INCLUDES AN UPDATED CHAPTER ON THE 2020 SEASON You don't get biceps like Briggs by giving up when the going gets tough... CrossFit superstar Sam Briggs, aka 'The Engine', is a true hero in the sport, with a level of endurance unparalleled in the game. This is the story of how she got to the top, and battled with everything she had to stay there. Sam's memoir takes in the whole story, from being kicked out of ballet lessons as a child but being accepted on the boys' sports teams, to working as a firefighter in West Yorkshire for ten years, tackling dangerous and adrenaline-fueled situations on a daily basis, and to taking up CrossFit at the comparatively ancient age of 27. Sam tells of what it took to become champion a mere three years later, and after a year out with a broken patella. Despite the numerous setbacks and debilitating injuries that have plagued her in the years that followed, when most other athletes would have thrown in the towel, Sam has fought, and continues to fight, to be the very best that she can be. Start Your Engines is the story of how, with a combination of grit, training and dogged motivation, it's never too late to achieve your dreams.

The Psychology of Racing for Dinghies and Keelboats is an inspirational practical guide to mind training for racing sailors. Aimed at aspiring dinghy sailors as well as yacht racers, the style is light, friendly and conversational - designed to inspire, guide and promote positive analytical thinking amongst racers of all levels, with the aim of helping them find the inner resolve and mental strength required to be a winner. Packed with tables, tick boxes and exercises as well as thought-provoking quotes from successful international sailors, it is delightfully free of psychobabble and tedious theory - a really practical guide that will be invaluable to all racers of all levels and abilities.

Do you sabotage your own happiness and success? Are you struggling to make sense of yourself? Do your emotions sometimes dictate your life? The Chimp Paradox is an incredibly powerful mind management model that can help you become a happy, confident, healthier and more successful person. Prof Steve Peters explains the struggle that takes place within your mind and then shows how to apply this understanding to every area of your life so you can: - Recognise how your mind is working - Understand and manage your emotions and thoughts - Manage yourself and become the person you would like to be The Chimp Mind Management Model is based on scientific facts and principles, which have been simplified into a workable model for easy use. It will help you to develop yourself and give you the skills, for example, to remove anxiety, have confidence and choose your emotions. The book will do this by giving you an understanding of the way in which your mind works and how you can manage it. It will also help you to identify what is holding you back or preventing you from having a happier and more successful life. Each chapter explains different aspects of how you function and highlights key facts for you to understand. There are also exercises for you to work with. By undertaking these exercises you will see immediate improvements in your daily living and, over time, you will develop emotional skills and practical habits that will help you to become the person that you want to be, and live the life that you want to live.

This book addresses important topics of coaching in order to better understand what sports coaching is and the challenges that arise when assuming this activity. It provides the reader with useful insights to the field of sports coaching, and discusses topics such as coaching education, areas of intervention, and main challenges. With contributions by experts and well-known authors in the field, this volume presents an up-to-date picture of the scholarship in the coaching field. It introduces key aspects on the future of the science of coaching and provides coach educators, researchers, faculty, and students with new perspectives on topics within the field to help improve their coaching effectiveness.

Elite sport can be an unforgiving and harsh environment. This book explores psychological predictors of wellbeing and performance excellence in elite level athletes, and presents an innovative approach for optimizing mental wellbeing and sporting performance. Jointly developed by performance psychologists, clinical psychologists and sport scientists the Flexible Mind approach draws on contemporary psychological theory and research to help athletes build 'psychological flexibility' - the ability to experience challenging thoughts and emotions and still be true to one's values. A range of case studies relating to different sports are used to demonstrate how three core components - Being Present, Being Open and Doing What Matters - can improve athletes' performance and wellbeing. This book will be a game-changing resource for sports psychologists, mental health practitioners, coaches and support staff who are committed to helping athletes to excel and stay well.

