Coaching • Communication • Movement
THE LANGUAGE
OF COACHING
OF COACHING
The Art & Science of Teaching Movement
Learn how instruction, feedback, and cueing can influence how athletes and clients understand, learn, and perform movement.
25+ Movement Sequences
Practical Cueing Frameworks
Motor Learning Principles
Better Communication. Better Coaching.
Great Coaches Don’t Just Know More.
They Communicate Better.
They Communicate Better.
Programming and technical knowledge matter—but the words a coach chooses can determine whether an athlete understands a movement, remembers it, and executes it effectively. This book helps you coach the person with the same precision you bring to the program.
Your Words Shape Movement
The Right Cue Can Change Everything.
Learn how to make instruction clearer, feedback more useful, and coaching language more meaningful.
💬
INSTRUCTION
Say what the athlete needs to hear.
🎯
FEEDBACK
Guide learning with more purposeful responses.
⚡
CUEING
Create memorable cues that support movement.
🧠
Understand Motor Learning
Explore how attentional focus and learning principles influence movement performance.
🗣️
Communicate With Impact
Learn how to make coaching language clearer, more memorable, and more relevant to the athlete.
🎨
Create Better Cues
Use practical frameworks to develop your own cues for virtually any movement you teach.
🤝
Coach the Individual
Adapt your language to the learning needs of the athlete or client in front of you.
Practical Coaching Frameworks
Move Beyond Generic Coaching Cues
Learn how to create cues that are specific, meaningful, memorable, and better matched to the movement and individual.
01
Select the Right Focus
Understand how attentional focus can influence the way a movement is learned and performed.
02
Build Strong Analogies
Turn abstract movement concepts into images athletes can understand and remember.
03
Adapt Your Language
Adjust instruction according to the athlete, task, environment, and learning need.
04
Create Your Own Cues
Use the book’s framework to build effective coaching cues for different movements.
Learn Through Movement
25+ Visual Movement Sequences
See how different coaching cues and analogies can be applied to real movements and performance tasks.
🚀
SPRINT
Think & move like a jet
🌀
JUMP
Load like a spring
🎯
CUE
Match words to movement
Coaching Is a Conversation
Don’t Just Give Instructions.
Create Understanding.
Create Understanding.
Sample dialogue throughout the book demonstrates how coaching conversations can become more productive, helping athletes better understand what you want them to feel, focus on, and achieve.
Inside the Book
A Complete Coaching Communication Toolkit
Motor Learning
Understand the science behind how people learn movement.
Understand the science behind how people learn movement.
Attentional Focus
Learn how directing attention can influence execution.
Learn how directing attention can influence execution.
Cueing Frameworks
Build a repeatable system for creating effective cues.
Build a repeatable system for creating effective cues.
Movement Sequences
Study visual examples of cues applied to movement.
Study visual examples of cues applied to movement.
Analogies
Use vivid imagery to make complex movements easier to understand.
Use vivid imagery to make complex movements easier to understand.
Sample Dialogue
See how the cueing philosophy works inside real coaching conversations.
See how the cueing philosophy works inside real coaching conversations.
Built for Better Coaches
Who Is This Book For?
Strength & Conditioning Coaches
Improve communication while coaching complex movements.
Improve communication while coaching complex movements.
Personal Trainers
Help clients understand exercises more clearly.
Help clients understand exercises more clearly.
Sports Coaches
Make instruction and feedback more effective.
Make instruction and feedback more effective.
Movement Professionals
Develop a deeper understanding of communication and motor learning.
Develop a deeper understanding of communication and motor learning.
Coach Beyond the Program
Coach the Person With the Same Precision
You Coach the Program.
You Coach the Program.
Whether you’re new to coaching or have years of experience, The Language of Coaching provides a framework for becoming a more thoughtful, adaptable, and effective communicator.
Become a Better Communicator
Better Words.
Better Coaching.
Better Coaching.
Learn how to use instruction, feedback, cueing, and conversation to help athletes understand movement and perform with greater clarity.
✓ 25+ Movement Sequences
✓ Practical Cueing Frameworks
✓ Motor Learning Science
✓ Practical Cueing Frameworks
✓ Motor Learning Science
Stuart Borne (verified owner) –
Nick really knows his stuff and lays it out in an easily digestible manner. He gives you the details of the science and theory and then gives practical examples to make it relatable. Also gives good analogies and metaphors to grasp these concepts. Pair this book with the Inner Game of Tennis.
Courtney (verified owner) –
Book is amazing. I was in sports growing up and am new to coaching. The way that Nick frames his teachings, building everything from the ground up and backing up his claims with research, really helps the reader understand the whys and the hows. It’s a pretty thick book, but the way it was written is very engaging and not dry at all and it is PACKED with great content. Enjoyoble read. Highly highly recommend.
Norm Jones (verified owner) –
The Language of Coaching opened my eyes to the depth of effective human communication. The content is clear and well researched which makes the art of teaching athletic movement accessible to all levels of coaches. The images & graphics in the book are phenomenal. Nick Winkelman is so passionate about this work and provides us with enough information to last a lifetime..
Jonathan Avalos (verified owner) –
One of my top 5 favorite books.
Love how Anthony gives you action steps after each interview to help you understand and apply key concepts.
You will be a better coach if you read this book and apply the lessons.
chingchin wang (verified owner) –
This book is very helpful for me to reassess my coaching and cueing skill. And let me know the language is really powerful that as coach we must pay attention on it. Because before teaching we must know the process of learning, therefore, we can truly assist our client or athlete. The author use simple way to explain the difficult science of learning, therefore, I can easily understand the process of that. Thanks Nick. High recommended!
chris (verified owner) –
Awesome book that really helped me reshape how I talk to athletes about their movement. Helps the coach get the movement from their head to the athletes body.
Anna Miller (verified owner) –
A game changer in helping athletes perform better. This book has helped me to recognize areas of overcoaching and find more effective ways to communicate. Love the visuals and explanations, not to mention, the author has all kinds of accompanying resources to continue your education!
Bill Parisi (verified owner) –
A must book to own for any serious Sport or Performacne coach that is looking to maximise their athletes’ potential. Nick is a true master of gathering the research and applying it into everyday coaching. He has vast experience in cueing and this books shares his best coaching learning and teaching moments. I highly recommend this book.
D. J. Millett (verified owner) –
An excellent resource to help you reflect on and reframe the language you use as a coach. Well researched and accessible. Useful models provided to help you practically apply more effective cues.
William DeLongis (verified owner) –
I’ve been coaching for over 10 years and was blown away by this book. I wish I would have been taught this back in college.
Don B (verified owner) –
An excellent though detailed presentation of coaching that uses current knowledge about athletic training and whole-body approaches
Hanna Strickland (verified owner) –
Love this book! It’s is such a good read and has so much helpful information for all coaches!
Carol (verified owner) –
Fantastic book. It is recommended reading for all coaches and sport instructors.