Essential Processes for Attaining Peak Performance


Book Description

This volume reflects state of the art and controversial discussions on the topic of athletic expertise based on a particular theoretical point of view or empirical research. It exposes the reader to different perspectives and allows the reader to consider a variety of sub-domains within the topic of sport expertise. Thus, this volume contributes updated knowledge, a more holistic perspective on this body of knowledge, and a comprehensive understanding of the topic of athletic expertise.




Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology


Book Description

This book presents 125 critical research questions to advance the field of sports, exercise, and performance psychology, with 5 must-read papers per chapter. With contributions from expert researchers in their respective areas, this book focuses on performance and learning, health and wellbeing, and cultural and professional considerations.




Boost!


Book Description

To perform better in any situation - in your career, hobbies, relationships, or in any facet of your life - it is critical to develop psychological skills, which, just like physical abilities, can be taught, learned, and practiced. Both as individuals and as groups, we can tone these psychological skills and use them to heighten awareness, foster talents and technical abilities, and reach peak performance. Mental preparedness and psychological awareness are the keys to thriving in any environment. Few understand the importance of psychological skills better than the internationally recognized professor Michael Bar-Eli. As both a sports and organizational psychologist for more than 35 years, Bar-Eli has not only researched the science of performance but has also worked directly with elite athletes, coaches, and teams to help them improve their success on the court or field. Boost! takes the lessons he's learned from sports psychology and translates them for leaders and managers at any stage in their career. With prescriptive advice, Bar-Eli illustrates how anyone can apply these lessons to better support and inspire co-workers and employees and create a sustainable, successful working environment and business. Boost! breaks down the complex behavioral science of getting ahead. Through original scientific research, unique case studies, and anecdotes from the world of sports and beyond, Bar-Eli explains the psychological underpinnings of human behavior and how we can harness this knowledge to perform at our highest levels, succeeding in our careers and personal lives.




Recovery and Well-being in Sport and Exercise


Book Description

Bringing together the world’s leading experts, this multi-disciplinary collection examines both the psychological and physiological dimensions to recovery from sport. Featuring chapters on overtraining, sleep, the relationship to injury, as well as the role of stress, this volume illustrates how performance, both as an individual and as a team, can be better managed through understanding the recovery process. It also covers the impact of travel on performance, as well as guidance on measurement and training. Based upon the contemporary models of recovery and performance in different scientific disciplines such as medicine, psychology, and sport science, expert contributors also explore implications for applied and strategic interventions to retain and stabilize performance ability. With a large overlap from Sports, Recovery, and Performance, published in 2017, this book has seen substantial modifications with new and revised chapters. This is a must-have resource for students and scholars across the sports sciences as well as any coach interested in the latest research.




Science of Swimming Faster


Book Description

In a sport where victory is often determined by a fraction of a second, it’s obvious why one of the most sought-after secrets is how to swim faster. However, as the world’s most renowned coaches, athletes, trainers, and researchers know, there is no secret—just science. Science of Swimming Faster is a remarkable achievement—one that embraces, explains, and applies the latest science and research that has and continues to set new performance benchmarks in the sport. It is a one-of-a-kind resource: • An easily understood repository of swimming research • Insights distilled from great sport and exercise scientists, coaches, and swimmers • A do-it-right reference for a host of techniques and tactics • The most credible and widely used training principles and programs • An analysis identifying key factors contributing to elite and world-record swimming performance • An insider’s access to the strategies for training, tapering, fueling, recovery, and mental preparation being used with some of the world’s most successful swimmers. With editors Scott Riewald and Scott Rodeo and a who’s-who list of international experts on the sport, Science of Swimming Faster offers you an unprecedented wealth of advanced yet accessible information on excelling in the sport.




Professional Practice in Sport Psychology


Book Description

Sport psychologists working with athletes, teams and sports performers are only as effective as their professional techniques and competencies will allow. This is the first book to offer a detailed and critical appraisal of the conceptual foundations of contemporary professional practice in sport psychology. The book presents a series of reviews of the most up-to-date academic and professional literature on professional practice, exploring issues that all psychologists face when working with clients in sport and offers important evidence-based recommendations for best practice. Key topics covered include: models of practice and service delivery counselling and clinical intervention working with teams working with young performers providing life skills training managing career transitions working with special populations enhancing coach-athlete relations. With contributions from leading sport psychology consultants in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and continental Europe, this is a comprehensive and thought-provoking resource that bridges the gap between research and application. It is vital reading for all advanced students, researchers and professionals working in sport psychology.




Developing Sport Expertise


Book Description

An athlete’s development from ‘ordinary’ talent to elite accomplishment in sport is a long one. The emergence and fine tuning of high level sport skills takes place in increments over many years and is a journey that fascinates sport scientists, sports coaches and sports fans alike. Developing Sports Expertise, the first available textbook for undergraduates in sports skills development, examines the science behind sports skill acquisition and explores the application of science to optimal sports training, and talent identification. The text also contains Coaches Corner insets throughout to provide effective day-to-day advantage based on in the text. Edited by three of the world’s leading scientists in sports skills acquisition and with contributions from both world class coaches and cutting edge researchers, this textbook provides comprehensive, authoritative guide to the field.




Judgment, Decision-making and Success in Sport


Book Description

Judgment, Decision-Making and Success in Sport presents a thorough overview and assessment of the study of Judgment and Decision-Making (JDM) in sports psychology, and represents an important source of information for those interested in the possible causes and reasons for success and failure in sport. The only book to apply the principles of JDM to sport Applies theory to practice by looking at problems of athletes, coaches, and referees and providing recommendations for dealing with them Offers an overview of current JDM research Useful for psychologists, physical education teachers, sports scientists, and researchers in this field




The Psychology of Perfectionism in Sport, Dance, and Exercise


Book Description

This extensively revised and updated edition offers a comprehensive account of the latest research and practice issues relating to perfectionism in sport, dance, and exercise. The new edition of The Psychology of Perfectionism in Sport, Dance, and Exercise includes the latest understanding of perfectionism, its benefits and costs, and support that can be given to those at risk to the perils of perfectionism. The book features contributions from leading researchers and practitioners. With nine new chapters and six updated chapters, the book provides an exhaustive account of research, novel approaches to studying and working with perfectionism, along with critical reflections on key issues and controversies. The book includes a new section on emerging approaches and concepts, as well as a revised section on applied issues and practitioner perspectives offering three new approaches to working with perfectionism. With chapters featuring returning authors and new contributors with novel perspectives, this edition will be invaluable to individuals familiar and unfamiliar with this area of work. This book will be an essential resource and vital guide for students and researchers, as well as practitioners, coaches and instructors in sport, dance, and exercise.




Skills, Knowledge and Expertise in Sport


Book Description

Taking part in a sport means that one must acquire the relevant skills: mental, physical and strategic. This book presents a new perspective on the role of skills, knowledge and intentionality in sporting contexts, examining how these skills and practical 'know how' can be perfected to a level of expertise. Contributors study broader trends of how we can best understand the role of skills, as well as using case studies of expertise to add depth and nuance to existing scholarship. This book was originally published as a special issue of Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.