Sports sages wax pretty much all the same with words to the effect of: practice making perfect, preparation meeting opportunity, and if your mind can believe it your body can achieve it. But some telling sports insight comes to us
Sports sages wax pretty much all the same with words to the effect of: practice making perfect, preparation meeting opportunity, and if your mind can believe it your body can achieve it.
But some telling sports insight comes to us not from a sportsman but from classic French novelist Honore de Balzac who observed in “Physiology of Marriage” (1829) that “power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true.”
This phrase from the grandfather of literary realism has been repeated through the years to inspire athletes and athletic teams.
In a huzzah to National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, this week’s Book Buzz list is all about sports.
From coaching to playing, biographies to martial arts, strategy and navigation games to racing cars and running, Lihu’e Library’s got game.
Whether you’re coaching or potato couching, interested in perfecting your game or game to try something new, there is certainly a book for you at your community library.
Arnis Self-Defence
By Jose G. Paman
796.815 Pa
This book looks at the unique Filipino culture; how oppression from Spanish colonization and the native yearning for freedom led to the development of the martial art of arnis.
The book then presents distinct technical maneuvers utilizing stick, blade, and empty hand combat explaining their practical applications. Martial Arts books at your neighborhood library range from the classics such as “Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee’s Commentaries on The Martial Way” by Bruce Lee or guides such as “Judo for Mixed Martial Arts” by Karo Parisyan.
College Football’s Greatest Rivalries
By Michael Bradley
796.33263 Br
A celebration of the biggest of the big games in college football and a look inside ten of the greatest rivalries the sport has to offer. Another great football tale is “Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle” by Lars Anderson. For rugby, try “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation” by John Carlin.
Building Outrigger Sailing Canoes
By Gary Dierking
H 623.8223 Di
Outrigger canoes combine the romance of the South Seas with a ruthless efficiency of design and breathtaking sailing performance. This is the first book to present complete plans and building instructions for three lightweight outrigger sailing canoes. Light weight. Easy to build. Screamingly fast. For paddling, check out Steve West’s “A Paddler’s Guide to Outrigger Canoeing” and “The Art and Skill of Steering: Outrigger Canoeing Technical Manual.”
Coaching Youth Soccer
From the American Sport Education Program
796.33407 Co
Like this comprehensive handbook, you will find a number of team and self coaching resources at your neighborhood library fit for both professional and volunteer coaches.
See also “Rugby Skills, Tactics and Rules” by Tony Williams and Frank Bunce or “The Art of Doubles: Winning Tennis Strategies & Drills” by Pat Blaskower.
You will also find official rules of the game texts such as “Official Rules of Soccer” from the International Football Association Board. Or try this irreverent ode to neighborhood soccer, “Kick the Balls: An Offensive Suburban Odyssey” by Allan Black.
Dead Lucky: Life after Death on Mount Everest
By Lincoln Hall
796.52209 Hall
For those not into organized sports, these books on the sport of adventure will thrill both active and armchair adventurists.
“Dead Lucky” is highly praised by reviewers. In a flurry of Everest-themed books lately this one stands alone. A first person account of being left for dead by climbing team members, Hall’s ordeal is the stuff of nightmares: collapsing from altitude sickness, slipping into unconsciousness, waking up all alone at the top of the world, left behind as though he were a corpse.
Or try “Black Wave: A Family’s Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them” by John and Jean Silverwood, or “The Full Burn: On the Set, At the Bar, Behind the Wheel, and Over the Edge with Hollywood Stuntmen” by Kevin Conley.
The Downhill Lie: A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport
By Carl Hiaasen
796.35209 Hiaasen Hi
What makes satirically skilled Hiaasen’s 577-day diary of golf hopes and dreams deferred so appealing is its everyman aspect. He mixes childhood memories of playing with his father with anecdotes, including the time he and a friend ejected an invasion of poisonous toads from his friend’s patio with short irons.
