Going Mental In Sport

Even among the most elite performers, certain athletes stand out as a cut above the rest, able to outperform in clutch, game-deciding moments. These athletes prove that raw athletic ability doesn't necessarily translate to a superior on-field experience—its the mental game that matters most. Sports participation—from the recreational to the collegiate Division I level—is at an all-time high. While the caliber of their games may differ, athletes at every level have one thing in common: the desire to excel. In The Champion's Mind, sports psychologist Jim Afremow, PhD, offers the same advice he uses with Olympians, Heisman Trophy winners, and professional athletes, including: • How to get in a "zone," thrive on a team, and stay humble • How to progress within a sport and sustain long-term excellence • Customizable pre-performance routines to hit full power when the gun goes off or the puck is dropped With hundreds of useful tips, breakthrough science, and cutting-edge workouts from the world's top trainers, The Champion's Mind will help you shape your body to ensure a longer, healthier, happier lifetime.

Introduces young athletes to the mental strategies that can be used to enhance their performance, including goal-setting, imagery, positive attribution, energy management, and dealing with disappointment and adversity.

Features suggestions and mind exercises to help athletes in many sports, including cycling, golf, running, swimming, tennis, and weightlifting.

Pure Sport is a practical guide that provides insights on asserting positive mindsets, realising potential, remaining resilient against setbacks and using these experiences to move on to greater success. The book follows the journey of the athlete through six clear steps, creating a logical framework for applied sport psychology or a path you can follow in your own practice. The third edition is fully updated and now more accessible than ever, including new advice on maintaining a resilient attitude and taking care of athletes’ mental well-being. Drawing on decades of both practical and theoretical knowledge, the authors deliver practical advice with a thorough grounding in sport psychology, supplemented by case studies, reflection questions, common problems and effective solutions, and useful summaries of key points. Pure Sport is essential reading for all those actively involved and interested in sport, from sports psychologists and academics, to athletes and coaches.

The greatest athletic performances spring from the mind, not the body.Elite athletes have known this for decades and now science is learning why it’s true. In his fascinating new book How Bad Do You Want It?, coach Matt Fitzgerald examines more than a dozen pivotal races to discover the surprising ways elite athletes strengthen their mental toughness.Fitzgerald puts you into the pulse-pounding action of more than a dozen epic races from running, cycling, triathlon, XTERRA, and rowing with thrilling race reports and revealing post-race interviews with the elites. Their own words reinforce what the research has found: strong mental fitness lets us approach our true physical limits, giving us an edge over physically stronger competitors. Each chapter explores the how and why of an elite athlete’s transformative moment, revealing powerful new psychobiological principles you can practice to flex your own mental fitness.The new psychobiological model of endurance performance shows that the most important question in endurance sports is: how bad do you want it? Fitzgerald’s fascinating book will forever change how you answer this question and show you how to master the psychology of mind over muscle. These lessons will help you push back your limits and uncover your full potential.How Bad Do You Want It? reveals new psychobiological findings including:Mental toughness determines how close you can get to your physical limit.Bracing yourself for a tough race or workout can boost performance by 15% or more.Champions have learned how to give more of what they have.The only way to improve performance is by altering how you perceive effort.Choking under pressure is a form of self-consciousness.Your attitude in daily life is the same one you bring to sports.There’s no such thing as going as fast as you can—only going faster than before.The fastest racecourse is the one with the loudest spectators.Faith in your training is as important as the training itself.Athletes featured in How Bad Do You Want It?: Sammy Wanjiru, Jenny Simpson, Greg LeMond, Siri Lindley, Willie Stewart, Cadel Evans, Nathan Cohen and Joe Sullivan, Paula Newby-Fraser, Ryan Vail, Thomas Voeckler, Ned Overend, Steve Prefontaine, and last of all John “The Penguin” Bingham

Combining the latest research, wide experience, and tips from tour pros, Cohn shows what peak performance is and how it can be achieved; how to learn the confidence that unlocks the best play; and techniques designed to improve concentration and emotional control in pressure situations.

The world of sports psychology and in the introduction of mental skills coaches has exploded into the athletic mainstream over the last few decades. Before then, the attitude regarding such training was extremely conservative and “old school”—the prevailing philosophy was that “any athlete who needs to talk with a shrink needs to have their head examined.” Fortunately, with today’s modern athletes, the dark ages of mental training in sports have gone away and times have changed for the better. But as with any growing industry, there are lots of new and untested pathways to one’s mental performance training in practices and games. But depending on who you talk to, the advice that is given can vary widely—and sometimes, even be contradictory. The Secrets of Sports Psychology Revealed by Rick Wolff, one of the pioneers in the field of sports psychology, is based upon his many years of clinical, hands-on work with top professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports. He provides real insight into what does—and doesn’t—work. Specifically: Do pre-game visualization techniques really work? Is it OK to be superstitious, or are those rituals counterproductive? Does taking a deep breath or two in a tight situation really help? What’s the best way to learn how to make adjustments in one’s game? These direct questions, and many others, are presented and answered in this easy to use how-to guide aimed directly at athletes and coaches. The answers are right to the point and are based upon the author’s observations and work over the years with top athletes.

Mental Skills for Athletes: A Workbook for Competitive Success is a step-by-step guide for developing a toolbox of mental skills. In this user-friendly workbook, Dr. Betsy Shoenfelt compiles materials from over 35 years of experience as a performance psychologist working to achieve competitive excellence, creating the go-to resource for athletes and coaches in any sport and at any level. The book includes succinct, easily understood explanations of key mental skills based on the science of performance excellence. It discusses both cognitive and physical skills to ensure competitive success, covering a range of topics including focus, confidence, resilience, mindfulness, motivation, role clarity, problem solving, team values, and strategic goal setting. Shoenfelt includes over 25 different exercises to ensure the reader can readily apply these skills across a variety of sports and across all levels of competition, from high school to Olympic athletes. Worksheets encourage a hands-on approach and provide structure to guide the appropriate implementation of mental skills for each athlete. Examples of completed worksheets help demonstrate to the reader how to best utilize these resources. This book is essential for early career sport psychology practitioners across the globe, as well as aspiring graduate students. The book is an invaluable resource for coaches and athletes at all levels.

Achieve the mindset of a superior athlete with Sport Psychology Essentials! This book is packed with research-based strategies for developing the mental skills necessary to reach your sport performance goals. Coeditor Dave Collins, PhD, is an expert sport psychology practitioner who has been a consultant to more than 80 world-class athletes or Olympic medalists as well as professional teams and performers. Coeditor Andrew Cruickshank, PhD, has also consulted with multiple elite teams and athletes, including world-class athletes and Olympic and Paralympic medalists. The coeditors’ blended approach emphasizes the importance of integrating mental skills training into a holistic training approach to achieve competition-day success. Sport Psychology Essentials will teach you to do the following: Practice your mental skills during physical training so you are prepared to bring an elite athlete mindset to the arena. Assess your athlete’s or team’s mental skills. Use advanced sport psychology techniques that fit your unique personality and lifestyle to improve motivation, confidence, imagery, self-regulation, and concentration. Enhance the performance potential of your team through leadership, team culture, and shared mental models. Implement plans for optimal team and individual performance using program development, motor skills training, talent development, and strategies to persevere through slumps and adversity. Success Story sidebars reveal how real-life teams, athletes, and coaches have succeeded in using proven mental training techniques. Learn foundational sport psychology concepts by exploring the scientific background behind mental strategies in athletic performance. Sport Psychology Essentials will help you unlock your sport performance potential and stay ahead of the competition.