Sports Psychology

Further Reading& Internet Resources

BOOKS

Afremow, Jim. The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books, 2015. The mental game matters most, argues author Jim Afremow, separating the very best athletes from their competition, even if their competition has bigger muscles or better foot speed. Epstein, David. The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance. New York: Portfolio Publishing, 2014. A comprehensive look at the “nature vs. nurture” debate, this book focuses on the mental as well as physical adaptations that help athletes to reach exceptional levels. Ericsson, Anders. Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Boston, MA: Mariner Books, 2016. From chess champions to violinists to athletes, author Anders Ericsson investigates the mechanisms by which the best in the world reach their heights. Fitzgerald, Matt. How Bad Do You Want It? Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle . Boulder, CO: VeloPress, 2018. Examining the ways that athletes sharpen their minds, this book provides case studies of ways that psychology has allowed for better performance, indicating that mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness. Hutchinson, Alex. Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. New York: WilliamMorrow, 2018. Trying to answer the question of how far the human body can go, this book finds that the limits are largely set by our minds, not by our physical selves. Rotella, Bob, PhD. How Champions Think: In Sports and in Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016. The author, a sports psychologist, has advised both pro athletes and business managers on ways to better develop strategies and mental strength. This book shares his findings on how world-class leaders mentally approach a problem.

WEBSITES

American Psychological Association Division 47 https://www.apa.org/about/division/div47 This division of the APA studies scientific, educational, and clinical foundations of sports psychology.

Association for Applied Sports Psychology appliedsportspsych.org One of the world’s largest professional associations on sports psychology, the AASP represents the leading research and findings for the discipline.

International Society of Sport Psychology http://www.issponline.org/ The world’s association dedicated to furthering the understanding of psychology and sports.

North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity naspspa.com NASPSPA advances research and understanding of physical and mental sport performance, motor behavior, and exercise physiology. National Collegiate Athletic Association Sport Science Institute https://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute American collegiate sports’ largest research and investigation unit, with insights on both physical and mental health science. Team USA Athlete Services: Psychology https://www.teamusa.org/team-usa-athlete-services/high-performance/ psychology The American Olympic team’s psychological profile and resources for athletes.

Further Reading & Internet Resources

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