The Young Champion's Mind

January 29, 2018
Afremow brings the ideas behind his adult book, The Champion’s Mind, to a teenage audience, highlighting the significance of mental discipline alongside physical to do one’s best in sports and in life. Chapters explore developing a positive and confident state of mind; becoming an “antifragile” athlete, one with resilience and perspective; achieving a state of flow when performing; nutrition and health; and using visualizations to lay the groundwork for success. Anecdotes from sports figures show how athletes’ success depends on getting onto the field or gym, being willing to make mistakes (and open to constructive criticism), and finding joy in learning and training, not just in the end goal. Nonathletes may find the advice just as applicable to their academic and personal aspirations. Ages 12–up. Agent: Helen Adams Zimmermann, Zimmermann Literary.

April 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-Afremow, author of several books on sport psychology and founder of a coaching and consulting practice, has written a well-intentioned guide. He reminds readers that an athlete must have (in this order) the mental, emotional, and physical skills to achieve success in their chosen field. Most of the chapters focus on training the mind, visualizing success, obtaining flow (being in the zone), and acquiring antifragility (reacting positively to stress, disorder, or mistakes). Inspirational stories and an overabundance of quotations from famous athletes are included throughout, along with reminders about the importance of a healthy diet and adequate sleep each night. Afremow offers a wide variety of good information, but getting teens to read it might be another issue. Some of the information is repetitive, including a Q&A appendix that offers the same advice from the earlier chapters. VERDICT Suitable for the serious student-athlete who wants to know more about the mind-body connection. An optional purchase.-Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State University, NH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
Demonstrating that mental conditioning benefits sports performance, this guide by a sports psychologist helps young athletes build on their talents and skills by cultivating their self-awareness.Adapted for young readers from his book for adults The Champion's Mind (2014), this version combines three revised chapters from the original book with new sections geared toward student athletes. Peppered with quotes from noted individuals in the sporting world and other fields, topics covered include advice for attaining your goals, using visualization, finding your flow state, and learning to grow from negative or stressful experiences. Commendably, the text covers a variety of sports beyond the expected baseball, basketball, soccer, and football, such as golf, tennis, track and field, and gymnastics. While the design of the book is lackluster and the tone is earnest and somewhat dry, valuable information for teen athletes on quality sleep and nutrition, in addition to the above topics, makes it relevant and useful.Young athletes will find much of value in this guide to developing a winning mindset. (appendix, references and recommended reading, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)

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February 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 For serious young student athletes, this book offers strategies for strengthening mental skills to achieve peak performance. Adapted for young readers from The Champion's Mind (2014), it includes advice from sports champions and other professionals on the key mental skills needed to excel as well as how to be in the zone, set goals, and respond to challenges and become stronger. The book uses actual examples of adverse situations and offers instructive solutions. Detailed scripts guide readers through useful visualizations for 10 different sports, from golf to gymnastics. It also presents practical tips on nutrition, sports counseling, sleep science, social media, preperformance readiness routines, and advice on how to develop an emotionally balanced life. A Q&A with the author is particularly helpful, and references, recommended reading, and an index (not seen) are also included. The text-heavy, unillustrated book probably won't have much appeal for the less dedicated student athlete, but for those who are serious about their sport, it's invaluable.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)