His analysis of his lessons, hapless rounds and gimmicky golf equipment is hilarious, and his vivid descriptions are vintage Hiaasen, such as golf balls that are designed to run like a scalded gerbil. Need I say more? For golf, also try “How Tiger Does It: Put the Success Formula of a Champion in Everything You Do” by Brad Kearns.
The Hawai‘i Sports Trivia Challenge
By Lance Tominaga
H 796 To
Here are 1,000 questions about Hawai‘i sports in 100 quick quizzes. Test your local sports knowledge or settle that friendly wager. From high school sports stats to UH triumphs and defeats to the islands’ best athletes in the national and international arena, there’s bound to be a question or two to stump even the most die-hard fans.
For other Hawai‘i sports histories, try “Moloka‘i-O‘ahu Through the Years: A History of the Moloka‘i Outrigger Canoe Race” by Peter Caldwell or “Honolulu Stadium: Where Hawai‘i Played” by Arthur Suehiro.
Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback
By Ralph Vacchiano
976.33206 Va
Sportswriter Vacchiano chronicles the journey of Peyton’s little brother’s rise from reviled to revered by Big Apple sports fans. This book focuses on the player’s career not his life.
Other new reflective or analytical books about or by players are “A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis” by Pete Sampras, “No Limits: The Will to Succeed” by Michael Phelps and “Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball” by Robert K. Fitts
Outdoor Navigation with GPS
By Stephen W. Hinch
623.893 Hinch
This survivors-best-friend book in the category of “is it really a sport?” I mention these new.
Whether you’re hiking, fishing, kayaking, cross-country skiing, or taking a mountain bike ride in the backcountry, a GPS receiver can help you reach your destination and return safely — but only if you know how to use it! This expert advice from a very experienced teacher is your guide to getting the most out of a receiver, from basic advice to advanced techniques.
Physics of NASCAR
By Diandra Leslie-Pelecky
796.72015 Le
The author, a physicist and devoted NASCAR fan, explains in clear, simple terms what goes into making a NASCAR vehicle, from design to development to construction to test-driving. Along the way, she introduces us to some of the sport’s key players and teaches us (painlessly) more about the physics of speed racing than we ever thought we needed to know.
Surf Is Where You Find It
By Gerry Lopez
H 797.32 Lo
The author’s collection of stories about a lifetime of surfing and about the lessons learned from surfing during that lifetime. Other books by and for surfers feature as many surf book styles as there are board designs. Check out “For the Love” by Kelly Slater with Jack Johnson or “Extreme Surf” by Benjamin Marcus. There is also a recent collection of surf lit in “Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing” edited by Patrick Moser.
Triathlete Magazine’s Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon
By T. J. Murphy
796.4257 Mu
Beginning with the creation of an athlete’s mindset, the author guides the reader through essential techniques for swimming, biking, and running, as well as topics such as nutrition, equipment, and racing. Readers will learn how to create a training schedule and eventually enter and participate in an entry-level triathlon.
Other new individual sport resources are “The Racing Bike Book: Your Guide to the World of Racing” with a foreword by Sean Kelly, “Advanced Marathoning” by Pete Pfitzinger, and “Epic Sports: The Places You Must Skate Before You Die” from Thrasher Magazine Staff.
21 Days in Africa: A Hunter’s Safari Journal
By Daniel J. Donarski, Jr.
799.26096 Do
The meat of this account of the author’s experience of hunting wild game in Africa is the journey. He blends his compelling hunting stories with a great deal of useful information about traveling to and within Africa.
Some say it’s about the hunt, others about being out in nature, about culture or subsistence. Some say it’s not a sport at all but an unnecessary act of cruelty. But any way you slice it, hunting has its own stories to tell. For the history of a classic weapon, try “American Rifle: A Biography” by Alexander Rose.
• Carolyn Larson is head librarian at Lihu‘e Public Library. Her weekly column brings you the buzz on new, popular and good books available at your neighborhood library. Book annotations are culled from online publishers’ descriptions and published reviews.
