Two seasoned sport psychologists help coaches understand the psychology of young athletes and provide guidelines for winning strategies that benefit athletes in sports and life. They cover issues like motivation, leadership behavior, values, life skills development and other topics, enabling coaches to have a lasting positive influence on youth.

We marvel at the steely nerves, acute concentration, and flawless execution exhibited on the 18th green, at the free-throw line, in the starting blocks, and on the balance beam. While state-of-the-art training regimens have extended athletes' physical boundaries, more and more coaches are realizing the importance of sport psychology in taking athletic performance to new levels. Tomorrow's record-breaking accomplishments will not be the result of athletes' training harder physically, but of athletes' training smarter mentally. Sport Psychology for Coaches provides information that coaches need to help athletes build mental toughness and achieve excellence--in sport and in life. As a coach, you'll gain a big-picture perspective on the mental side of sport by examining how athletes act, think, and feel when they practice and compete. You'll learn to use such mental tools as goal setting, imagery, relaxation, energization, and self-talk to help your athletes build mental training programs. You'll also see how assisting your athletes in developing mental skills such as motivation, energy management, focus, stress management, and self-confidence leads to increased enjoyment, improved life skills, and enhanced performance. And you'll discover how to put it all together into mental plans and mental skills training programs that allow your athletes to attain and maintain a mind-set that fosters peak performance. The easy-to-follow format of the text includes learning objectives that introduce each chapter, sidebars illustrating sport-specific applications of key concepts and principles, chapter summaries organized by content and sequence, key terms, chapter review questions, a comprehensive glossary, and other useful resources to help readers implement mental training programs for athletes. Written primarily for high school coaches, Sport Psychology for Coaches is a practical, easy-to-use resource reflecting the two authors' combined 45 years of teaching, coaching, researching, and consulting experience. It reflects principles that are not only consistent with the latest theory and research, but have stood the test of time and worked for coaches and athletes in all sports at all levels. You'll come away from Sport Psychology for Coaches with a greater understanding and appreciation for sport psychology and the practical knowledge you need to put it to work for you and your athletes. Sport Psychology for Coaches serves as the text for the American Sport Education Program Silver Level course, Sport Psychology for Coaches.

Understanding and applying psychology within youth sport settings is key to maximising young athletes’ enjoyment, wellbeing, and sporting performance. Written by a team of leading international researcher-practitioners, this book is the first to offer an evidence-based introduction to the theory and practice of sport psychology for children and young athletes. It provides practical strategies and guidance for those working in or researching youth sport, demonstrating how to integrate sport psychology effectively in a variety of youth sport contexts. With real-life case studies that demonstrate psychological theory put into practice, it discusses a wide spectrum of issues faced by young athletes and recommends the best approaches to addressing them. Key topics covered include: the cognitive, social, and physical development of young athletes optimising fun, motivation, and self-confidence enhancing young athletes’ relationships with coaches, parents, and peers managing stress, injuries, and transitions effectively developing talent and long-term engagement in sport encouraging organisational culture change. The most up-to-date and authoritative guide to sport psychology for young people, this is essential reading for anyone working in youth sport.

From research that has taken place on youth sports, to the structure you should use when starting your team, and the importance of winning, this book gives you valuable information for you as a coach. A coach will learn the science of how a player learns and techniques to be used to increase motivation. The best coaches are the best teachers and this book gives coaches the most important tricks that great teachers use.