Anyone who has ever competed in a sport, taken an exam, or appeared on stage understands the importance of performing at the right time. Those who excel in these conditions often develop ways to cope with the stress involved, but what cognitive and emotional strategies allow some people to thrive under pressure whilst others are inhibited by it? In Performance Psychology: Theory and Practice, Stewart Cotterill examines not only how stressful situations can affect performance, but also the means by which we can reach our potential regardless. Featuring chapters on decision-making, emotion, resilience and mental toughness, cognition and perception, ageing and experience, confidence, and recovery, this is the definitive textbook in the field, mapping the core theoretical concepts but also offering practical guidance on how performance can be improved. Also including chapters on motor skills and nutrition, it is a complete and comprehensive overview of this growing field of study. Including study questions and further reading in each chapter, Performance Psychology: Theory and Practice will appeal not only to students and researchers across applied psychology, but also coaches and performers looking for ways to realize their potential when it really matters.

From polar explorers and politicians to CEOs and sports coaches, we are fascinated with the makeup of leaders.

How do they thrive under pressure and inspire others to do the same? How do they establish a culture of long-term success?

Performance psychologist Tom Young has worked closely with teams and individuals at the highest level of professional sport. He has seen how leaders in these high-pressure environments communicate, how they maintain focus and respond to challenges. In The Making of a Leader, Young shares the practical principles of sustained elite performance and shows how any individual can add value to their own business or organisation by applying these insights.

You will learn how to develop a leadership philosophy that is true to your values, effectively manage and get results from individuals and teams, establish a high-performance culture and bring value to your organisation - in short, the ingredients that make a leader. These lessons are based on interviews with:

- Stuart Lancaster, current Leinster coach and former Head Coach of the England national RFU team
- Ashley Giles, ECB Director of Cricket during England's 2019 World Cup win
- Gary Kirsten, record-breaking former international batsman and World Cup-winning coach of the Indian national team
- Dan Quinn, Head Coach of Atlanta Falcons and a Super Bowl winner with Seattle Seahawks
- Roberto Martinez, FA Cup-winner and Belgian national team manager
- Sean Dyche, Burnley FC manager
- Michael Maguire, Head Coach of the New Zealand national rugby league team

The Making of a Leader is a unique, inspiring guide to leadership that can inspire positive results in any context, based on interviews and experiences from the cutting edge of elite sport.

This unique book provides a practical framework for and coverage of a broad range of mental health concerns applicable to the care of athletes, including depression, suicide, mood disorders, substance abuse and risk-taking behaviors. To this end, it presents content relevant to the care of athletes, including doping and the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the mental health impact of concussion, bullying and hazing, the impact of social media and exercise addiction, among other pertinent topics. Current basic and translational research on behavioral health and the relationship of brain to behavior are reviewed, and current treatment approaches, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological (including mindfulness training), are considered. This practical resource targets the stigma of mental in athletes in order to overcome barriers to care by presenting a definitive perspective of current concepts in the mental health care of athletes, provided by experts in the field and targeting sports medicine providers, mental health providers and primary care physicians involved in the direct care of recreational and competitive athletes at all levels.

The ground-breaking mind management model for confidence, success and happiness - over 1 million copies sold Do you sabotage your own happiness and success? Are you struggling to make sense of yourself? Do your emotions sometimes dictate your life? The Chimp Paradox is an incredibly powerful mind management model that can help you understand yourself and others, and become a happy, confident, healthier and more successful person. Prof Steve Peters explains the struggle that takes place within your mind and then shows how to apply this understanding to every area of your life so you can: - Recognise how your mind is working - Understand and manage your emotions and thoughts - Manage yourself and become the person you would like to be The Chimp Mind Management Model is based on scientific facts and principles, which have been simplified into a workable model for easy, everyday use so that you can identify what is preventing you from living a happier, more successful life. Packed with key facts that explain how you function as well as exercises for you to work with, the Chimp Model will help you develop the emotional skills and practical habits to become the person you want to be and live the life you want to live.

This book explores the consumption behaviour of 'extreme' athletes from a quantitative perspective. Extreme sports are a multi-billion-dollar industry. The behaviour of athletes who participate in them differs from the majority of consumers in that they voluntarily seek out risky and dangerous situations that other consumers actively avoid. It has therefore been suggested that these consumer-athletes may have a unique psychology in this regard. The book adopts a novel approach based on established psychological theories concerning the behaviour of extreme individuals, applying and translating them into marketing research and practice. It discusses how specific psychological drivers impact the consumption behaviour of consumer-athletes and a variety of marketing-relevant outcomes. By demonstrating that extreme consumers are characterized by a unique psychology that leads them to act and think differently, this book offers scholars deeper insights into consumer behaviour, while also helping practitioners target this lucrative marketing segment more effectively.

