Acquiring the winning edge in sports-the mental edge Mental conditioning is now seen by many to be as critical to sports success as physical conditioning. And for parents eager to ensure their children have a winning edge-as well as a future college scholarship-nothing could be more critical to success. This book offers readers a comprehensive program to gain that winning edge, providing training tips and techniques along with helpful advice to keep in mind while competing. With practical advice on how to strengthen concentration (and when you shouldn't concentrate), talk yourself into winning, and develop routines that will lead to consistent improvement, the book's full personalized program will help any athlete gain over time the winning edge in any sport With tips on how to regulate your energy to avoid exhaustion; and how to enhance your team's chemistry through sports psychology Loaded with real-world examples from amateur and professional sports of all kinds Applicable to not only sports-but business as well-Sports Psychology For Dummies will enhance any competitor's motivation, focus, and will to win, when facing life's toughest challenges.

Understand why you feel and act the way you do Psychology For Dummies is a fun, user-friendly guide to the basics of human behavior and mental processes. In plain English—and using lots of everyday examples—psychologist Dr. Adam Cash cuts through the jargon to explain what psychology is all about and what it tells you about why you do the things you do. With this book as your guide, you'll: gain profound insights into human nature; understand yourself better; make sense of individual and group behaviors; explore different approaches in psychology; recognize problems in yourself and others; make informed choices when seeking psychological counseling; and much more. Shows you how understanding human psychology can help you make better decisions, avoid things that cause stress, manage your time to a greater degree, and set goals Helps you make informed choices when seeking psychological counseling Serves as an invaluable supplement to classroom learning From Freud to forensics, anorexia to xenophobia, Psychology For Dummies takes you on a fascinating journey of self discovery.

Sport Psychology: A Complete Introduction is designed to give you everything you need to succeed, all in one place. It covers the key areas that students are expected to be confident in, outlining the basics in clear, jargon-free English and providing added-value features like summaries of key experiments and even lists of questions you might be asked in your seminar or exam. The book uses a structure that mirrors the way sports psychology is taught on many university courses, and is split into theory and application. Chapters in the first part include coverage of essential personality traits, including mental toughness, confidence, motivation and character. The chapters on applied sports psychology cover topics such as assessment, working with groups, skills training, coping techniques and working with coaches and children. There is also substantial coverage of measurement questionnaires, skills and routes to practice. Sport Psychology employs the 'Breakthrough Method' to help you advance quickly at any subject, whether you're studying for an exam or just for your own interest. The Breakthrough Method is designed to overcome typical problems you'll face as learn new concepts and skills. - Problem: "I find it difficult to remember what I've read."; Solution: this book includes end-of-chapter summaries and questions to test your understanding. - Problem: "Lots of introductory books turn out to cover totally different topics than my course."; Solution: this book is written by a university lecturer who understands what students are expected to know.

Sport Psychology: The Basics provides an accessible introduction to the fundamental ideas at the heart of Sport Psychology today. It examines the links between sport participants’ behaviours, their personality and their environment to identify the factors which affect performance. Exploring theory and practice, it uses case studies to illustrate how key areas of theory are applied within a sport psychologist’s practice, answering such questions as: What is sport psychology and what do sport psychologists do? What factors affect sporting performance? Which psychological characteristics are associated with achievement in sport? How can performance be improved by using theory? With a glossary of key terms, suggestions for further study and ideas for improving performance, Sport Psychology: The Basics is an ideal introduction for students of sport and coaches who would like to know more about how sport psychologists address questions about human behaviour in sport.

Written from a psychologist's perspective, this text offers a general overview of the application of psychology to sport settings by covering a wide spectrum of sport psychology subject matter.

"This text captures the world of sport and exercise psychology. It not only explains the basic concepts and principles in the field, but it also shows how they apply to counseling, teaching, coaching, sport medicine and fitness instruction." "Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (Second Edition) contains visuals, anecdotes, case studies, critical thinking questions, and references."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Get your head in the game with this hands-on guide to the psychology of sport There's more to getting into the right headspace for the big game or event than trying to think like a winner. Modern sports psychologists emphasize advanced strategies like biofeedback and neurofeedback, while encouraging the use of mindfulness and other mental health techniques. In Sports Psychology For Dummies, 2nd Edition, a team of athletic performance experts and psychologists walks you through the mental side of intense competition and training. From the importance of focus to the tactics designed to restore and improve confidence after a loss, you'll explore ideas such as goal setting, self-perception, and self-talk. This book also covers: Personalized plans for athletic success Real-life examples of sports psychology changing the athletic experience in different sports The wide variety of careers available in the field of sports psychology and how to get started in them Ideal for athletes, parents of student athletes, and coaches looking for ways to improve performance both on and off the field, Sports Psychology For Dummies is also the perfect resource for anyone interested in a career in this rapidly growing and evolving field.

Will the athlete you're working with put it all together when everything is on the line? What can you do to make sure an athlete performs best when it really counts? Are certain conditions more likely to lead to success (or failure) for her? Will he be able and willing to make the changes required to be more successful? In today's highly competitive environment the answers to these questions often spell the difference between success and failure not only for individuals but also for entire teams and organisations. At the upper levels of performance in situations where competing individuals and teams have all the technical skill and tactical knowledge required to be successful psychological factors become the most important determinants of outcome. The ability to control emotions to communicate effectively and to perform under pressure is what separates winners from losers. Sport psychologists are beginning to uncover the links between thought processes and physiology; as a result today's testing tools have much greater utility and relevance than ever before. Today more than ever before sport psychology professionals must have the skills necessary to bridge the worlds of science and application.

In this book top British sports psychologists present a broad range of theoretical foundations and discuss their experiences of applying their ideas to sport. In choosing the elite level the sternest test is provided for the psychological approach. The sports discussed in the four sections of this book range across a wide spectrum of individual and team events. Each chapter characteristically focuses on how a psychological approach has been applied to one or a selected number of sports. * key principles are identified and their effective use in practice is analysed * developments arising from various techniques and recent advances are covered * a broad array of psychological approaches to enhance sporting performance are discussed * illustrates the broad impact psychology can have on sports performance * captures the varied approaches sports psychologists have adopted to assist athletes in their search for success. Psychology can play a major part in enhancing performance and as such has stimulated much recent interest, gained momentum and become widely recognised as important in improving sports performance. Readers, whether sports psychologists, sport scientists, coaches or students will meet new and sometimes radical ways of applying psychology to sport. The success of this book lies in inviting the readers to consider fresh and invigorating ideas. Foreword by Kevin Hickey.

This book analyses the essential aspects of sports psychology by throwing light on issues related to the upkeep of athletes’ mental state and improving their performance in sports activities. On one hand, it covers topics like anxiety, stress, conflicts, overtraining, and sports injuries, and on the other, it includes strategies helpful for managing and developing skills for better performance in various sports activities. In its wide coverage, the volume discusses a range of key topics which include: • Sports psychology: historical perspectives and the present position • Contribution of heredity and environment, the role of growth and development, and the individual differences in sports psychology • How factors like intelligence, cognitive and emotional processes, personality, and motivation influence learning and the transfer of learning • The role of attention, concentration, and focus in the performance of athletes • Athletes’ mental and psyche levels displayed in the states of their anxiety, stress and conflicts, and aggression and violence • Sports injuries and their management • Overtraining and Burnout in Athletes • Group dynamics and guidance and counseling in the learning and development of the athletes, etc. Engaging and reader friendly, this book will be useful to students, researchers, and teachers of physical education, psychology, applied psychology, and sports psychology. It will also be key reading for trainees of the various sport academies, coaches, sports associations, managing bodies, and sport psychologists.