Customer Reviews

Wanted: Rowing Coach

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a rower myself, I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It gave me a bit of insight into a coach's mind and into how I think about rowing. I don't know how someone without knowledge of the sport would feel reading this book because it doesn't give one great specifics about some rowing terms, but nothing one could not look-up. In that respect, it doesn't delve into lots of rowing terms so I don't think the non-rower would be overwhelmed. It was a fun read, written like a diary of the events of the day for a coach and his thoughts on what to change, how to understand his rowers, and how to make the most of a season. I don't know who edited this because there were a handful of grammatical errors that you will notice, but it really doesn't take away from the reading.

Brad Lewis takes you into his rowing world through the eyes of a men's collegiate club team coach. Rather comical, but may escape the humor of a non-rower. Very easy to read and hard to put down.

Brad's book is a great read for rowers and crew coaches. He uses his excellent writing skills to combine a good story with lots of practical useable rowing drills and inspirational sayings. I would have loved having him as a coach. With all his superhuman coaching efforts, it was too bad his results were not better!

The story is a good one, particularly if you are looking for a crew to coach, but I found the book so poorly written I couldn't read it all. A good story deserves more attention to the writing than Mr. Lewis provided. Where were the editors?

Thanks again to Brad Alan Lewis for this entertaining and illuminating look at the sport of rowing, and athletics in general. This is a fitting post script to Brad's earlier work, Assault on Lake Casitas, which is one of the best books on high level athletics ever written.

I can't remember the last time (if ever) that I wanted to start reading a book again as soon as I'd finished it... but, as a rower, coach (back in Blighty) and Zen acolyte, this book contains so many gems that I feel I need to go back and mop up any I might have missed.

When I first met the character Brad Lewis in The Amateurs, 'likeable' is not a word I would immediately associate with a predatory shark with sustained obsession... but, after this volume, I kinda like the guy...

The only downside is that this is a work of FICTION - how can this be?? Anyway, great stuff!

After reading Brad Lewis' account of his rowing Olympic Gold medal in "Assualt on Lake Casitas," I was curious about how he might have used his experience in the world of rowing, once he was out of olympic mode. "Wanted" is actually a better-written book than "Assault." He has greater perspective on his own abilities and blind sides and has many funny stories to tell about college athletics.

I enjoyed his coaching journey very much but the surprising part was that he has true and compelling life lessons to share - with his rowing team and also with his readers. Take his discussion on "the X Factor" - anyone who has EVER pushed themselves, athletically or otherwise, should read this book for that part alone. It is, simply, to recognize that when you are in pursuit of a goal, you will reach a point at which some voice in your head will say, "this is too much, you should back off, save your strength, try it another day" or some variation on that theme and if you don't practice at hitting that hesitation point at 100% and running right over it, then it won't happen when you really need it to happen.

--And you may find yourself on the wrong side of a 4/100ths of a second race time finish.

I'm a "Level 2 US Rowing coach", in other words, fairly new to coaching, with a lot to learn. I found this book very helpful in my first couple of years of coaching; a must have for anyone new to coaching.

I have about every other page marked up with thoughts for workouts. Really came in handy coaching the past couple of seasons. Brad brings up the safety issues you need to know as a coach BEFORE they happen to you. I give this book and Brad's other books to novices (rowers and coxswains) at my club as required reading!

I am a rowing coach, so naturally, I enjoyed this book. You have to know something about rowing for it to be excellent, but there's enough fun stories in it that anyone would enjoy it.

I enjoyed Brad Lewis's account of his coaching experiences at UCSB. People who are familiar with rowing and do some coaching would enjoy it the most. He has a great sense of humor.Wanted: Rowing Coach