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THE BASKETBALL COACH'S PRIMER

Name: THE BASKETBALL COACH'S PRIMER
Author: Thomas Frood
ISBN: 978-1-5255-0388-7

by Thomas Frood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2018

A valuable source of information for coaches who can patiently navigate its circuitous prose style.

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A comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of basketball coaching.

Basketball is a complex game, and its coaches need to not only have a firm grasp of basic strategies, but also need to know basic principles of training, leadership, and motivation. Debut author Frood, a former coach for Queen’s University’s varsity men’s basketball team in Kingston, Ontario, provides a synoptic look at the game’s elements—fitness and training; offense and defense; and teamwork and strategy. This instructional guide looks at how to organize practices and drills, inculcate specific skill sets, and inspire enthusiasm and camaraderie. Frood also touches upon more intangible subjects, such as team “synergy,” or collaborative chemistry—an elusive but very real concept that’s necessary for seamless teamwork. The author treats each subject in painstaking detail, often including helpful, illustrative diagrams. He naturally gravitates to more general discussions about the nature of the game and its psychological underpinnings, but his strategic counsel is always actionable and concrete, hewing to “game-specific” concerns. Also, Frood prudently understands that every team needs a plan of attack that’s designed for its particular idiosyncrasies. Along the way, he provides counsel on how to score and record a team’s progress in various areas. Overall, this teaching manual is remarkably thorough. One drawback, though, is the fact that Frood invents his own “special basketball language”—he calls it “Beeballese”—designed to allow players and their coach to communicate with greater precision. It’s less a language than a glossary of concise terms for various strategies and exercises, and is unlikely to be very useful to coaches who have their own names for such things. Also, the author’s prose is unusually convoluted for an athletic-coaching primer; it’s sometimes reminiscent of dense academic writing: “The coach’s interruption of or incursion into any learning process should be catalytic, an influence that gets things done for the better.”

A valuable source of information for coaches who can patiently navigate its circuitous prose style.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5255-0388-7

Page Count: 316

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.