27.06.2025
Reading time: 5 min

Top 10 Best Sports Books for Motivation and Inspiration

Top 10 Best Sports Books for Motivation and Inspiration

We present to your attention a selection of the best books about sports. They allow you to learn the history of your favorite sports disciplines, the biographies of outstanding athletes, coaches, the origins of tactics and strategies, the formation of rules and disciplines as we know them today. The authors of such works are outstanding personalities. The books about sports presented in the selection will help you learn even more about your favorite discipline. It is possible that some readers will find real inspiration in them.

Top 10 Sports Books

Sports books are an opportunity to gain more knowledge about your favorite sport or to find motivation for new achievements. Biographies of famous people and the achievements they have achieved during their careers help many people understand how to act to achieve their goals. There are no people more motivated to achieve than athletes and coaches. They are the ones who make history, set records, change and create rules.

 

Lawn Revolution (Jonathan Wilson)

Want to know everything about football tactics? Then this book is written for you. A detective historical work written by Jonathan Wilson, it tells about geniuses who create football history by using different tactics. After reading the “revolution on the lawn”, the reader will learn everything about how modern schemes appeared.

A book by the most successful modern football coach, Alex Ferguson. He tells about the twenty-seven years he spent as a head coach at the English club Manchester United. He took over MU in not the best of times. The team did not show good results, but under the guidance of the specialist, after a couple of seasons, it began its march to dominance in the English Premier League.

While other books about sports focus exclusively on one or several personalities, Ferguson’s work takes the reader through several generations of star players. This is a must-read for all fans of Manchester United and the talent of the great coach.

 

What We Think About When We Think About Football (Simon Critchley)

“What Do We Think About When We Think About Football?” Proof that the best sports books aren’t just for sportsmen. Philosophy professor Simon Critchley takes a philosophical approach to football, exploring how the game connects, helps us identify, and what we think about when we watch our favourite teams and national teams.

 

Race for the Lead (Ross Brawn)

A book written not on behalf of the racer, but by one of the most successful technical directors of Formula 1, Ross Brawn. Over the years, he worked with Benetton, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes. Since 2017, he has been the sports director of Formula 1. He is recognized as one of the most outstanding engineers of Formula 1 of the last two decades. In the book, Ross Brawn looks back on his career, analyzing the reasons for his success and the mistakes he made.

 

How to Build a Car (Adrian Newey)

An autobiography of the famous Formula 1 designer. The author, of course, talks about technical aspects, but does not overload the reader with unnecessary details. Newey managed to cover both the issue of equipping the racing cars and tell about what happens behind the scenes of the main racing championship in the world of motorsport.

 

 

Open (Andre Agassi)

Eight-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Andre Agassi shares with readers his experiences over a 20-year professional tennis career in his book, Frankly. On the pages of the book, the tennis player openly shares his experiences at different moments on the path to fame and beyond.

Moving Up (Sergey Belov)

In his autobiography, the Soviet basketball player and coach, who led the USSR team at the triumphant Olympic Games in 1972, shares his experience in his sports career with the reader. This includes the difficulties he had to face and the joy of victories.

 

Moneyball (Michael Lewis)

A book about how mathematics and statistics allowed a team with a small budget and little-known players to compete with the league’s strongest clubs. The story of coach Billy Beane became the basis for one of the most popular films.

Wheelmen (Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O’Connell)

A book written by journalists Reed Alberotti and Vanessa O’Connell about one of the most famous cyclists. Lance Armstrong not only overcame cancer, but also won 7 of the most difficult Tour de France races. He literally made cycling incredibly popular. Lance Armstrong gained even more fame due to a scandal. The athlete admitted that he had been taking doping almost his entire career.

 

How bad do you want it? (Matt Fitzgerald)

A book by a well-known and authoritative coach and sports nutrition specialist. Fitzgerald has been observing various races for many years and analyzing the results. The author’s experience allows him to understand the relationship between psychology and sports results.

The books on sports and motivation presented in the list allow you not only to learn something new about your favorite sport, but also to gain a lot of useful information. Some talk directly about the tactics that lead to victory, others demonstrate various aspects of the lives of famous athletes. In the list presented above, everyone will definitely find a book for themselves.