The Basketball Coach's Bible: A Comprehensive and Systematic Guide to Coaching (Nitty Gritty Basketball Series) [Paperback]

Sidney Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994 | Series: Nitty Gritty Basketball Series

The author who has successfully coached both men's and women's teams spent three years writing this practical action book so that anyone can coach.

Part I discusses and graphically defines the fundamentals.

Part II explains how to plan the key to coaching and teach at practice.

Part III, the largest part, systematically presents over 200 lessons in 19 sections.

Twenty-three pages of Appendices supply other useful coaching information such as: strategies; a practice warm down; game statistics and more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Basketball Coach's Bible claims to be essential reading for basketball coaches, whether they're coaching your daughter's fourth-grade team or a Division I college team. Endorsements are included from both youth coaches and well-known professional and college coaches such as Phil Jackson and Jim Calhoun. Can any book really cover a topic that broadly and do a good job? The resounding answer in this case is yes. Mr. Goldstein starts from the premise that if you learn the fundamentals well, the rest of the game comes along naturally. The first seven short chapters of the book lay out his philosophy of the game and coaching, providing a blueprint to follow.

The remainder of the book has two parts, multipart lessons that focus on individual skills such as dribbling and passing, and another series of lessons on team offense and defense. Each lesson begins with a simple concept and then adds more complex features as your players' skills progress. Charts accompany each lesson and detail the prerequisite skills, time needed, and effort that is required.

This book is one of those rare breeds that live up to its hype. One drawback is that younger players may not have enough practice time to complete all of the drills you would like, but those you do choose will be winners. --Rob Frankland

From Scientific American

I don't often endorse books or products but a book came across my desk that I feel is of interest to any man or women interested in coaching basketball at any level. Sidney Goldstein has penned a book titled The Basketball Coach's Bible and it is a must for every basketball coach. The Penn State grad has put together a book that helps the novice all the way up to the veteran. Goldstein has ideas for practice plans, drills, coaching ideas and tips, as well as how to layout a court. the book uses charts and diagrams along with 40 illustrations and is written well.

The book is sensational! I highly recommend the book to coaches at any level, from 4th and 5th grade through high school and college.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Golden Aura Pub; 1st edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884357075
• ISBN-13: 978-1884357077
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OK on fundamentals; no-go on drills, January 17, 2000

By 

Steve Gompertz, Boys Basketball Director (Andover, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Basketball Coach's Bible: A Comprehensive and Systematic Guide to Coaching (Nitty Gritty Basketball Series) (Paperback)

I'm always looking for books that will help me with the teaching aspect of coaching (which also happens to be the most important). The author has the right idea of focusing on breaking things down to the fundamentals, but does only a so-so job of explaining them. The coverage is inconsistent; sometimes explanations are very clear, other times you're left to fill in blanks. The same is true of information provided on why certain fundamentals are important and why the methodology offered is the correct approach.

The author does do a good job of explaining the order in which skills should be taught, and offers good insight into common misconceptions.

Drills is where this book really fails to deliver. Every coach is always looking for drills that are effective, straight-forwarded, and keep the players interested enough to actually learn something. The author does offer some useful drills, but the a large number focus on one minute skill and propose approaches about as exciting as watching grass grow. Could you really keep a team of 10 year olds interested in 10 minutes of proper wrist movement?

If you have some experience coaching, you can probably use this book to pull together aspects of different drills to create effective and fun drills for your players. But if you're new to coaching, don't let this be your "Bible" on how to run practices.

A final note, the illustrations and diagrams are very low quality. The stick-figure cartoons make the book look amateurish and provide no value.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of its' kind, December 17, 2000

By 

"wixpix33" (Livingston, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Basketball Coach's Bible: A Comprehensive and Systematic Guide to Coaching (Nitty Gritty Basketball Series) (Paperback)

As a coach of a 5th and 6th grade boys basketball team I found this book a tremendous teaching tool this season. Most of the children I coach have had little or no formal teaching in basketball previous to me. This books true value comes from being geared towards all skill levels. A coach at my level, straight through coaches of High school varsity teams, can find drills to introduce to their players.

Every year I've bought a new book on drills because I've never been completly happy with the previous years' purchase. I'm happy to say that next year, and for many more to come, I won't have to buy another.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Tool!, November 19, 1999

By 

James M. Torode ([e-mail]) (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Basketball Coach's Bible: A Comprehensive and Systematic Guide to Coaching (Nitty Gritty Basketball Series) (Paperback)

As a youth basketball coach, I love this book...it gives practice drills, philosophies, plays, and strategies to make your players learn the fundamentals of the game...I highly recommend this book to any coach!