Successful Coaching

Successful Coaching has helped more than a million coaches—aspiring, new, and seasoned coaches alike—develop and expand their knowledge of coaching to provide the best, most fulfilling sport experience for their athletes. In the revised fifth edition, author and sport psychologist Rainer Martens is joined by coauthor Robin Vealey, longtime professor of sport psychology at Miami University (Ohio). Together they bring to the text their knowledge and proficiency, gleaned from decades of personal experiences as coaches, athletes, and educators.

Successful Coaching will help you think critically about your approach to coaching and develop the skills and wisdom to fulfill your many responsibilities as coach:

• Identify your coaching philosophy and coaching objectives
• Build relationships with players and staff and promote teamwork
• Nurture positive decision making and sportsmanship to develop more mature individuals
• Coach athletes of diverse backgrounds, characteristics, interests, and abilities
• Teach and practice sport skills and strategies using the games approach
• Train, condition, and fuel athletes using sound principles and methods
• Organize and guide your team and sport program
• Manage relationships with administrators, officials, parents, and media
• Minimize risk and meet your legal duties as a coach

The fifth edition of Successful Coaching has been carefully revised in accordance with recommendations of the National Standards for Sport Coaches. Updates and additions include the latest scientific research in physical training and nutrition, plus best practices, guidelines, and insights from successful coaches addressing today’s foremost topics of concern:

• Mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and disordered eating
• Race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in youth sport
• Sexual harassment and abuse
• Motivation, corrective discipline, and burnout
• Alcohol consumption, drug use, and vaping

Chapters are punctuated with supplemental content to underscore key concepts. Current insights, innovations, and quotes from recognized coaches demonstrate how to overcome common and challenging coaching situations. Coaching Yourself sidebars and end-of-chapter Questions for Reflection challenge you to think critically about your own coaching style and how to apply key principles in real coaching situations. Sample coaching forms that can be modified for personal use are provided online.

Written by coaches for coaches, Successful Coaching is a practical, readable, and useful resource that you’ll refer to throughout the season and cherish more than your playbook.

Successful Coaching is the text for Human Kinetics’ Coaching Principles course. Coaching Principles is recognized by numerous state high school and athletic directors’ associations, school districts, national governing bodies, and other sport organizations as meeting coaching education and certification requirements. In addition, hundreds of colleges and universities have adopted Coaching Principles for graduate and undergraduate coaching programs.

Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all print books.

Rainer Martens, PhD, has coached at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels and has studied sport as a research scientist. The founder and president of Human Kinetics, he also started the American Sport Education Program, a leading coaching education program for many years. Recognized as a pioneer in the development of sport psychology, Rainer is the author of more than 80 scholarly articles and 18 books. He has been a featured speaker at over 100 conferences around the world and has conducted more than 150 workshops and clinics for coaches and athletes at all levels.

After receiving his PhD in physical education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1968, Martens was a member of its faculty for 16 years. A past president of the National Academy of Kinesiology, he has been recognized for his contribution to sport by the National Recreation and Park Association and by his induction into the National Association for Sport and Physical Education Hall of Fame. He has received Distinguished Alumni awards from Hutchinson High School, Emporia State University in Kansas (where he earned a bachelor’s degree), the University of Montana (where he earned a master’s degree), and the University of Illinois.

Rainer played slowpitch softball for 45 years and coached the most successful senior slowpitch team in the United States, the Florida Legends. In 2009, he was inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame.

Rainer began playing pickleball in 2016 after retiring from slowpitch softball. He has won several national championships and, along with Julie, his wife of 30 years, has built Pictona, a 49-court pickleball facility in Holly Hill, Florida, which is widely acclaimed as the best pickleball facility in the country. As part of their philanthropic efforts, Rainer and Julie donated the facility to the City of Holly Hill. They also helped launch a community center next to Human Kinetics in Champaign, Illinois, which carries their name: the Martens Center.

Rainer is an avid wildlife and landscape photographer, traveling the world in pursuit of the unusual and exotic. Rainer and Julie live in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Robin S. Vealey, PhD, is a professor in the department of sport leadership and management at Miami University in Ohio, where she has worked for more than 30 years. She has dedicated nearly her entire adult life to youth sports, whether as a coach, administrator, educator, researcher, or consultant. She is internationally known for her research on the psychological aspects of youth sport and coaching effectiveness. Vealey, who has authored three books, has won several professional awards throughout her academic career, including being named a fellow by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and the National Academy of Kinesiology. She previously was president of AASP, is a certified consultant in sport psychology as recognized by AASP, and is on the U.S. Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry. In addition to serving on numerous journal editorial review boards, Vealey is a past editor of The Sport Psychologist.

In 2011, Vealey was named to the Marshall University Athletic Hall of Fame after a stellar playing career in women’s basketball. Vealey went on to serve as a collegiate volleyball and women’s basketball coach and an athletics administrator. She currently enjoys playing golf and continues to remain active in various sports as a sport psychology consultant for youth athletes and teams.