57 Books Like Play Practice

I was lucky enough to be taught by the authors when I was doing my MSc in sports coaching. Both brought years of practical experience to their lectures, and this is reflected in the book. It gives a good overview of children's physical, mental, and social development from pre-school to teenage years.

 I found it clear and helpful, and it reminded me of what is best for each age/stage of children when coaching them. I like the practical tips and ‘things to avoid’ paragraphs. Writing this review made me want to go back and read it again!

The big yellow book on PE taught me so much about movement, lesson planning, and skill development. It was immaculately researched and dense with ideas, progressions, charts, and sample lesson plans. I have about fifty sections marked with sticky paper tabs. 

Coaches who want to develop their athletes/players/students rather than cherry-pick the big kids need to know how to teach rather than just what to teach. This book is invaluable as a teaching resource. 

I also loved the feel of the old hardback, brimming with knowledge.

I enjoyed sitting in several of Wade Gilbert’s presentations on coaching and chatting with him afterward. This book is a masterpiece of organization and layout aimed at sports coaches of all levels. There is more contained in this single volume than I learned in any coaching course, including my MSc! 

My copy is well-thumbed, with dozens of notes in the margins where I keep thinking I need to incorporate the ideas into my coaching. I like the way it is laid out into different parts of the season to help the coach along their journey. It is not designed to be read in one sitting but to be worked through and changes made along the way. 

I need to read it again now.

Brian is a basketball coach with experience coaching in the USA and Europe. This is a collection of essays and articles about coaching, teaching, athletic development, and session planning. While Brian draws heavily on basketball examples, the lessons, and warnings are easily transferred to other sports.

I dipped into this book, finding it easy to read. The 63 essays are just the right length to give me time to think and reflect. 

My own clinical approach is based on subtly working with the body. This book gives me many other necessary tools. A stronger, harsh, even brutal approach, which is sometimes necessary, can be found within these pages.

This book remains part of my ‘go-to’ guide for the constant prehab and rehab of everyday life. I love to row, a tough sport that requires a tailored approach to prevent injuries and guide me through land-based exercises.

On a theoretical side, I recognize many good fundamental principles that apply to other areas of movement once mastered. 

The Science and Practice of Strength Training is an intermediate to elite book aimed at understanding periodization concepts as how they best apply to specific tissues, adaptations, and populations. This deeper understanding will allow the reader to understand the reasons why they are implementing exercises, sets, repetitions, rest times, and so on into their routines and how that can play out with long-term progress. The specific populations mentioned are training for women, young adults, and seniors, so it's applicable to a broad range of people not just your regular athletes or recreational athletes wanting to know more. 

John Schulian, one of the premier American sports journalists from the 1970s to the present, has recommended The Red Smith Reader with unsparing enthusiasm: “Quite simply the most thorough collection ever of the master’s work... a joy to everyone who picks it up.” A compilation of 131 Smith columns published in 1982, the year of his death, the book showcases his literary prose, which elevated the profession. The biggest games (Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Reggie Jackson’s three home runs on three consecutive at-bats in the 1977 Fall Classic) and individuals (Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Secretariat) are the foundation of Smith’s invaluable contributions to the understanding and appreciation of sports culture. His profiles of boxing and horse racing trainers are also exceptionally astute portraits.

Red Smith was a deadline artist, crafting timeless columns. As a fan of good writing and an admirer of his literary… show more.

When I was a little girl my only goal was to become a surgeon. And no sooner had I made it then I had to retire thanks to recurrent breast cancer.

I started answering questions and giving talks about my experiences, writing blogs and articles to feel like the doctor I used to be. But I was drained. I’d forgotten to focus on what I now wanted from life. This book was the key.

Every decision Ben made over four years was based on whether it would help him win gold in the mens’ eight at Sydney. My free time was precious and I had to start thinking that way too. Could I justify giving up my time for free to help other people if it meant not looking after myself?

During the Cold War, the propaganda battle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was intense during the 1950s and 1960s. Communist leaders in Moscow constantly attacked America as hypocritical for promoting freedom abroad while treating its Black residents as second-class citizens.

Damion L. Thomas provides a fascinating look at how the U.S. government countered by sponsoring Black athletes on goodwill tours abroad. Thomas refers to government directives and other papers to shine a light on this diplomatic strategy.

This book is the classic and foundational book in which the author designates the requisite characteristics of modern sports: secularization, equality, specialization, rationalization, and bureaucracy.

Secularization distanced sport from the association with religious rituals such as the ancient Olympic Games. Distinct rules and regulations relative to participants designated equal opportunities for success. The sport's perceived physical, social, and moral benefits provided a rational reason for their practice. Specialized events required specialized practice, furthering the advent of professionalism.

The greater profusion and practice of sport led to the creation of associations to administer and regulate the activities. Melvin Adelman, A Sporting Time: New York City and the Rise of Modern Athletics, 1820-70, later added commercialization and urbanization as a feature of modernity.