In this book John Connolly and Paddy Dolan illustrate and explain developments in Gaelic games, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and Irish society over the course of the last 150 years. The main themes in the book include: advances in the threshold of repugnance towards violence in the playing of Gaelic games, changes in the structure of spectator violence, diminishing displays of superiority towards the competing sports of soccer and rugby, the tension between decentralising and centralising processes, the movement in the balance between amateurism and professionalism, changes in the power balance between 'elite' players and administrators, and the difficulties in developing a new hybrid sport. The authors also explain how these developments were connected to various social processes including changes in the structure of Irish society and in the social habitus of people in Ireland.

Das Thema Flow ist in aller Munde. Wer im Flow ist, scheint leistungsfähiger, erfolgreicher, glücklicher zu sein. Was genau Flow jedoch aus psychologischer Sicht bedeutet, scheint nicht immer so klar zu sein. Befeuert wird dies durch den inflationären Gebrauch des Wortes: Es gibt Flow-Yoga, Flow-Food, Flow-Möbel und Flow-Coachings. Letztere versprechen oft den einfachen Weg zum Erfolg, vereinfachen manche Sachverhalte aber zu sehr. Michele Ufer fasst deshalb zusammen, was sich jenseits von Marketing-Slang hinter dem Begriff verbirgt und welche zentralen Erkenntnisse die Flow-Forschung zutage gefördert hat. Leitfragen unterstützen Selbstreflexion und Alltagstransfer. Der Autor: Dr. Michele Ufer ist international gefragter Sportpsychologe, Mentaltrainer und Vortragsredner. Er begleitet Sportler, Manager, Coaches und andere High Performer bei ihren spezifischen Themen wie Mentale Stärke, Flow, Spitzenleistung unter Stress und extremen Bedingungen, Führungs- und Grenzkompetenz. Er testet als erfolgreicher Extremläufer seine Strategien auch regelmäßig am eigenen Leib und erzielte wiederholt Top 10-Platzierungen bei weltweiten Wettkämpfen.

This book discusses human perception and performance within the framework of the theory of self-organizing systems. To that end, it presents a variety of phenomena and experimental findings in the research field, and provides an introduction to the theory of self-organization, with a focus on amplitude equations, order parameter and Lotka-Volterra equations. The book demonstrates that relating the experimental findings to the mathematical models provides an explicit account for the causal nature of human perception and performance. In particular, the notion of determinism versus free will is discussed in this context. The book is divided into four main parts, the first of which discusses the relationship between the concept of determinism and the fundamental laws of physics. The second part provides an introduction to using the self-organization approach from physics to understand human perception and performance, a strategy used throughout the remainder of the book to connect experimental findings and mathematical models. In turn, the third part of the book focuses on investigating performance guided by perception: climbing stairs and grasping tools are presented in detail. Perceptually relevant bifurcation parameters in the mathematical models are also identified, e.g. in the context of walk-to-run gait transitions. Chains of perceptions and actions together with their underlying mechanisms are then presented, and a number of experimental phenomena - such as selective attention, priming, child play, bistable perception, retrieval-induced forgetting, functional fixedness and memory effects exhibiting hysteresis with positive or negative sign - are discussed. Human judgment making, internal experiences such as dreaming and thinking, and Freud's concept of consciousness are also addressed. The fourth and last part of the book explores several specific topics such as learning, social interactions between two people, life trajectories, and applications in clinical psychology. In particular, episodes of mania and depression under bipolar disorder, perception under schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive rituals are discussed. This book is intended for researchers and graduate students in psychology, physics, applied mathematics, kinesiology, and the sport sciences who want to learn about the foundations of the field. Written for a mixed audience, the experiments and concepts are presented using non-technical language throughout. In addition, each chapter includes more advanced sections for modelers in the fields of physics and applied mathematics.

