Train Your Mind for Athletic Success

Much too often, the mental aspect of sport performance is overlooked. While all top athletes are in outstanding physical condition and technically exceptional, mental preparation is often what separates the best from the rest. This is just as true for young athletes as it is for pros and Olympians. And even though relatively few athletes will ever reach the top of their sport, the attitudes and life lessons learned from mental training-such as motivation, confidence, focus, perseverance, and resilience-will serve them well in all aspects of their lives. In Train Your Mind for Athletic Success: Mental Preparation to Achieve Your Sports Goals, Dr. Jim Taylor uses his own elite athletic experience and decades of working with some of the world's best athletes to provide competitors of every ability with insights, practical exercises, and tools they can use to be mentally prepared when it really counts. His Prime Sport System explores the attitudes that lay the foundation for athletic success, the mental obstacles that can hold athletes back, the preparations they must take, the mental muscles they should strengthen, and the mental tools they need to fine tune their competitive performances. Most importantly, Dr. Taylor shows athletes practical strategies they can use to become mentally strong so they can perform their best when it matters most. Train Your Mind for Athletic Success goes well beyond the typical mental skills that are discussed in other mental training books. Readers will not only learn why mental preparation is so important to athletic success, but also where they personally are in each area thanks to brief mental assessments in each section of the book. In addition, each chapter includes exercises to show athletes how to incorporate mental training directly into their overall sport training regimen. The most comprehensive and in-depth book on mental preparation for athletes available, Train Your Mind for Athletic Success is an essential read for athletes, coaches, and parents.

Jim Taylor, PhD, is internationally recognized for his work in the psychology of critical performance. He is the author of 17 books and the lead editor of four textbooks. He has published more than 700 articles in scholarly and popular publications, and has given more than 1000 workshops and presentations throughout the world. Taylor has blogged or written columns for The Saturday Evening Post, psychologytoday.com, huffingtonpost.com, sfgate.com, seattlepi.com, the Hearst Interactive Media group, as well as on his own web site.

Introduction: Athletic Success Begins and Ends with the Mind
Chapter I: PrimePsyche: Five Attitudes
Ownership
Process
Challenge
Long-term
Risk
Chapter II: PrimeHeart: Five Obstacles
Overinvestment
Perfectionism
Fear of Failure
Expectations
Negativity
Chapter III: PrimePrep: Five Approaches to Quality Training
Perspective
Train Like You Compete
Consistency
Experiment
Quality
Chapter IV: PrimeMind: Five Mental Muscles
Motivation
Confidence
Intensity
Focus
Mindset
Chapter V: PrimeTime: Five Tools
Emotions
Imagery
Routines
Breathing
Trust
Chapter VI: Prime Topics for Athletic Success
Preparing for the Big Competition
Slumps
Psychology of Injury
Chapter VII: Prime Sport: The Payoff
Seven Reasons Why Athletes Don't Do Mental Training
Three Goals for Athletic Success
Develop a Mental Training Program
Prime Sport Challenge
About the Author