Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence [Paperback]

Gary Mack (Author), David Casstevens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2002

Drawing on his work with some of the top teams in professional sports, noted sport psychology consultant Gary Mack shares with you the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." These 40 accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes will help you gain the "head edge" over the competition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mind Gym hits a home run. If you want to build mental muscle for the major leagues, read this book." -- Ken Griffey, Jr., Major League MVP

"A great read that helps you understand the importance that your mind plays in reaching the top." -- Michele Timms, WNBA All-Star and Olympic silver-medal winner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Golfing great Bobby Jones said, "Competition is won or lost on the six-inch playing field between the ears." How do the best athletes gain an advantage on that playing field? In Mind Gym, noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack teaches athletes the lessons he's learned about how the mind influences athletic performance as much as physical skill does, if not more so.

Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--Mack shares the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle."

Achieving this inner excellence requires time and effort. The more you work on the inside, the more it shows on the outside. These engaging stories--covering such themes as overcoming adversity, staying motivated, and following one's dreams--will enable you to perform at your best by choice rather than chance.

Mind Gym will give anyone who spires to be a better athlete the "head edge" over the competition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071395970
• ISBN-13: 978-0071395977
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Reference
  • #1 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Winter Sports > Ice Skating & Figure Skating
  • #1 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Olympic Games

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No depth at all, October 18, 2010

By 

Stephan Wiesner (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence (Kindle Edition)

The author starts by stating how important psychology for sports is. It is.
After this promising start, however, we are presented with chapter after chapter of - well, nothing.
He states something obvious like "belive in yourself" and underlines this with some quotes and success stories from profs.
Great. This does not help at all. I already knew that I need confidence to excel.
No "how to", no in depth tipps, nothing usefull at all :-(

52 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not well written, rehashes other books., June 21, 2005

By 

Tour Pro "Tour Pro" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence (Paperback)

I have just about every book on the topic of sports performance.

I've read others that were more impactful and helpful.

Granted, this book is good if you're just looking for some inspiration that might eventually lead you to results. For immediate results to use on one's game, however, this book isn't it!

As another reviewer said, it's clumsily written. For my hard earned money, I'd like something that I can actually use on my game right away.

If you're a couch potato athlete that only watches a game, this book is probably good. My brother-in-law loves it. He's never played a sport in his life, but is a big fan. For competitive athletes who are more interested in RESULTS and can get their cliches from TV announcers, this book isn't for them.

I'd give it one star, but those who've met the guy seem to like him enough to log onto amazon and write a review. Nothing personal, but I can't give this anything like the rating the others did.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crippled by one jaw-droppingly awful flaw, April 5, 2009

By 

Roberto H "Lover of libros" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence (Paperback)

Mind Gym's theories on sports psychology are not all that revolutionary. Any good coach will already understand the author's thoughts on discipline, preparation, confidence, positive imagery, etc.; however, there is substantial value in the dozens of anecdotes and stories from household name athletes. These examples make great talking points when explaining psychological concepts to kids.

So, until I was almost finished with the book, I definitely enjoyed it. That was until the author revealed that he has all of his clients close their eyes and listen to "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Wow - talk about a blow to his credibility.

If you believe you can overcome this horrendous nugget of info, then you will probably like this book. But if you, like me, find this just too much to bare, then don't waste your time.