The pursuit of human performance goes beyond sport. Whilst we might most readily associate sport with the quest to perform at the highest levels of competition, this is not exclusive to sports teams and athletes. Striving for excellence and dedication to continual improvement are hallmarks of high performing organisations, teams, and individuals across all realms. Following this logic, forward thinking individuals have started to explore processes and principles from elite sport and coaching, with the aim of applying high performance practices within their own domain. Just as there are traits that unite high performers across sectors, there are common themes and challenges shared by all those who aspire to excellence in performance. With 'Prepared' we use the lens of elite sport to illuminate universal truths and illustrate the key lessons that we can apply to our chosen domain (including sport): - the critical ingredients for a performance environment, - the dynamics of performance management at the level of the organisation, team, and individual, - the essentials of navigating the complexity of coaching humans, - the key principles and critical lessons from the process of preparing athletes for the crucible of competition, - and finally, the meta-abilities that will allow us to sustain the highest levels of performance, manage ourselves, and navigate the challenges we will inevitably face along the way. This is a book for all those who have an interest or involvement in human performance in the widest sense. Whilst the content remains highly relevant to those in sport, within the text we explore the parallels to other domains, and thereby derive unique insights for leaders, teams, and professionals in all sectors. Throughout the journey the reader is prompted to reflect and connect the dots at the culmination of each chapter to help relate the information presented to their own context.

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.

The first research-based program to offer concise, clear ways to realize your best performance. As a therapist, physician, and mental coach, Dr. Michael Lardon has dedicated his career to helping athletes understand and better achieve peak performance. In Finding Your Zone, he shares with readers what he's discovered about reaching the state in which thoughts and actions are occurring in complete synchronicity, and how this state is accessible to all, not just the few. In ten key lessons illustrated by personal anecdotes from his clients' Lardon teaches readers how to access the zone not only in sports but in all aspects of their lives, by understanding how to: - Transform desire into will - Channel emotions to victory - Trust instincts and keep it simple - Conquer fear through acceptance - Perform under pressure

Achieve the mindset of a superior athlete with Sport Psychology Essentials! This book is packed with research-based strategies for developing the mental skills necessary to reach your sport performance goals. Coeditor Dave Collins, PhD, is an expert sport psychology practitioner who has been a consultant to more than 80 world-class athletes or Olympic medalists as well as professional teams and performers. Coeditor Andrew Cruickshank, PhD, has also consulted with multiple elite teams and athletes, including world-class athletes and Olympic and Paralympic medalists. The coeditors’ blended approach emphasizes the importance of integrating mental skills training into a holistic training approach to achieve competition-day success. Sport Psychology Essentials will teach you to do the following: Practice your mental skills during physical training so you are prepared to bring an elite athlete mindset to the arena. Assess your athlete’s or team’s mental skills. Use advanced sport psychology techniques that fit your unique personality and lifestyle to improve motivation, confidence, imagery, self-regulation, and concentration. Enhance the performance potential of your team through leadership, team culture, and shared mental models. Implement plans for optimal team and individual performance using program development, motor skills training, talent development, and strategies to persevere through slumps and adversity. Success Story sidebars reveal how real-life teams, athletes, and coaches have succeeded in using proven mental training techniques. Learn foundational sport psychology concepts by exploring the scientific background behind mental strategies in athletic performance. Sport Psychology Essentials will help you unlock your sport performance potential and stay ahead of the competition.

Strength and Conditioning for Team Sports is designed to help trainers and coaches to devise more effective high-performance training programs for team sports. This remains the only evidence-based study of sport-specific practice to focus on team sports and features all-new chapters covering neuromuscular training, injury prevention and specific injury risks for different team sports. Fully revised and updated throughout, the new edition also includes over two hundred new references from the current research literature. The book introduces the core science underpinning different facets of physical preparation, covering all aspects of training prescription and the key components of any degree-level strength and conditioning course, including: physiological and performance testing strength training metabolic conditioning power training agility and speed development training for core stability training periodisation training for injury prevention Bridging the traditional gap between sports science research and practice, each chapter features guidelines for evidence-based best practice as well as recommendations for approaches to physical preparation to meet the specific needs of team sports players. This new edition also includes an appendix that provides detailed examples of training programmes for a range of team sports. Fully illustrated throughout, it is essential reading for all serious students of strength and conditioning, and for any practitioner seeking to extend their professional practice.

The first research-based program to offer concise, clear ways to realize your best performance. As a therapist, physician, and mental coach, Dr. Michael Lardon has dedicated his career to helping athletes understand and better achieve peak performance. In Finding Your Zone, he shares with readers what he's discovered about reaching the state in which thoughts and actions are occurring in complete synchronicity, and how this state is accessible to all, not just the few. In ten key lessons illustrated by personal anecdotes from his clients' Lardon teaches readers how to access the zone not only in sports but in all aspects of their lives, by understanding how to: - Transform desire into will - Channel emotions to victory - Trust instincts and keep it simple - Conquer fear through acceptance - Perform under pressure

Sustain high performance through what you can control: your output. You don't need to be an elite athlete to be at the top of your game. By understanding the dynamic relationship between your objectives and the actions required to achieve them, you can perform at the highest level in your profession-consistently, on demand, when it counts. If you've got your eyes locked on your outcome, you need to get your mind set on your output. In Output, Olympic physiologist and performance consultant Ben Sporer combines his scientific expertise with decades of experience in sport and business to simplify the strategies of high-performing athletes and how they can apply to anyone, in any field. By explaining the mechanics of the Core 4 performance factors and reframing the link between preparation, action, and purpose, Sporer reveals a performance solution that empowers you to prize output over outcome. Whether you're an executive, an entrepreneur, an artist, or an athlete-if you're ready to see what you can achieve when working at your best, Output will help you get there. This accessible and integrated approach to high-level human performance is a must-read resource that will help you prioritize and strategize your efforts toward your highest level of productivity and success.