Previous Summer Reading Lists

2007

• Top 10 Mistakes of a Young Coach - Actually, old coaches make the same mistakes!
• Be a Great Wrestling Coach - Here's a list of 72 characteristics and habits of a great wrestling coach.
• Features of a Great Wrestling Program - Ten features of a great wrestling program.
• One-Sport High School Athletes - Here are some things coaches and parents need to consider before encouraging their athletes to specialize in one sport.
• Coach's PIP - Coaches, like their wrestlers, need to work in the offseason to improve their game or in this case their coaching skills. You should start by thinking about a Professional Improvement Plan (PIP). Here's some things that might make your list.
• Coach's Code of Conduct - Many wrestling organizations are looking to create a coach's code of conduct. This one is used by Kansas USA Wrestling.
• Better Competition Concept - Here are some ideas that can energize and revolutionize your wrestling program! Especially if you believe that the most important statistic for a wrestling coach isn't how many dual meets the team wins nor the number of state champs they produced, but rather the number of wrestlers they have in the room on the last day of practice.
• Drill: Boring, but Vital - This article tells why drill is important and why it's so boring and what to do about it!
• Motivated Drill - Drill is boring and perhaps the most important part of practice. Here's some tips on how to keep motivated.
• Constant Movement - Here's an enhancement on a popular practice activity.
• 4-Man Scrimmage: Creating Coaches, Referees and Better Wrestlers - This activity may lead to some new referees and coaches down the road!
• Play Safe and Clean - Due to the nature of competitive sports at the high school level, there is an elevated risk of infectious diseases being spread by skin-to-skin contact and contaminated equipment shared by athletes. Here's a set of recommendations from the National Athletic Trainers' Association for precautions that should be followed in order to prevent the spread of communicable and infectious diseases.
• Superman Club - Here's an idea that will build better wrestlers and future coaches, but you may have to keep it a secret!
• Wrestling Club Tips - Here's some tips on conducting a wrestling club.
• Club Organizing Guide - This 112-page, comprehensive guide prepared by USA Wrestling is a must read for anyone who is forming or operating a wrestling club.
• Terms - The very first five minutes of instruction for new wrestlers should detail the terms described in this article.
• Movements - Teach these four movements early as they can often be used to expedite the teaching of a wide variety of technique.
• Skills Checklist (pdf or doc) - This is a 16-page checklist of wrestling skills!

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2006

• Integrity - If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.
• Event Organizing Guide - This excellent guide, prepared by USA Wrestling, is provided to assist you in successfully planning, promoting and conducting a Regional or National Event. It touches on most aspects of hosting an event although some of the details may not apply to yours since it was prepared specifically for USA Wrestling functions.
• Delegate! - Coaches who can't or won't delegate create a bottleneck to productivity - and success. Here's some pointers.
• Cavalcade of Champions - This motivational tool is a list of all the wrestlers that have taken First Place in a Tournament while or after being a part of your program.
• Building a Winning Wrestling Program from Scratch - If you are a coach whose school is just starting a wrestling program, you better read this article! In fact, even if you're not, you should read this!
• Team = Family - This article tells you the secret to having your wrestlers reach their full potential.
• Pre-Season Team Meeting - This is the most important meeting of the year. This article tells you why and how.
• Let the Kids Play! - This article is a must read for all coaches and parents.
• Coach's Playbook Against Drugs - The purpose of this guide is to help you as a coach educate your athletes about the dangers of drugs.
• Participation Cards - Do you like to collect things? Well, most people do, including wrestlers. Here's a motivational aid they'll like!
• 2005 Youth Wrestling Parents Guide - This free, recently revised guide in pdf format is great not only for parents but can be used as a recruiting tool and shared with business sponsors as well.
• Olympic Lessons - Did you watch the Winter Olympics? Your wrestlers could learn lots of lessons from them.
  • A winner never quits
  • It ain't over 'til it's over
  • If you're in it, you can win it
  • Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard!
• The Science of Motivation - We had so much positive feedback from the three-part series on the Science of Motivation (Challenge -  Achievement -  Recognition) we decided to follow it up with another article: How to get kids to participate in off-season wrestling activities.

2005

• Wrestling Program - Learn to get organized and share the load.
• Clean Wrestling Room - Nothing could make trying out unappealing faster than the spread of a staph infection.
• Wrestlers Games - Try a change-of-pace activity each week. It's fun!
• Madison System - Don't like kids cutting weight? They don't have to if you use this procedure!
• 5 W's of Effective Practices - What happens to the athletes in practice will have a major influence on what happens to them in competitions. The better the practice, the more likely they will be to experience success. Coaches can organize an effective practice by following the five basic W's.
• The Brick - This motivational aid/activity gives your wrestlers an idea of how short their high school experience will be.
• Join Us! - Getting students to try out for your sport takes more than posting a sign on the locker room door. This article tells you how much more!
• Redefining "Winner" - This speech (script) is from the Positive Coaching Alliance, an organization that believes winning is a goal in youth sports but that there is a second, more important goal of using sports to teach life lessons through positive coaching. Just substitute wrestling for baseball and meets for games!
• Rules for Wrestling Coaches - Here's eight rules you may want to coach by for a happier, healthier and improving wrestling program.
•  Promoting High School Wrestling - This article contains 41 ways to promote our sport.
•  "Coaches Never Lose" - This is the classic essay about why we should be coaching!
• The Science of Motivation:
  •  Challenge - This Sept. 15, 2004 article in Wrestling USA has generated lots of positive feedback. Read what the fuss is all about!
  •  Achievement - This article discusses the importance of achievement in developing wrestlers.
  •  Recognition - This article discusses the third and final component of motivation: Recognition.

1. You may find it easier to first print out the article and then read it.
2. For those of you who are computer savvy you may want to try this: When you read an idea you like, highlight it and copy and paste it into a word-processed document called Ideas. This way you won't have to search all the articles to recall any ideas you found interesting or helpful.
3. Read ALL the articles whether you're interested in them or not! You can't stretch if you don't venture into the unknown!