Reading Is To The Mind What Exercise Is To The Body

“Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything”

Tomie DePaola

At some point in our lives we have all read or engaged with something that we have found interesting. This may of been a book, magazine or newspaper article, a blog, a tweet, a poster or a tv advert. Everyday we are experiencing interaction of these kind which we receive meaning from them. If we look at the idea of defining and understanding what reading is, it can simply be seen as a process of looking at a series of written symbols and getting meaning from them or its the action/skill which brings meaning. What I personally love about these definitions and understandings of reading is that it is a process or skill that results in meaning which we can as coaches or sports lovers can find very transferable to our sports. This is no different to us playing a sport and practicing a skill and getting better at it by learning how to complete the skill. If we look at this from a skill acquisition point of view, the more we read, the more we can learn and improve knowledge from this skill.

If we look into reading further as a skill or process, this can be further broken down into different types of reading: Skimming, Scanning, Intensive and Extensive reading.

• Skimming Reading – looks at reading quickly to grasp a general idea or understanding of the material.

• Scanning Reading – looks at reading quickly to source a specific fact or idea.
• Intensive Reading – is reading deeply to gain maximum understanding of a specific text
• Extensive Reading – is reading a large amount of material on a similar concept or subject to create a general understanding

As we continue to grow in a digital world with the ever growing social media channels we are experiencing more and more the use of our skimming and scanning reading skills which result in reading a post, a tweet, a caption or bio. We are missing out on a lot of opportunities to really engage and enjoy intensive and extensive reading experiences where we can become deeper level learners rather than developing a surface level of learning. I can see now the question of, ‘well where as coaches can we get these experiences?’, ‘ How do I find the time to commit to doing this?’ For me I truly believe the benefits of reading and learning from reading outweighs any possible negative that could occur from this.

If we look into the benefits of reading, I see these coming into two categories : On the body and on the mind. If we look into the benefits of reading upon the body:

• Helps with sleeping
• Decreases stress levels
• Lower blood pressure and heart rate
• Provides support towards fighting depression symptoms

Benefits of reading upon the mind:

• Improves brain connectivity
• Increases vocabulary and comprehension
• Helps prevent age-related cognitive decline
• Improves focus
• Improves memory
• Improves Communication

Now if we look at how we as coaches are impacted by our roles, we as coaches experience on average the same or lower well-being than the average person as a result of our roles both on a part time or full time capacity. Additionally our role as coaches is to communicate and educate people of all ages the game and skills. So sounds like a win win situation if we can cooperation reading into our lives?

So, how can we as coaches make the most of reading? Reading has become so widely accessible through a hard copy of a book, an audible book, digital copies (phones or kindle). For me, nothing beats a hard copy of a book which is tangible and I can be there physically reading and making notes. I always carry two books with me in my bag at all times, I use reading as an opportunity to be learning on the go at all times. With the nature of my current work being remote and being in different places such as coffee shops or meetings or preparation, I find time in my day to ready for anything between 15- 30 minutes as a break away from my laptop or my phone. Additionally taking time before going to sleep to pick up a book and read really helps to bring the day to a close and relax away from the chaos of life. My current choices of books, I break down into two ( one for me and one for them) I have a book that I want to read for personal development which is for me and I have a book that I want to read for professional development which is for them (the people I work with and coach). For an example, I am currently reading for me, ‘The subtle art of not giving a f*ck’ by Mark Manson and currently reading for them ‘Constraining Coaching’ by Ben Barlett. I have found taking two books with me gives me options depending on how I am feeling but also the opportunity to develop learning in two different areas at the same time.

I find this ultimately helps me get through my ever growing book list in my library at home. Additionally I have recently found writing up my own personal reviews, notes and key points from books helps for me to come back at a later stage to reflect and scan through to find the specific information I wanted. Previously I have used post it notes inside the books but found this can get lost or damaged. Over the last year I have made a real effort to make the most of my time and become more efficient with my opportunities for learning which I found to be a large part of what makes me tick and what motivates me. I have found this through the means of a podcasts and audio books, especially such podcasts as Diary of CEO, The High Performance Podcast and the Sports Psych Show. All of these serve a purpose in motivating me for learning which hits both ‘One for me’ and ‘One for them’, I have found that these podcasts to be incredibly insightful into the lives of some of the biggest people within the fields that interest me. Especially for those who have written books that I have read, you discover more about the individual and what makes them tick and usually explains the wonders that they have written. The best times for me to listen to podcasts is in the car on away days, it makes me really enjoy away days because I know that I have a podcast to listen to. For example I know if I have a 1 hour 40 journey to a game or a 2 hour 40 drive to St Georges park for a course I can easily do a podcast on the way there and one on the way back. This has now gone from playing the same old songs on my car play list to now efficient opportunity for learning and personal growth.

To summarise what I feel is the importance of why coaches should read is for many reasons both personally and professionally. First and foremost, reading is one of the cheapest and most cost effective methods. Especially with hardcopy books, nothing is stopping you from re-reading a book, or lending to a friend or colleague to spread knowledge and opportunities for learning. I find for me personally, the benefits are transferable across my work, life and relationships. Especially how I interact with the players, my colleagues, my family and friends.

Recommendations

Personal For me recommendations

• Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Coleman
• The Chimp Paradox – Steve Peters
• Primal Leadership – Daniel Coleman
• Games People Play – Eric Berne
• Atomic Habits – James Clear
• Ikigai – Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia

Personal For them recommendations

• The Football Philosophy In Shadows of Marcelo Bielsa – Jed Davies
• Constraining Coaching – Ben Barlett
• Quiet Leadership – Carlo Ancelotti
• Game Storming – James Macanufo and Sunni Brown
• Coaching Psychological Skills in Youth Football – Chris Sharwood