Sports Talent [Paperback]

Jim Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2001

If you have ever wondered if your athletically inclined child has what it takes to compete at the high school, college, or professional level, look no further than Sports Talent.

In Sports Talent many coaches and scouts reveal the physical, mental, and emotional attributes they look for in young athletes. With a wealth of input from top experts and coaches, this book addresses key issues, sport-specific evaluations, and training development methods in 13 different sports for boys and girls.

Sports Talent provides checklists and tests to more easily and objectively evaluate whether a young athlete possesses average or exceptional athletic talent. The systematic approach to measurement provides data on the potential of young talent that can then be compared to national averages. This ground breaking, easy-to-follow guide will provide much needed insight on how to develop talented athletes to their fullest potential, while providing ways to support them in a positive and productive manner.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Talented players play every down like it's the last one they'll ever play. You can't get that information from a stopwatch."
Bobby Bowden
Head football coach,
Florida State University
Two-time national champions
"Drive is the most important predictor of exceptional athletic success. These athletes are almost obsessed with succeeding."
Jim Loehr, EdD
President of LGE Performance Systems
Author of The New Toughness Training for Sports
"The single most important piece of advice I would give to a potentially gifted basketball player is to work on quickness under control."
John Wooden
Ten-time UCLA national champion coach
College Hall of Fame member as athlete and coach

Review

”Talented players play every down like it's the last one they'll ever play. You can't get that information from a stopwatch.”
Bobby Bowden
Head football coach,
Florida State University
Two-time national champions

”Drive is the most important predictor of exceptional athletic success. These athletes are almost obsessed with succeeding.”
Jim Loehr, EdD
President of LGE Performance Systems
Author of The New Toughness Training for Sports

”The single most important piece of advice I would give to a potentially gifted basketball player is to work on quickness under control.”
John Wooden
Ten-time UCLA national champion coach
College Hall of Fame member as athlete and coach

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736033904
• ISBN-13: 978-0736033909
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,430,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sports talent, July 25, 2001

By 

Camille M. Soulier (Hattiesburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sports Talent (Paperback)

This book is so helpful for parents who want to do the right thing for their child/athlete but have no guidance and must depend on the local coach/teacher. This book puts the child first and gives sound advice on getting the most out of the individual for the sake of that individual. This book is also helpful to the coach who needs positive backing with the written word. Often we may say and do the right things with our young athletes and their parents, but it is so helpful to have credible backing. If more parents/coaches/teachers had this book to follow years ago, we would not have a lot of the problems that we have from beginner to professional athlete. Our professional athletes are who they are because of early year coaching and mentoring. I wish that I could make coaches, parents and athletes young and old read this wealth of information. We are seeing an influx of older citizens taking up lifetime, competitive sports for the first time and there needs to be guidance for them also. I am going to ask that my academic dean allow this book to be used as a text for my teaching theory class at my community college. I am a tennis teaching professional/community college faculty member/men-women community college tennis coach/director of tennis at a public tennis facility/and still an avid competitor, and will refer to this book often in all of those entities. This text will be something that my students who are future coaches can use as a reference for years from now. Thank you for this opportunity to review. It's not often getting a chance to catapult such a positive, educational book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Must Read, May 5, 2001

By 

Drew Thrasher USPTA certified tennis pro (Lake Charles, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sports Talent (Paperback)

This book just became required reading for the parents of my tournament players. Dr. Brown has done an excellent job with the interviews and research for this book. The tennis references are very impressive. Stella Sampras, Jim Loehr, and Dick Gould literally pack every paragraph with valuable information.

I started using the physical tests for my juniors this week, and I was surprised to see a few of them in the upper percentages. I've also added two of the tests to my lesson plan for new students.