In 2008, a few days after being selected to coach the Indian cricket team, Gary Kirsten and Paddy Upton set themselves the goals of winning the World Cup in 2011 and becoming the number one Test team in the world. Over three years of their innovative and creative ways of coaching, the team achieved these goals, and more.

Paddy’s journey included working with the South African cricket team as the cricket world’s first fitness trainer, becoming a mental coach in professional sport and, in 2012, becaming head coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. Since then, he has coached five teams in thirteen seasons across three of the world’s premier T20 leagues.

The Barefoot Coach is packed with Paddy’s out-of-the-box thinking and illuminating anecdotes on winning, preparation, failure and working to resolve life’s tangled knots. Inspiring, candid and unusual in its approach to coaching, and with fascinating breakaways into extreme sport, this is a must-read for everyone who wishes to enhance their performance, and their lives.

About the Author

Paddy Upton is head coach in international T20 cricket, an acclaimed speaker, a university professor and mental coach to professional athletes from ten countries and eleven different sports, including international cricket, rugby, soccer and hockey. He has also coached Olympians, para-Olympians, European and Sunshine tour golfers and World League (WSL) surfers.

He was the first full-time fitness trainer in international cricket, and mental conditioning and strategic leadership coach of the Indian cricket team when they achieved the world’s No. 1 Test ranking and won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. He was the performance director of the South African cricket team when they became the first team to simultaneously hold the world number one ranking in all three formats of the game.

He has been head coach for thirteen global T20 cricket seasons for five different teams in three of the world’s premier T20 tournaments: the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Australian Big Bash League (BBL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL).