The Sport Psych Handbook
Issue: Volume 28 Number 1
The Sport Psych Handbook
Shane Murphy (ed.)
Human Kinetics, 2005
368 pages
RRP: $35.95 (including GST)
TheSport Psych Handbook offers the reader a comprehensive list of chapters that describe the variety of issues that relate to the mental side of sporting performance. When coaches and athletes read the titles of each chapter in the book they will get a better understanding of how a sport psychologist can provide support.
Shane Murphy (editor) is a well-known sports psychologist in the United States who has called on a number experts in the field to present information on topics such as goal setting, mental imagery, concentration and team work to enhance sporting performance. One chapter that is particularly pertinent to pre-elite and junior athletes is called ‘Competitive drive: embracing positive rivalries’, and describes to coaches and athletes how to develop a win–win perspective regardless of the outcome of any competitive experience. Another chapter most relevant to coaches is ‘Coaching: an effective communication system’, which describes the impact of communication on fostering strong interpersonal relationships between coach and athlete.
A part of the book is devoted to helping coaches and athletes identify what attributes a sports psychologist should possess in order to help achieve their stated goals in sport. The role of the sports psychologist is described, the appropriate qualifications and experience a psychologist should have are clearly delineated, and examples of effective and ineffective service provision are included as case studies to inform the reader.
The objective of the book is to provide an easy to read resource that describes how sports psychology can be most effective for coaches and athletes. Some of the chapters are long (if you are not much of a reader) and could perhaps include a few more practical strategies. If athletes and coaches use the information in the book to assess which areas of sport psychology would be most beneficial to them and then contact an appropriate sports psychologist to seek support, then the book has certainly been a very useful resource.
