Mind Games: TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 - WINNER

by Annie Vernon

Overview

A fascinating insight into the psychology behind elite-level sports.

Mind Games discusses concepts used in sports psychology in a way that is understandable to the watching public, sports fans, and sports-haters alike. Annie Vernon draws on her own experiences as an Olympic medalist, interviews with a wide range of people from other sports, and input from experts to answer the question: What is it about our psyche that makes pushing the mind and body to their limits such a basic human desire?

Annie speaks to athletes from a broad spectrum of sports around the globe, including basketball's Shane Battier and John Starks, NFL star Ryan Fitzpatrick, fencer Tim Morehouse, and baseball's Craig Breslow and Tino Martinez, tennis's Judy Murray, polar explorer Ben Saunders, triathlete Chrissie Wellington, skeleton-bob star Lizzy Yarnold, runner Jo Pavey and sailor Ben Ainslie, along with coaches and sports psychologists from both Olympic sports and their professional equivalents.

Whether it be performing under pressure, coping with nerves, teamwork, or building self-belief in the face of adversity, the methods that elite sports-people use are also relevant to everyday life. But sports psychology is still regarded as something of a mystery. How exactly do elite sports performers harness the power of their mind in pursuit of physical perfection?

After looking closely at areas such as motivation, competitiveness, gender, and teamwork, Annie Vernon uncovers the underlying psychological principles behind the sports that everyone enjoys.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472949110
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Annie Vernon is a former Olympic rower. She was a full-time athlete for eight years and in that time competed in six World Championships and two Olympic Games. She won gold at the 2007 and 2010 World Championships and silver at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Annie retired from elite sport in 2012 and is now a sports journalist and corporate speaker, regularly contributing to BBC Sport, The Times, Guardian, Sunday Times and Rowing & Regatta. She lives in Cornwall.

Table of Contents

Foreword Chrissie Wellington OBE ix

Introduction: Science, Magic or Voodoo?

How top sports performers train their minds in pursuit of sporting excellence 1

1 Chickens or Pigs: Where does drive come from? 13

2 The Penny's Got to Drop: Becoming an elite athlete 36

3 Coming to Violence over Trivial Pursuit: Competitiveness and elite athletes 57

4 Choosing Training over Cold Turkey: Motivation and happiness 76

5 Personality: Every family has an odd member, and if you don't know who it is, it's probably you 97

6 The Confidence Wand: Sourcing, building, maintaining and utilising confidence 122

7 How to be Tarzan, How to be Jane: Preparing for the competition 150

8 Race Day, the Moment of Truth: Performing when it counts 187

9 Becoming a Carrot Farmer: Coaching 216

10 Conclusion: Post-match analysis 244

Acknowledgements 253

Contributors 256

Bibliography 264

About the Author 269

Index 270

Editorial Reviews

An amazing book that I very much enjoyed.” —Don't Tell Me the Score (BBC Podcast)

“A tour de force of elite sport, nerves, expectation and pressure from all perspectives.” —Matthew Pinsent

“A fascinating book about the psychology of elite sport… Mind Games explores compelling territory. It asks searching questions about the mentality required to succeed at sport's highest level while mining themes of self-doubt, determination, competitiveness and why “talent needs trauma” to blossom.” —the Guardian

“There is no better person to shed light on the fascinating subject of sports psychology than two-timed World Champion, Olympian and talented sports journalist, Annie Vernon” —Chrissie Wellington OBE

“Loved it… I would recommend it to all of you.” —BBC 5 Live, Jazmin Sawyers

“I played professional rugby for 13 years and it was amazing to read in Mind Games that the doubts and challenges I felt during that time weren't mine alone – they were shared by my peers across different disciplines. I wish I'd had Mind Games as a reference book during my career as I'm sure it would have made me much stronger to know I wasn't alone in my thinking.” —Chris Bentley, former professional rugby player

“As engaging as it is broad-ranging… After reading and thoroughly enjoying Mind Games, I'll look at lots of sports in a quite different way... I highly recommend adding it to your own collection.” —Peter Cossins

From the Publisher