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Sports Psychology Selected Readings

Compiled, and with notes by Alan Reeter

Gallawey, Timothy, The Inner Game of Tennis, Random House, 1974.
     A classic on learning and coaching. Everyone should read this or one of the other "Inner game of" books.

Garfield, Charles, Peak Performance, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1984.
     Covers motivation analysis, goal setting, peak performance, mental rehearsal, and athletic poise.
     Contains step-by-step exersises, lesson plans, etc.

Herrigel, Eugen, Zen in the Art of Archery, Pantheon, 1953.
     Also available on audio tape from Recorded Books, Inc.  (800-638-1304)
     A Journey of discovery and mastery. Patty Wagstaff, repeat National Aerobatics Champion,
     says she has listened to this tape hundreds of times. Don't be dissuaded by the 1950's copyright,
     this book could have been written yesterday.

Loehr, James E., Mental Toughness Training for Sports, The Stephen
     Greene Press, 1982. Available in paperback.
     Covers peak performance, visualization exercises, meditations, performance slumps,
     training pr grams, and team harmony. Contains self scoring tests and example mental
     monitoring charts. Now out of print. Try the library.

Seligman, M. E. P., Learned Optimism, Alfred A. Knopf (NY), 1991.
     Hardback and expensive.  Try the library.   Most people believe that talent, opportunity,
     and motivation are the three elements of success. Research, as amply demonstrated in this book,
     shows that these do not, by themselves, reliably predict success. Optimism is the missing element.
     In athletics, optimism helps you learn faster, open your perceptual field, and recover from the
     inevitable misfortunes quicker. Most people do not understand the nature of optimism well enough 
     to develop and use it. This book covers it in detail. While this book was not written specifically for
     sports, it is directly applicable (This is my favorite of the Sports Psych. books I have read--GBM).

Loehr, James E., The New Mental Toughness Training for Sports,
     Plume Penguin, 1994.  This is the new, much updated version of his earlier book. Readable, specific
     and outstanding, especially on how to achieve peak performance.