The term chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has recently gained a significant amount of media coverage. However, a large proportion of the information disseminated through the media pertaining to the etiology, neuropathology, and clinical manifestations of CTE are not corroborated by empirical research, and are disputed by prominent researchers who study sports related head injury. This book reviews the existing literature pertaining to these components of CTE and includes unique case studies of several retired NFL players that received a comprehensive neuropsychological battery from a board certified neuropsychologist, among other populations. It investigates the claim that CTE causes depression, violent behavior, and an increased risk for suicide by providing an in depth discussion using empirical data. Highlighting the importance of adhering to post concussion protocol and appreciating the long-term consequences of repeated head trauma, this unique review of the current research on CTE will be useful to students and professionals in psychology and neurology.

This book explores the understanding, description, and measurement of the physical, sensory, social, and emotional features of motorcycle and bicycle journey experiences in tourism. Novel insights are presented from an original case study of these forms of tourism in the Sella Pass, a panoramic road close to the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site. A comprehensive mixed-methods strategy was employed for this research, with concurrent use of quantitative and qualitative methods including documentation and secondary data analysis, mobile video ethnography, and emotion measurement. The aim was to create a holistic knowledge of the features of journey experiences and a new definition of the mobility space as a perceptual space. The book is significant in that it is among the first studies to explore the concept of journey experiences and to develop an interdisciplinary theoretical foundation of mobility spaces. It offers a comprehensive understanding and a benchmarking of the features of motorcycling and cycling journey experiences, a deeper market knowledge on motorcycling and cycling tourists, and a set of tools, techniques, and recommendations for future research on tourist experiences.

An extensive update of a successful textbook on skill acquisition for sport students. Praised for its clarity of writing style and presentation the new edition will be an essential buy for those needing a practical, sport-focused introduction to the theory and application of human motor skills.

Sports psychology, exploring the effects of psychological interventions on important performance-related outcomes, has become ever more popular and prevalent within elite level soccer clubs in the past decade as teams look to gain psychological as well as physiological advantages over their competitors. The Psychology of Soccer seeks to present the detailed understanding of the theories underpinning the psychological issues relating to soccer, along with practical insights into effective psychological interventions and strategies This book uses contemporary theory and research to elucidate key concepts and applied interventions. It includes world-leading expert commentaries of contemporary theoretical and applied approaches in understanding critical issues in soccer, and provides practical implications and insights into working effectively in soccer-related contexts. The Psychology of Soccer is an evidence-based resource to guide research and facilitate practice and will be a vital resource for researchers, practitioners, and coaches within the area of sport psychology and related disciplines.

'Pippa Grange has something to teach all of us when it comes to letting go of perfectionism and anxiety, and living with open hearts rather than clenched fists. Fear Less is a total game-changer.' Brene Brown If we were truly free from fear, what could we achieve? We strive for success, but we are rarely happy. The more we try to win - putting on a brave face for work or family - the more we risk losing ourselves. And even reaching our goals can feel strangely hollow. The culprit? Fear. It makes us anxious, or shameful, or turns us into perfectionists. We pretend to be someone else while aiming for a status that's never truly satisfying. There is another way. A way to find our true voice, to win on our own terms. Building that open mindset is at the heart of this mould-breaking book by Dr Pippa Grange, the psychologist who helped transform the England team, taking them all the way to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018. In Fear Less, Pippa Grange shows all of us how, by starting to live with less fear, we can find our real passions and deeper fulfilment. Her simple manifesto enables us to replace stress with courage, and connect with the people around us on a far deeper level. This type of success isn't about trophies or beating others, it's about winning at the very deepest level: winning from within. It's time to fear less.

Winning Fights focuses on 2,500 years of proven fighting principles originating from Eastern concepts and proceeding to the modern era. This book is for pugilists seeking an edge in competition as well as soldiers and law enforcement officers facing conflict. Like The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings, however, many of its lessons also apply to the world of business and negotiation. Dr. Stephens looked beyond the technical to the conceptual and found that winning fights requires twelve core principles: preparation, awareness, commitment, lethality, efficiency, discipline, power, focus, fierceness, surprise, timing, and fortitude. This book features: Twelve principles for winning fights A survey of Eastern and Western traditions An intelligent yet accessible discussion of these concepts With this book you will Learn to see beyond fighting tactics, which change, to fighting principles, which endure See your training in powerful new ways “Winning Fights is based on principles, not techniques,” Dr. Stephens writes. “Technique is important, but techniques change, adapt, and evolve. Principles are timeless.”

