Mental Coaching Books

[RPVA03]

Does anyone know some good books I can give athletes on the mental side of competing? Some of my athletes engage in negative self talk etc. so any book suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[KirkB]

The Power of Positive Thinking is a classic on this topic.

This book is not confined to just excelling in sports; it's for life in general.

It's a free 285-page ebook, published (2006) here:
http://www.makemoneywithpyxism.info/joinstevehawk.com/PowerOfPositiveThinking.pdf.

There's also a 45-minute audio recording of it, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cDuLTLR9M.

There may be other books on this topic oriented more specifically to sports.

HOWEVER ...

The Power of Positive Thinking is not just the title of a book - more importantly, it's a BELIEF that affects you entire life - not just sports.

This is something that most good athletes learn inherently at an early age. It's fundamental to athletic success, and if an athlete expresses self-doubt, then it's often the coach's job to improve their self-confidence. Just asking the athlete to read a book on the topic may not be very effective. If they're a go-getter, then they've probably already googled this topic (and already believe in the power of positive thinking).

If your athlete is engaging in negative self-talk, then perhaps they need counselling by their coach - not rote learning from a book.

Sometimes when an athlete says they don't think they can do something, it might mean that they REALLY don't think they can do it (and for safety reasons, you should listen to this), or it might just be their way of getting your attention (and not the core issue).

Either way, it may be that it's the coach that needs to read the book - not the athlete.

Perhaps listening to an inspirational talk by an esteemed World Champion (or coach of an World Champion) might be more effective (and less boring) than just reading a book. Anyone have any suggestions? Especially inspirational talks - in any sport - that might be published on youtube?

Kirk

[botakatobi]

If you consider Pete Carroll a good endorser of positive attitude, try "The Inner Game of Tennis". He loves this book and the sports psychology written in it.