brilliant books to be a better athlete
Teenagers: The Evidence Base by Matilda Gosling
This is a book on how to use research evidence to parent children from 10-18. As the mum of an 8 year old (and am dreading the teenage years) and who works with junior athletes aged 10 and over I really wanted to delve in and see what I could learn for myself and the...
All That Matters, Sir Chris Hoy, book review
Absolutely loved this book. I didn’t cry as much as I thought I might because it was so positive. There was so much to learn from a sporting and a life perspective. Overall, it felt like a love letter to his family (I warn you when he reads messages to them at the end...
There is No Wall by Allie Bailey
There is No Wall is an incredibly easy to read book with incredibly tough content. Bailey writes about her life; growing up, working in the music industry and weaves her extensive ultra running races and challenges alongside it. It covers her alcohol addiction,...
Book review: Hidden Potential, Adam Grant
This book does not offer new research or concepts. Instead (I guess like most smarter thinking books) it takes studies and ideas that many of us in psychology think about in isolation and weaves them together to make a great case of how to uncover hidden potential. It...
Book Club discussion guide for The 10 Pillars of Success
Chapter 1 - A Sense of Belonging. You have an innate need to belong. When you don’t belong, your physical and mental health diminishes and your opportunities for success reduce. When you feel like you belong, you are far more likely to succeed. Question: Which groups...
Book review: The Applied Sport & Exercise Practitioner
Edited by Andy Borrie, Charlotte Chandler, Andy Hooton, Andy Miles and Paula Watson One of my biggest bugbears in Sport and Exercise psychology is the disconnect between researchers, those teaching sport psychology and practitioners. I don't know how we work better...
Book Review: The Race of Truth, Leigh Timmis
“The perfect athlete is a robot, programmed to perform at its limit. But behind every athlete is a human.” There are lots of good books to learn about sport psychology. What can sometimes feel like it is missing though is the context. You read about a technique you...
Book review: Navigating Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology
When I heard about this book I was a little sceptical – who wants to learn from emerging practitioners when there are so many established ones to learn from? But my cynicism was misplaced because there are some really great things to learn from this book and the...
Gnar Country by Steven Kotler
I’ll be totally upfront: I am probably not the best person to review this book. Actually I may be the worst. While I love learning about peak performance and flow state (which is the running thread through the middle of the book) the majority of the book involves...
Book review: Perform and Thrive by Sarah Broadhead
When I began looking into Sport Psychology in 2013 there were not many books on it to investigate. Over the last nine years probably hundreds have been published. Is there room for one more? What can yet another one add? In the case of Perform and Thrive from Sarah...
Book Review: The Complete Guide to Cycling Psychology by Dr Jim Taylor and Mark Beaumont.
I adore the psychology of cycling. I ride everywhere I can, offer a discounted rate to female pro cyclists (my tiny contribution to a massive gender imbalance in pay in the sport), write cycling psychology features for Cycling Weekly and I truly enjoy helping cyclists...
Book review: Expert by Roger Kneebone
You can spot a qualified sport psychologist by the look of despair which sweeps across their face when an athlete mentions the 10,000 hour rule as a reason for overtraining. “It is not a rule” we will shout. It is 4,000-16,000 hours (10,000 plus or minus 6,000) and it...
Book review: Why Is This a Question? By Paul Anthony Jones
Occasionally non-fiction books seem to take off and become talked about even though you are not sure why. A few years ago it felt like it was all about Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep, before that it was Steve Peter’s Chimp Paradox, and much further back was Eat, Shoots...
Book Review: Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate
Working as a psychologist with high performers I regularly see clients with ADHD. Sometimes diagnosed but also, as wait times for adult diagnosis can be very long or very expensive, suspected. I find even if someone just suspects they may have it then it can be...
Book review: Where There’s A Hill by Sabrina Verjee
As a runner that likes running a short distance over nice flat tarmac, Where There’s a Hill, Sabrina Verjee’s book about her four attempts at running the Wainwrights (214 hills covering 325 miles and 36,000 metres of assent in the Lake District) probably doesn’t sound...
Book review: Parklife by Lucy Nichol
I rarely review fiction as it doesn’t usually fit in the sport psychology genre. However, athletes struggle with mental health issues just as much as the rest of us so to find books that accurately describe psychological issues, portray and discuss them in a way that...
Book Review: Your Brain is Playing Tricks on You by Albert Moukheiber
To become a sport psychologist as an adult your first step is often taking a MSc Psychology conversion course. Essentially this involved taking the key undergrad modules in a year so that we have covered the basics. One of these modules was cognitive psychology. It...
Book Review: Do Hard Things by Steve Magness
If you want nice, ‘easy to digest with lots of lightbulb moment’ performance psychology tweets, Steve Magness (@stevemagness) is the guy to follow. To get all the wisdom in one book he has just bought out ‘Do Hard Things’. I was a little wary from the title. As a...
Book Review: Stand-Up Paddle-Boarding in Great Britain by Jo Moseley
Your 9th wedding anniversary is supposed to be celebrated by giving a Pottery gift. But in our house (with a husband nicknamed Mr Bump) that would not last long. Instead, for our 9th my husband gave me a Stand-Up Paddle Board. Random yes, but we had just moved house...
Book review: Swim Wild and Free by Simon Griffiths
I have definitely been tutted at by the ‘real’ outdoor swimmers when I rock up to a safe, supervised lake in my cosy wetsuit, complaining about the 18 degree water and the risk of being attacked by a swan. I definitely prefer the ease and warmth of a pool. But I am...