THE WINNING EDGE IS MENTAL. If you've ever watched a champion make that impossible three-point shot in the game's final seconds, you know that mental skills are absolutely critical to all-around success, on and off the court.

No one understands this better than coaching legend Dale Brown and renowned sport consultant Dr. Kevin Burke, the co-authors of Sport Psychology Library: Basketball. Together, they share their expertise and techniques to bring the mental aspect of the game under every player's control. They stress preparation, practice, and performance in attaining these vital psychological skills:

• CONCENTRATION
• TEAMWORK
• RELAXATION
• CONFIDENCE
• STRONG ETHICS AND FAIR PLAY

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Each year, millions of grammar school athletes swarm fields and courts armed with little more than an infectious love for their games.

These endeavors represent the purity of sport, as kids are allowed to be kids and compete outside the demands of lucrative contracts and extensive media coverage. Yet sadly, as George Dohrmann's Play Their Hearts Out demonstrates, such a paradise is fading fast in today's corporate sports world. Dohrmann provides a first-hand account of the rise of a nine-year-old basketball phenom and the grassroots programs that both helped and hindered his dreams of superstardom. To call this story a cautionary tale is to sell it short, as Play Their Hearts Out is an unflinching look at the increasing need for hype in youth athletics. Fans of the brilliant Hoop Dreams documentary are advised to add this book to their cart immediately, as Dohrmann's masterful ability to remove himself from the plotline achieves an honesty that leaves any and all judgments to the reader. --Dave Callanan, Amazon.com

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Played by more than thirty million boys and girls across the country, youth sports have turned from a casual activity for kids into a fanatical force–an intense, expensive, elitist rite of passage driven by the needs of impatient (if often well- meaning) adults.

In Game On, award-winning ESPN reporter Tom Farrey explores the causes and consequences of our obsession with early success in sports. The effort to sort the strong from the weak at ever-younger ages, Farrey argues, pushes too many children to the sidelines–and ultimately undermines the quality of U.S. national teams. We’ve conscripted our kids into a sports arms race in which individual performance trumps participation and personal growth. To counter the effects of a win-at-all-costs culture, Farrey suggests measures that can help parents – and communities – get children off the couch without running them into the ground.

Much as Fast Food Nation challenged our eating habits and Outliers encouraged us to think in new ways about high achievers, Game On will change the way we look at the critically important games that American kids play.

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Why is A Season on the Brink the bestselling sports book of all time?

The answer is easy: Bobby Knight. Audaciously brilliant, exasperatingly volatile, and never boring, the Indiana University basketball coach is Greek drama and comedy neatly wrapped in a red sweater. Like all high-strung people, Knight is particularly interesting when things don't go according to his playbook. John Feinstein had the good fortune to follow Knight and his Hoosiers through a difficult 1985-86 campaign; that Feinstein could watch that season attached to Knight's hip gives A Season on the Brink its sights and its sounds. That such closeness allowed entry into Knight's heart gives the book its fury. The combination is irresistible.

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Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York, how a pilots' culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math.

But there's more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples--and in more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps-- Gladwell invites conversations about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. --Mari Malcolm, Amazon.com

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"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics.

Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.

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Basketball superstar Johnson's straight talk on AIDS gives his autobiography its thrust and power.

Born in Lansing, Mich., son of an hardworking auto assembly- line worker and a pious Seventh-Day Adventist, Johnson comes across as a modest, straightforward, upbeat guy in this high-spirited if sanitized self-portrait. Fans will enjoy his replays of key games and seasons, as well as his frank impressions of his former Los Angeles Lakers teammates, coach Pat Riley, the Boston Celtics' Larry Bird and other players. Johnson discusses his on-again, off-again relationship with his wife, Cookie, whom he married just a month before he tested positive for the HIV virus. The strongest sections describe his retirement, his coming to terms with his condition and return to play, his role as an AIDS activist and the birth of his second son earlier this year. An epilogue contains the rousing speech "A Message for Black Teenagers." Coauthor Novak has collaborated on "autobiographies" with Lee Iacocca and Nancy Reagan. Photos. Author tour. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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"A part of all those people who helped me along the way can be found in everything I have done and continue to do. I had some great teachers - and I listened to what they had to say." - Michael Jordan

A global icon in sports, style and business, Michael Jordan is famous for his unrivalled athletic ability, his fierce determination, and his grace under pressure. In DRIVEN FROM WITHIN, he makes it clear that his phenomenal success is thanks in large part to the teachers, mentors and friends who have guided him throughout his life. Here is a book about the power of collaboration and teamwork, the energy that is released when people share their gifts and hard-won knowledge. With almost two million copies of his three previous books in print, Michael Jordan has proven himself to be as strong a performer in bookstores as he is on the court. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully designed, this is Michael Jordan's most intimate book to date. Organized around the qualities that Jordan demonstrates in his own life and that he looks for in others - qualities like authenticity, integrity, passion and commitment - DRIVEN FROM WITHIN is an inspiring record of an extraordinary life.

