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.

Dieses Lehrbuch bietet einen reichhaltig illustrierten und kompakten UEberblick uber die kausalen Zusammenhange, die bei Bewegungsablaufen im Sport auftreten. Sie erlernen damit die Grundkenntnisse im Fach Biomechanik wie auch die wesentlichen biomechanischen Messverfahren und Methoden zur Datenerhebung und Datenauswertung. Dazu erhalten Sie einen umfassenden Einblick in die Strukturen sportlicher Bewegungen. Dabei steht ersten Bandes die Anwendung biomechanischer Analysen in der Leichtathletik im Mittelpunkt. Didaktisch ausgereift werden Ihnen anhand originaler Datenbeispiele von aktuellen Spitzenathleten die Moeglichkeiten, die biomechanische Analysen zur Bewertung und Optimierung der sportlichen Technik bieten, anschaulich und gut verstandlich erklart. So koennen Sie sich optimal auf die Prufung vorbereiten, dazulernen, nachschlagen oder sich einen Ein- und UEberblick verschaffen. Dazu bietet eine Begleitwebseite Online-Zusatzmaterialien zur weiteren Veranschaulichung und Vertiefung. Zielgruppen: Studierende des Faches Sportwissenschaft (Lehramt, Bachelor und Master), besonders geeignet zum Studium und als Prufungslekture des Kernfaches Bewegungswissenschaft. Ebenso werden Athleten, Trainer und Leistungsdiagnostiker im leistungsorientierten Sport von diesem Werk profitieren. Das Buch bietet auch eine optimale und kompakte Wissenssammlung fur Sportlehrer der gymnasialen Oberstufe (speziell fur Neigungsfacher und Leistungskurse). Der Autor: Prof. Dr. Veit Wank ist Professor fur Sportwissenschaft und Leiter des Lehrstuhls fur Biomechanik, Bewegungs- und Trainingswissenschaft an der Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen. Seit 2007 ist er Sprecher der Sektion Biomechanik der Deutschen Vereinigung fur Sportwissenschaft (DVS). Nach Studien der Sportwissenschaft, Biologie und Physik an der Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena arbeitete er als wissenschaftlicher Assistent und in verschiedenen Sportarten als Praxisausbilder an den Universitaten Jena und Karlsruhe. Er war selbst uber viele Jahre aktiver Leichtathlet.

Features interviews with Graeme Fowler (England cricketer), Nigel Owens (Welsh International Rugby Union referee), Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson (Paralympian), Kieren Emery (GB lightweight rower), Mark Enright (jockey), Michelle Bergstrand (British cyclo-cross champion), Luke Stoltman (five-times Scotland's Strongest Man), Jack Rutter (Paralympian and England cerebral palsy football captain), and Ruth Walczak (GB Lightweight Rower). The demands of the high-performance athlete are huge, with many celebrated for their achievements, and put on a pedestal for admired personality traits such as discipline, sacrifice, commitment, and focus. This book seeks to explore the celebrated traits of the high-performance athlete and, by doing so, to increase awareness of the vulnerability that such traits also present. Through discussion with professional sports people and presentation of their own personal stories the book explores obsessionality, masochism, and focus, and how these characteristics can enhance performance on the field yet hinder life off it and may even develop into clinically diagnosable mental health difficulties. In psychology, assessments are based on statistical phenomena; the title Skewed to the Right is based on the 'bell curve' that is shown through a graph whereby the majority sit in the middle with a few clusters at either on of the extremes. The suggestion is that elite athletes are 'skewed to the right' on a number of key traits that put them between the 'general' population and those with a clinical diagnosis. The book opens with an exploration of weight-restricted sport and how making weight is achieved through practices that become culturally acceptable in the sporting world yet would be seen to be classified as clinically diagnosable eating disorders in the medical world. It then moves on to personality traits that help and hinder - those skewed to the right: masochism, obsessionality, and focus. Part 3 looks at one trait skewed to the left - acceptance - that many sportspeople struggle with. The book closes with a section exploring points of vulnerability for all athletes and ends with a look at where we can go from here. The aim of the book is to increase social awareness of the reality of life for the successful high-performance athlete and the challenging dynamics that exist in sporting culture today. It will be of interest to psychologists, psychotherapists, trainees, and anyone with an interest in sporting culture.

The runners from Eisenhower High School have every justification to fail. They're from low income families, many of whom are migrant workers. With little time to devote to their passion, they give everything they have to their quest for the Washington State High School Cross Country Championship. Running to Glory is a celebration of grit, perseverance, and the American Dream. It follows the cross country team from Eisenhower High in Yakima, Washington, through a tumultuous and challenging season with excitement, suspense and pathos. Despite enormous economic disadvantages, the Eisenhower runners compete with affluent schools in the Seattle-Tacoma area, where parent involvement is strong and funds are readily available. Their coach Phil English knows how his runners feel. He grew up poor in rural Ireland in the 1960s during The Troubles and emigrated to the U.S. for a college track scholarship. Over 37 years coaching in Yakima, Coach English won 11 state titles, and sent more than 100 kids to college with scholarships for running. Author Sam McManis crafts a compelling narrative, which follows the team from summer workouts in the blistering sun to the state championship meet in the bitter cold. Readers will discover how these young men and women overcome their environment or succumb to it-on the course and in the classroom.

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.