Mental Training For Coaches Athletes

ISSP 5th World Sport Psychology Congress : Sport in perspective.

Athletes work hard in practice, putting in the time and the grind, but when it comes to game time, sometimes they miss the mark. They know they're capable of more-and their coaches and trainers know it, too-but when the lights are on them, and the pressure rises, they often underperform. The truth is, physical training is only one part of any athlete's game. The mental game is just as important, yet in young athletes, mindset is almost never a focus in development and practice-and it's costing them results.In Playing in the Box, renowned sports psychologist Dr. Pete Temple describes how young athletes can use simple mental exercises to relax, improve, and achieve their goals on and off the field or court. If you've ever struggled in competition, Dr. Temple's practical approach will help you develop confidence, drive, and resilience, so you can bounce back from setbacks, relax when the game gets tense, and reach your full potential.

Much too often, the mental aspect of sport performance is overlooked. While all top athletes are in outstanding physical condition and technically exceptional, mental preparation is often what separates the best from the rest. This is just as true for young athletes as it is for pros and Olympians. And even though relatively few athletes will ever reach the top of their sport, the attitudes and life lessons learned from mental training—such as motivation, confidence, focus, perseverance, and resilience—will serve them well in all aspects of their lives. In Train Your Mind for Athletic Success: Mental Preparation to Achieve Your Sports Goals, Dr. Jim Taylor uses his own elite athletic experience and decades of working with some of the world’s best athletes to provide competitors of every ability with insights, practical exercises, and tools they can use to be mentally prepared when it really counts. His Prime Sport System explores the attitudes that lay the foundation for athletic success, the mental obstacles that can hold athletes back, the preparations they must take, the mental muscles they should strengthen, and the mental tools they need to fine tune their competitive performances. Most importantly, Dr. Taylor shows athletes practical strategies they can use to become mentally strong so they can perform their best when it matters most. Train Your Mind for Athletic Success goes well beyond the typical mental skills that are discussed in other mental training books. Readers will not only learn why mental preparation is so important to athletic success, but also where they personally are in each area thanks to brief mental assessments in each section of the book. In addition, each chapter includes exercises to show athletes how to incorporate mental training directly into their overall sport training regimen. The most comprehensive and in-depth book on mental preparation for athletes available, Train Your Mind for Athletic Success is an essential read for athletes, coaches, and parents.

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

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.

Some of the most effective coaches understand the fundamentals of sport psychology, which include interacting effectively with athletes, creating the optimal environment, assessing the psychological needs of their athletes, and even providing them with the mental training required to maximise performance. Fully revised and updated, the second edition of Psychology in Sports Coaching: Theory and Practice clearly and accessibly introduces the principles and practice of sport psychology in the context of the coaching process. Drawing on the very latest research and theory, the book introduces the psychological tools and techniques that coaches can use to get the best performances out of their athletes. Including six new chapters on applying self-determination principles in coaching, creating the optimal motivational climate, increasing motivation, developing anti-doping attitudes, promoting challenge states, and mindfulness-based stress reduction training, the book also offers step-by-step guidance on key topics such as: Assessing the needs of athletes Facilitating awareness through goal-setting and performance profiling Working with special populations, including children and injured athletes Building team cohesion Maximising relationships and socially supporting athletes Teaching mental skills such as imagery and coping Building mental toughness and confidence. Every chapter contains useful features to aid learning and understanding, including in-depth case studies, critical thinking questions, clear and concise summaries, and practice exam questions. Psychology in Sports Coaching: Theory and Practice is essential reading for any student of sports coaching or any practising coach looking to extend and develop their skills, and useful applied reading for students of sport psychology.

It’s no secret that if you plan to run in the toughest endurance races, you need to physically prepare for the extreme demands you will be subjecting your body to. But successful runners will be quick to note that physical preparation is only part of the equation. You need to be mentally strong to withstand, and overcome, the challenges of this grueling sport. That’s where Mental Training for Ultrarunning comes in. Sport psychology consultant Addie Bracy has coached and provided mental performance consulting to elite athletes in many sports, and she herself has been a competitive distance runner for more than two decades. In Mental Training for Ultrarunning, she combines her firsthand coaching and running experience, along with profiles of ultrarunners who’ve experienced the highs and lows of the sport, to explain what you need to know and practice in order to cross that finish line. In this book, you will learn tools and techniques to help you prepare for and overcome some of the biggest mental and emotional challenges you may encounter in ultrarunning. You’ll find more than 35 practical activities that will guide you in taking an introspective look at your own potential roadblocks so you can develop and strengthen the skills you need to run with confidence. Whether you’re training for your first ultra or looking to compete at a higher level, Mental Training for Ultrarunning will prepare you for the good, the bad, and the worst experiences you might encounter on the trail, road, or track. With expert guidance from athletes who have seen it all, you’ll learn how to train your mind and anticipate all the variables that could keep you from achieving your ultimate running goals.