and your brain rattled.

Thank You For Arguing By Jay Heinrichs

Words mean things. How we communicate with others matters tremendously to how we share and receive information, how we connect, and how effectively we lead and get things done.

Not only is this book a masterclass on rhetoric, but it is also an advanced course on wordplay and jokes. I recommend this book to anyone in any profession that involves communicating with purpose, but we sport practitioners can especially benefit; no one ever taught us to purposefully communicate, but we must learn and implement this in order to inspire meaningful action, trust, and long-term buy-in.

Bonus points for Star Wars jokes.

Man’s Search For Meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl

Searching for meaning in everything we do, see, and experience is natural for our neurology. The human brain loves creating narratives that make us feel safe, connected, and a part of something that matters.

More than just meaning, however, this book brings across the importance of choosing life.

Regardless of circumstances, of resources, of our abilities, we have the responsibility and the chance to purposefully choose to live, to continue, to change, to accept and do good or to deny and complain.

I loved this book, which is a beautiful combination of story and science, because it asks us to put meaning into action and take responsibility for the decisions we make, both internally and externally. And that is something that the world of sport practitioners, who often feel helpless in a machine that cares little for individuals and a lot about dollar signs, need to learn.

Start With Why + Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Confession: I was so far from convinced to read these books when I bought them. A colleague had drilled into my brain that, just like any Ryan Holiday (not my fav), Malcolm Gladwell (mhm), or Brené Brown (yes!) book that hits the New York Times list, I need to read these.

I was convinced by the end of the first chapter of SWW.

For most of us, the reason we work in sport is not the money we are getting right now. Maybe it’s the hope of working with pros and eventually banking out. Maybe it’s because we were athletes before and know the value of good coaches. Maybe it’s because we loved working out, or we didn’t know what else to do, or we can’t sit still long enough to work in an office.

For me, I work to advocate for the health of athletes and educate the next generation of coaches to do the same.

These books emphasize how values connect us to people. We must identify what we stand for and fully live that out. We cannot persuade, build trust, lead, serve, teach without values, and words alone cannot suffice. It must be values in words and in action, and we have to learn how to serve from outside the spotlight too - yes, hello strength coaches!

Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

I personally ordered Extreme Ownership, Jocko and Leif’s first book, the week it came out and devoured it immediately. While I loved that book, it was extremely blunt, to-the-point and organized into “do” and “do not”. That, however, isn’t always the case in our lives as coaches, because we hang in the space of “good performance vs. bad performance” and “training too little vs. overtraining”, not “life vs. death”.

Dichotomy of Leadership, however, is… dichotomous. It asks the question of “how do we lead effectively?” bluntly, but teaches readers to answer this question themselves from moral, mutually respectful, and situational positions.

Unless you are a dictator, leadership is rarely a Machiavellian black-and-white, yes-or-no job. It is incredibly nuanced, and this book, in combination with Dare To Lead and Leaders Eat Last, is one of my guides.

How To be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

Antiracism should be a part of our vocabulary, but also a part of our daily lives and our work. More likely than not, we have all experienced racism happening - either to us (if you are a person of color) or around us (if you are white, like myself). For those of us whom it happens around, we have the privilege and position to speak up about it, to actively work toward change that brings equality, and to not settle for answers like “but we’ve always done it this way” and “it doesn’t actually hurt anyone”.

There are a lot of antiracism books, but I prefer this one, as Dr. Kendi is a Black man and I found this book solid to understand, relevant, and actionable. But, whichever one you choose, read it and actually do something with what you learned.