There are so many good books for athletes on the market, which makes picking the right one more difficult than it has to be.
Athlete are constantly working to improve their athleticism and skillsets. The mental part of the game often gets overlooked.
When studying the most successful athletes you’ll find that they train the mind as much as they train the body.
Since it’s always a joy to check out new discoveries. Sports Corner is here to give a nod to 5 books every athlete should read at least once.
- Relentless: From Good To Great To Unstoppable by Tim Grover
Relentless reveals what it takes to achieve total mental and physical dominance, showing you how to be relentless and achieve whatever you desire.
Tim Grover details the essential traits shared by the most intense competitors in sports, business, and all walks of life. He was Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s full-time trainer.
In Relentless, Grover reveals the necessary characteristics shared by the most intense competitors and achievers in sports and all walks of life. Relentless shows you how to trust your instincts and get “in the zone.” You’ll learn how to control and adapt to any situation.
This book is packed with stories and unparalleled insight into the mindset of the most successful and accomplished athletes of our time, Relentless shows you how even the best get better… and how you can too.
“This book is the blueprint for discovering what you are capable of achieving, getting results you never imagined, reaching the highest level of success–and then going even higher.” — Kobe Bryant
- Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence by Gary Mack
In Mind Gym, highly acclaimed sports psychology consultant Gary Mack describes how your mind influences your performance on the field or on the court every bit as much as your physical skill does, if not more.
Mind Gym offers forty lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes – many of whom he has worked with. You have the opportunity to learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental “muscle.”
Mind Gym is that book all athletes should have on them to get their headspace right and let their talent take over. Perfect for athletes of all-ages.
This is a great book because it has very little fluff on any of the pages. From start to finish, you are engaged and learning exactly what it takes to build up your mental strength as an athlete.
“I read Mind Gym on my way to the Sydney Olympics and really got a lot out of it. Gary has important lessons to teach, and you’ll find the exercises fun and beneficial.”
—Jason Kidd, Former NBA All-Star, Coach, and Olympic gold-medal winner
- Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success by John C. Maxwell
The major difference between achieving people and average people is their perception of and response to failure. John C. Maxwell takes a closer look at failure-and reveals that the secret of moving beyond failure is to use it as a lesson and a stepping-stone.
He covers the top reasons people fail and shows how to master fear instead of being mastered by it. Readers will discover that positive benefits can accompany negative experiences-if you have the right attitude. Chock full of action suggestions and real-life stores, Failing Forward is a strategic guide that will help athletes move beyond mistakes to fulfill their potential and achieve success.
Most people are never prepared to deal with failure. Maxwell says that if you are like him, coming out of school, you feared it, misunderstood it, and ran away from it. But Maxwell has learned to make failure his friend, and he teaches you to do the same in his book, Failing Forward.
“I want to help you learn how to confidently look the prospect of failure in the eye and move forward anyway,” says Maxwell. “Because in life, the question is not if you will have problems, but how you are going to deal with them. Stop failing backward and start failing forward.
- The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive by Jim Afremow
Sports participation from the recreational to the college and varsity level is at an all-time high. While the caliber of their games may differ, athletes at every level have one thing in common: the desire to excel.
In The Champion’s Mind, sports psychologist Jim Afremow, PhD, offers the same advice he uses with Olympians, Heisman Trophy winners, and professional athletes, including:
• How to get in a “zone,” thrive on a team, and stay humble
• How to progress within a sport and sustain long-term excellence
• Customizable pre-performance routines to hit full power when the gun goes off or the puck is dropped
With hundreds of useful tips, breakthrough science, and cutting-edge workouts from the world’s top trainers, The Champion’s Mind will help you shape your body to ensure a longer, healthier, happier lifetime.
If you are looking to improve your athletic performance without working out more, then this book is for you. It has a lot of solid and practical advice for improving the mental side of athletic performance.
ALSO READ: Hyacinths pose a significant challenge to SA rowers
- Peak Performance Every Time
Peak performances should not be left to chance. Rather than hoping that you will perform at your best, why not engineer your performance?
Peak Performance Every Time incorporates principles from sport psychology and performance coaching and applies these to all areas of life. Using illustrations and real-world examples from top athletes and business executives, it focuses on the three main components that underpin performance:
- Confidence
- Motivation
- Focus.
As well as offering practical strategies to help the reader achieve their optimal mindset, it also explains how to coach others to perform to their potential.
Throughout, the book is underpinned by theoretical frameworks, literature and research findings and will be invaluable to anyone trying to reach their full potential, in particular athletes, coaches, managers and executives.
It may also be of interest to sports psychology, management and business students.
Leave us a comment on our Instagram page and let us know your thoughts on this reading list for athletes.