Although the physical and psychological benefits of youth participating in sport are evident, the increasing professionalization and specialization of youth sport, primarily by coaches and parents, are changing the culture of youth sport and causing it to erode the ideal mantra: “It’s all about the kids.” In Best Practice for Youth Sport, readers will gain an appreciation of an array of issues regarding youth sport. This research-based text is presented in a practical manner, with examples from current events that foster readers’ interest and class discussion. The content is based on the principle of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), which can be defined as engaging in decisions, behaviors, and policies that meet the physical, psychological, and social needs of children and youth based on their ages and maturational levels. This groundbreaking resource covers a breadth of topics, including bone development, burnout, gender and racial stereotypes, injuries, motor behavior, and parental pressures. Written by Robin S. Vealey and Melissa A. Chase, the 16 chapters of Best Practice for Youth Sport are divided into four parts. Part I, Youth Sport Basics, provides readers with the fundamental knowledge and background related to the history, evolution, and organization of youth sport. Part II, Maturation and Readiness for Youth Sport Participants, is the core of understanding how and why youth sport is different from adult sport. This part details why it is important to know when youth are ready to learn and compete. Part III, Intensity of Participation in Youth Sport, examines the appropriateness of physical and psychological intensity at various developmental stages and the potential ramifications of overtraining, overspecialization, overstress, and overuse. The text concludes with part IV, Social Considerations in Youth Sport, which examines how youth sport coaches and parents can help create a supportive social environment so that children can maximize the enjoyment and benefits from youth sport. In addition to 14 appendixes, activities, glossaries, study questions, and other resources that appear in Best Practice for Youth Sport, the textbook is enhanced with instructor ancillaries: a test package, image bank, and instructor guide that features a syllabus, additional study questions and learning activities, tips on teaching difficult concepts, and additional readings and resources. These specialized resources ensure that instructors will be ready for each class session with engaging materials. Ancillaries are free to course adopters and available at www.HumanKinetics.com/BestPracticeForYouthSport. Best Practice for Youth Sport provides readers with knowledge of sport science concerning youth sport and engages them through the use of anecdotes, activities, case studies, and practical strategies. Armed with the knowledge from this text, students, coaches, parents, administrators, and others will be able to become active agents of social change in structuring and enhancing youth sport programs to meet the unique developmental needs of children, making the programs athlete centered rather than adult centered so that they truly are all about the kids.

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive review of current research in the psychology of sports coaching. It provides detailed, critical appraisals of the key psychological concepts behind the practice of sports coaching and engages with contemporary debates in this field. Organised around three main themes, it discusses factors affecting the coaching environment; methods for enhancing coach performance; and how to put theory into practice through coaching work. Written by an international team of researchers and practitioners at the cutting edge of psychology and coaching, each chapter introduces a key concept, defines key terms, provides a comprehensive literature review, and considers implications for future research and applied practice. Encompassing the latest developments in the field, it addresses topics such as: the theory behind effective coaching creating performance environments promoting psychological well-being developing resilience through coaching transformational leadership and the role of the coach. The Psychology of Sports Coaching: Research and Practice is an indispensable resource for sport psychologists and sports coaches, and is essential reading for all students and academics researching sport psychology.

This volume has been written specifically for students studying coaching who want to improve their understanding of psychology in coaching practice. It provides information on how coaches establish the needs of athletes, in order for them to provide psychological interventions, such as mental imagery and toughness training

This guide introduces and explains the basics of coaching, such as coaching philosophy, sport psychology, sport pedagogy, sport physiology, sport medicine, parent management, and sport law.

Mental training is just as important as physical training when it comes to success in sport. And like physical fitness, mental toughness is something that can be taught and learned. Yet many young athletes have not learned the psychological skills needed to develop their best game. This book was written specifically for young athletes interested in improving their performance and reaching their potential in sport. Bring Your "A" Game introduces key strategies for mental training, such as goal setting, pre-performance routines, confidence building, and imagery. Each of the seventeen chapters focuses on a single mental skill and offers key points and exercises designed to reinforce the concepts. The book encourages athletes to incorporate these mental skills into their daily lives and practice sessions so that they become second nature during competition. Whether used at home by student athletes or assigned by coaches as part of team development, Bring Your "A" Game will help young performers develop a plan for success and learn to deal with the challenges of pursuing excellence in sport.

Successful footballers are typically those who are best able to regulate their emotions, fix their attention, utilise effective interpersonal skills, and remain highly motivated and self-assured in the face of consistent challenges. These behaviours are the hallmark of mentally tough, emotionally intelligent players, and can be grouped under the 5Cs of: Commitment, Communication, Concentration, Control, and Confidence. The 5Cs, however, are rarely innate - they are a product of a player's long-term psycho-social development and, crucially, they can be coached and nurtured. The aim of the 5Cs program, in this book, is to show coaches how to develop these important psycho-social skills and help young players to understand how they can truly achieve their potential. Written specifically for soccer coaches of all levels, Coaching Psychological Skills in Youth Football details each C in a methodical and practical manner with real-world exercises for training and matches. The book is relevant to soccer coaches working with 5-16 year-old players, with individual techniques and practices marked for appropriate age groups. By weaving these techniques into their normal coaching practice, coaches will help educate young players to optimise their motivation, discipline, composure, self-belief and teamwork. A complete 12 month development plan is included alongside a case study from a youth coach who has actually experienced the 5C journey. Coaching Psychological Skills in Youth Football will build your confidence as a coach as you learn how to grow and apply a world-class knowledge of sport psychology in youth football.