Mental Skills for Athletes

Mental Skills for Athletes: A Workbook for Competitive Success is a step-by-step guide for developing a toolbox of mental skills. In this user-friendly workbook, Dr. Betsy Shoenfelt compiles materials from over 35 years of experience as a performance psychologist working to achieve competitive excellence, creating the go-to resource for athletes and coaches in any sport and at any level. The book includes succinct, easily understood explanations of key mental skills based on the science of performance excellence. It discusses both cognitive and physical skills to ensure competitive success, covering a range of topics including focus, confidence, resilience, mindfulness, motivation, role clarity, problem solving, team values, and strategic goal setting. Shoenfelt includes over 25 different exercises to ensure the reader can readily apply these skills across a variety of sports and across all levels of competition, from high school to Olympic athletes. Worksheets encourage a hands-on approach and provide structure to guide the appropriate implementation of mental skills for each athlete. Examples of completed worksheets help demonstrate to the reader how to best utilize these resources. This book is essential for early career sport psychology practitioners across the globe, as well as aspiring graduate students. The book is an invaluable resource for coaches and athletes at all levels.

Elizabeth L. Shoenfelt, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Western Kentucky University, USA, is a performance psychologist with 35+ years of experience working in business, industry, government, education, and sports with individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve performance excellence.

Part I: Introduction Chapter 1: An Introduction to Mental Skills Part II: Mental Skills A: The Mind (Cognitive Skills) Chapter 2: Positive Self-Talk, Confidence, and Focus Chapter 3: Motivation Chapter 4: Imagery Chapter 5: Problem Solving and Continuous Learning to Build Resilience B: The Body (Physiological Skills and the Mind-Body Connection) Chapter 6: Relaxation, Controlling Performance Anxiety, and Mindfulness Chapter 7: Automaticity and Practice Chapter 8: Routines Part III: Team Skills and Special Situations Chapter 9: Role Clarity for Team Sports Chapter 10: The Importance of Team Values Chapter 11: Strategic Goal Setting for Teams Chapter 12: Preparing for the Big Event Part IV: Epilogue Epilogue