Baseball & Softball: Success on the Diamond

Gr 6 Up—These incredibly thorough guides follow similar formats in an effort to help students prepare to take their sport by storm. Each begins with descriptions of sleep schedules, hydration levels, and meal guidelines for athletes, followed by warm-up and workout routines that help develop specific muscle groups, targeted at enhancing necessary skills. Mental prep and team psychology are considered as well, which will help readers get into the right frame of mind for game day. Along with full-color photographs, inspirational quotes in the margins from famous coaches and athletes will help motivate student athletes, perhaps giving them their mantra or motto that will carry them to greatness. Because of QR codes that link to videos, visual learners will benefit from these books, as much as those who prefer to learn through text. Each chapter ends with text-dependent questions and research suggestions to deepen comprehension. While the depth of the coverage is impressive, it does occasionally make for a dry read and will likely require dedicated readers.