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The critically acclaimed, classic autobiography of UCLA basketball's legendary coach.

"What Knute Rockne was to football, Connie Mack to baseball, and Wilbur and Orville Wright to flying, John Wooden is to basketball." --Los Angeles Times

"They Call Me Coach is grassroots Americana, a story bigger than basketball. One of those rare sports books that is must reading for everyone." --Chicago Tribune

Now featuring a great new look and a Foreword by hoop Hall of Famer Bill Walton, this classic bestselling sports bio by America's "winningest coach" is back. Still charming fans everywhere, college basketball legend John Wooden reflects on his record-breaking career, his inspired life behind the scenes, and how his top players went on to shape and change the NBA. With worldly wisdom, Wooden offers a very personal history of an unforgettable time in college basketball, answering the most-asked questions about his life, his career, and the players who made his team unbeatable.

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The world listens when Michael Jordan speaks.

Here is just a sample of what you’ll find inside:

"People can fly. Some fly higher than others, that’s all." "You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise."

"My heroes were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes."

"Confidence allows you to progress in something you’re attempting to accomplish, whether it’s playing basketball or baseball, or whether it’s trying to succeed in business."

"This is going to sound wild–but my ultimate dream is to get a potbelly."

(This book has not been prepared, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Michael Jordan.)

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How many times have you heard, "There is no I in team"? Still, U.S. basketball continues to be dominated by individual play, which has led to a number of embarrassing upsets on the world and Olympic courts. From middle-school to the NBA, there are no championships without teamwork--and there's no teamwork without good coaching.

Get away from the flash and start building your successful team today with this one-of-a- kind, step-by-step guide that helps you to:

• Communicate the core values of integrity and respect
• Create a vision statement
• Recruit team players
• Develop trust and unity with a buddy system
• Inspire your players to embrace teamwork
• And more

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Perfect Phrases for Coaches arms you with winning phrases for dealing with any team- on and off the field-without reverting to the same old clichés heard a million times.

Whether it's the first day of practice or the final moments of the big game, regardless of the sport being played, every coach must address his or her team and staff clearly to get their attention and to get results. Author Ralph Pim covers the common situations experienced by all coaches-from motivation and discipline to preseason expectations, from skill development to handling pressure and dealing with parents. Ideal for any situation, Perfect Phrases for Coaches gives you the right words at the right time.

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While Robertson could have easily candy-coated this impressive record for his retrospective, he devotes large sections of his book to the racial battles he faced off court, and his final chapters recount his controversial efforts as an NBA union leader to create free agency, a pension plan, and disability protection for players.

In telling his life story, he lays bare the racism and mistreatment he suffered at the hands of individuals and institutions throughout his career, from the Mayor of Indianapolis and Cincinnati University to the NBA and CBS Sports. At times, his critiques can seem excessive (e.g. his discussions of the distortions in the film Hoosiers, while interesting, are repeated a bit too often), and some sections (like his attempts to compare himself to contemporary players) border on self-indulgence. Yet, he seems justified in arguing that his achievements--largely accomplished on second-rate teams, against a back-drop of unprecedented racial strife, and before the modern era of sports-media saturation--are easily underrepresented. In the end, The Big O offers a complex, human portrait to complement a spectacular sports career. -- Patrick O'Kelley, Amazon.com

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Largely conforming to the standard sports autobiography, former University of North Carolina basketball coach Smith recalls his career and the way it dovetailed with the evolution of college basketball over the second half of this century into a big business and media zoo.

The writing is talky and easygoing, punctuated by sly humor: "I liked the '60s, but I liked them a lot better after we won a few ball games." Of meeting Michael Jordan, who played for him at UNC, Smith casually notes: "I know I'm supposed to say he was surrounded by a golden light, but the truth is, he wasn't." The son of schoolteachers, Smith writes sincerely about teaching his young, talented players the "issues" involved in basketball and in life, especially race. In a chapter called "I may Be Wrong But!" Smith reveals some of the personal and political beliefs he so tightly guarded during his career. He articulates his faith in God and his political disagreements with the Christian Coalition (relevant because Smith was long the most popular man in a state that elects Jesse Helms to the Senate) and his discomfort with athletes who appear to believe that God cares who wins a basketball game. Although Smith indulges in some stock homilies and bromides about "life fundamentals," he come off as man with compassion, modesty and honesty, as well as competitive drive. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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