Elite tennis players like Rodger Federer or Rafael Nadal not only perceive everything that is happening around them, but they also foresee the next game situations. This “mental speed” lays the foundation to build master performances in extremely complex situations. This book offers a theoretical framework in which anticipation, perception, attention, and memory processes play a big role in a tennis player’s ability to win on the court. The diagnostic tools and useful examples aid the training of cognitive abilities. With more than 50 on-court practice drills to build game intelligence, every tennis player will strengthen their mental game and win their matches.

This test manual, the fourth in FIT's Sport and Exercise Psychology Test Clearinghouse, is a succinct and informative resource outlining the conceptual basis of the athlete burnout syndrome and its measurement. The manual delineates the process used in developing the ABQ and provides users with information on the meaning of scores derived from its use. Aspects related to the ABQ are presented in a comprehensive manner: Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ), along with the guidelines for administering and scoring it; Conceptual underpinnings of the ABQ, including an overview of the burnout construct and the operational definition used to guide item development, as well as a description of how the preliminary item pool was developed; Review of research using a within-network approach to examining the internal structure of the burnout construct based on the ABQ; plus a description of both internal consistency and stability of ABQ scores; Discussion of a between-network approach to construct validation by examining the relationship of ABQ scores to theoretically relevant variables stemming from stress, sociological, and motivational perspectives on burnout; Basic descriptive statistical information that can help users interpret the meaning of scores derived from the ABQ.

This book is designed to advance both theory and practice in the psychological preparation of high-level sports performers. The authors integrate the relevant qualitative and quantitative research literatures with practical knowledge gained via their own personal experience of working with elite athletes. Seven aspects of psychological preparation are considered: basic psychological skills; self-confidence; motivation; arousal and activation; stress and anxiety; concentration; and coping with adversity. Each discussion ends with a summary of the implications for future research and best practice. Elite performers from around the world share their techniques for mentally preparing for competition. The authors then explore the links between the practices that these athletes use and theories which underlie psychological preparation for performance. This book develops a model of psychological preparation for elite sports performers incorporating two unique features: the research-to-practice orientation which is taken to preparation for high-level sports performance; and a global perspective using evidence derived from North American, European, Australian and other research literatures in both general and sport psychology. This is the first book of its kind and should be a valuable resource for sport psychologists, students and professionals with an interest in sport or high-level performance.

This brief highlights the application of performance analysis tools in data acquisition, and various machine learning algorithms for evaluating team performance as well as talent identification in beach soccer and sepak takraw. Numerous performance indicators and human performance parameters are considered based on their relevance to each sport. The findings presented here demonstrate that the key performance indicators as well as human performance parameters can be used in the future evaluation of team performance as well as talent identification in these sports. Accordingly, they offer a valuable resource for coaches, club managers, talent identification experts, performance analysts and other relevant stakeholders involved in performance assessments.

Empathic leadership has become popular across industries including the challenging domain of elite sport. This book draws on the author's relevant research and experience and incorporates the words of leaders of teams to help to explain how empathy can help leaders to be successful in their work. Seven aspects of empathy are described in detail, each illustrated with fascinating stories from male and female head coaches of teams competing at the highest levels of nine different team sports. The result is an authentic portrayal of what it takes to become an empathic leader. Exploring the philosophies and practices of empathic leadership, attention is paid to a range of important factors within leadership, including relationship management, building trust, and establishing a strong line of communication. This book also focuses on the importance of self-empathy as a starting point of empathic leadership, providing readers with the ways to understand their own emotions and deep thoughts, and how they impact their leadership approach. Through this model, the author demonstrates how applying empathy in both work and life will enhance wellbeing, bring people together, and make leaders more influential and popular. This book will be of interest to coaches in sport, training organisations including national governing bodies, recruiters, leaders across all industries, and anyone interested in the role of empathy in professional relationships.