“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book? It took me years to write, will you take a look?” “Paperback Writer” written by John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney and performed by the inimitable Beatles. With club season rapidly approaching for the boys and young men, I thought we’d take a look at some of the classic paperback writings and instructional digests on the sport of Volleyball.
There are numerous well written and highly informative books about the sport of Volleyball, written for all reading audiences from the beginning coach to the perennial championship coach. All of these works will help guide the club coach to a “successful season”, however you measure this success. Nonetheless, I believe that five superior Volleyball books (maybe the Fantastic Five) clearly stand above the rest and are suitable for coaches at any level. In alphabetical order, then.
Best of Coaching Volleyball, edited by Kinda S. Lenberg, is a four volume series and compilation of coaching viewpoints and strategies.
- Volume 1 covers “Offensive Fundamentals and Techniques.”
- Volume 2 covers “Defensive Fundamentals and Techniques.”
- Volume 3 covers the game “Beyond the X’s and O’s.”
- Volume 4 covers “Insight and Strategies.”
Coaching Volleyball: Building a Winning Team by Dr. Carl McGown, Hilda Fronske, and Laura Moser, is a multi-chapter reference encompassing all aspects of the game. The importance of the teamwork aspect is very realistically and accurately portrayed in this masterpiece of Volleyball literature.
Pass, Set, Crush: Volleyball Illustrated, 3rd edition, by Jeff Lucas, is an older reference with unbelievable and amazingly accurate illustrations from an artist named Stuart Moldrem. These illustrations are extremely helpful with new players and youngsters.
The Volleyball Coaching Bible, edited by Don Shondell and Cecile Reynaud, providing numerous viewpoints and strategies for the sport.
Winning Volleyball, 3rd edition, by Allen E. Scates, is also an older comprehensive reference, but it is timeless in its approach to Volleyball. And, frankly, it’s hard to ignore the advice of any person who won 1239 DI Volleyball contests and 19 NCAA DI championships.
A sixth work, The Science of Coaching Volleyball (edited by the previously mentioned Dr. Carl McGown) is an outstanding tome for the extra serious, hardcore coach. I highly recommend it after you’ve been coaching for a few years.
Well, Volleyball fans, those books are some of the best paperbacks ever written. You know, if the Beatles were just starting out today, I wonder if we’d hear about paperless bloggers instead of paperback writers. Let’s grow the game together!
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