In practice settings, competitions, and games, athletes are often required to perform an arsenal of motor tasks in dynamic and challenged sporting environments, where they have to respond without having enough time to prepare themselves for the act. However, in many sport activities athletes also perform closed self-paced motor tasks - tasks that take place in a relatively stable and predictable environment, where there is adequate time to prepare for their execution. Among these tasks are free-throw shots in basketball, putting in golf, serving in tennis, and bowling. In these tasks, performers are able to plan their actions in advance. They can activate a plan, a strategy, a protocol, or a procedure - what we term a ritual behavior. Effective rituals are usually achieved with a high degree of consistency. That is, either deliberately or subconsciously they become an integral part of the act itself. The Psychology of Closed Self-Paced Motor Tasks in Sports explores those plans, procedures, protocols, strategies, and techniques that aim at facilitating the performance and learning of closed self-paced motor tasks. Included in the instructional-psychological routines discussed in this book are pre-performance routines, focusing attention, motor imagery, enhanced expectancies, autonomy support, gaze strategies, self-talk, and periodization. The routines discussed in the book are evidence-based. Based on updated reviews of laboratory and field inquiries on the discussed instructional-psychological routines, practical implications are given for those professionals who teach closed self-paced motor tasks, including coaches, instructors, and sport psychology consultants.

The Ninth World Congress of Sport Psychology inspired this book which includes contributions by the gathering's keynote speakers substantially extended and updated from their conference presentations on the theme 'Innovations in Sport Psychology: Linking Theory and Practice'. Targeted toward researchers sport psychology consultants and students the text addresses recent innovations in the field and charts the links between theory and practice. The book contains five parts. Part I presents some historical perspectives on sport psychology; Part II deals with basic concepts of sport psychology; Part III with various cognitive aspects of skilled motor behaviour; Part IV includes chapters on motivation and emotion; and Part V examines the various facets of the interface between behavioural science and society. The content of this textbook is highly relevant not only for researchers and students of sport psychology but also for practitioners such as coaches and athletes interested in the application of this exciting and evolving discipline to their particular area of interest.

In this book, leading international experts in their respective fields examine and explain the impact of the psychological preparation of elite athletes in their journey to attain excellence. The chapters included in this book, edited by world-renowned scholars Tsung-Min Hung, Ronnie Lidor, and Dieter Hackfort, discuss various theoretical and practical issues related to the use of psychological programs in elite individual and team sports. The objectives of the book are threefold: to examine theoretical and practical aspects of the use of psychological preparation in elite sports; to present the psychological interventions, strategies, and techniques utilised by experienced sport psychology consultants who have worked with elite athletes for many years; to describe the philosophies of consultation, procedures to be used, and consultation frameworks of sport psychology consultants working with elite athletes from different cultures, regions, and continents around the globe. The knowledge gleaned from this book can be used in psychological preparations aimed to help elite athletes in individual and team sports improve their psychological skills and mental readiness for practices, games, and competitions.

This is a comprehensive study of sport's impact on childhood skill acquisition. The text takes multiple factors into account, including activities in which children participate during their development, and personal and social variables that affect their growth. Authorities in the fields of sport psychology and motor development and learning share their insights in each chapter, guaranteeing a comprehensive exploration of children's talent development through sport. The book is structured around the fourth stage of talent development research, which takes into account not only practice activities, but also the importance of play and the sampling of various sports throughout childhood. This stage considers psychosocial influences as well as training aspects. Chapters cover a variety of topics, such as implicit motor learning, self-efficacy, perfectionism's impact on emerging talent in youth, and the influence of coaches, peers, and family members.

Sport is more than competition and the opportunity to become physically fit. Sport and physical activity offer opportunities for people and communities to forge improved relations. Case Studies in Sport Development: Contemporary Stories Promoting Health, Peace, and Social Justice reveals how experiences from across our global community have served as the conduit to harmony within and among people. Internationally renowned co-editors Robert J Schinke and Ronnie Lidor have structured this compilation into three key sections: Remedying Marginalization; Health & Well-Being; Sport for Peace & Social Justice. The international collection of contributing authors to this book speak from the heart about personal yet widely applicable sport and physical activity experiences. These cases provide the reader with hope that sport and physical activity can provide answers to many of today's and tomorrow's societal challenges within people and communities, and among countries, races, and religions.