Can a better understanding of group dynamics raise individual and team athletic performance or improve the outcomes of exercise interventions? Much human behaviour in sport and exercise settings is embedded within groups where individuals’ cognitions, emotions, and behaviours influence and are influenced by other group members. Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sports Psychology: Contemporary Themes explores the unique psychological dynamics that emerge in sport and exercise groups. It provides a clear and thorough guide to contemporary theory and research. Recommendations are also presented to inform applied psychology ‘best practice’. Drawing together the expertise of international specialists from sports and exercise psychology, the text covers core themes as well as emerging issues in group dynamics. The text is organised into four sections: Part 1: The Self in Groups Part 2: Leadership in Groups Part 3: Group Environment Part 4: Motivation in Groups Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sports Psychology: Contemporary Themes will be of interest to psychology, kinesiology, sport and exercise science students and researchers, as well as to consultants and coaches.

Can a better understanding of group dynamics raise individual and team athletic performance or improve the outcomes of exercise interventions? Much human behaviour in sport and exercise settings is embedded within groups, where individuals’ cognitions, emotions, and behaviours influence and are influenced by other group members. Now in a fully revised, updated, and expanded second edition, Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sport Psychology explores the unique psychological dynamics that emerge in sport and exercise groups. It provides a clear and thorough guide to contemporary theory, research, and applied practice, covering core themes and cutting-edge topics as well as highlighting directions for future research. The book is organised into five thematic sections: Part 1: The Self in Groups Part 2: Leadership in Groups Part 3: Group Environment Part 4: Motivation in Groups Part 5: Socio-Environmental Issues in Groups This new edition includes seven completely new chapters, exploring important emerging issues such as social identity, the family, co-ordination and shared knowledge within sport teams, the group as a vehicle for facilitating individual behavior change, social support and emotion regulation, peer leadership, and cultural perspectives in relation to group dynamics. No other book on group dynamics in sport or exercise offers such a close examination of the evidence base, and therefore Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sport Psychology is important reading for all students, researchers, or practitioners working in sport or exercise psychology, kinesiology, sport and exercise science, sports coaching, or physical education.

The ability to mould a group of talented individual athletes into an effective team takes effort and skill. Team Psychology in Sports examines the crucial factors in the development of an effective team, introducing important psychological and organizational concepts and offering evidence-based interventions for enhancing the performance of any sports team. The book neatly bridges the gap between theory and practice, with real sporting case studies, examples and practical tools included in each chapter. It covers the full range of issues in team sport, including: planning communication cohesion motivation emotions momentum leadership recovery. No other book offers such an up-to-date, relevant and applied guide to working with sports teams. It is essential reading for all students and practitioners working in sport psychology or sports coaching.

This ground-breaking book is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of how organizational psychology can be used to understand and improve performance in elite sport. Using recent theoretical advances from this burgeoning area of research, each chapter offers key conceptual issues and practical insights across a range of topics. The book is structured into four constituent parts, Attitudes and emotions in sports organizations Stress and well-being in sports organizations Behaviors in sports organizations Environments in sports organizations Covering key areas such as attitudes to employment, conflict and change management, leadership, and relationships with the mass media, the book shines a spotlight on how organizational issues play a fundamental role in the experience of individuals and teams. In an era of ever-increasing professionalism in sport, the book provides an invaluable new perspective on performance at the elite level. Including contributions from an international range of academics and practitioners, it will be essential reading for any student or practitioners within sport and exercise psychology.

Sport Psychology is an essential introduction to the field's key issues, suitable for psychology, sport science and sport studies students at all levels. Encompassing the history of sport psychology to more recent distinctions between sport and exercise psychology, it is ideal reading for students looking to learn about issues such as motivation, concentration and anxiety and the connection between physical activity and psychological well-being. This new edition provides updated case studies, guidance on further reading, study questions and brand new content on self-harm in sport and metaimagery. Real-life examples put the theory into practice, and the authors' focus on the freshest theories shows how the discipline has evolved in recent years.

Identifying athletic talent and developing that talent to its full potential is a central concern in sport. Understanding talent identification and its implications for both positive and negative developmental outcomes is crucial to sporting success. This is the first comprehensive resource for scientists, researchers, students, coaches, analysts and policymakers looking to improve their knowledge of the talent identification and development process. With contributions from leading researchers and practitioners, this book offers a complete overview of contemporary talent identification and development from in-depth discussion of methodological and philosophical issues through to practical applications. Adopting an international and multi-disciplinary approach, it addresses all key aspects of the talent identification and development process, including skill acquisition and motor learning, psychological factors and family influences, creating optimal environments for performance, and dealing with injury and rehabilitation. Presenting an unrivalled wealth of research, the Routledge Handbook of Talent Identification and Development in Sport is an essential resource for any undergraduate or postgraduate degree course in sport studies, sport science, sport coaching or sport management, as well as for sport policymakers, analysts and coaches.

Taking a refreshingly different approach to the subject, this new textbook uses original case studies of psychological support work with individual athletes and groups to illustrate the underlying theory and inform the reader of cutting edge practice in the field. It addresses ‘real world’ issues and helps the student understand the problems and challenges that the sport psychologist faces and is employed to resolve. The book begins by exploring the use of case studies as a professional method for disseminating applied knowledge and practice in sport psychology. The remaining chapters constitute the core of the book: the case studies themselves. Each case study demonstrates scientific rigour in reporting the background information, initial assessment, intervention and monitoring, evaluation of the intervention, and also considers consultant effectiveness through reflective practice. The chapters also contain summaries and an accompanying set of questions for students. Written by a team of experienced practitioners this book shows how sport psychology actually works in practice. As such it will prove invaluable to students of sport psychology in both sport and exercise science and psychology programmes. It will also be an extremely useful resource for coaches and sports professionals undergoing training in sport psychology.

This book brings together world-class professionals to share theoretical understanding applied to sport, exercise and performance domains. It highlights how to be more effective in developing psychological skills, context and understanding for educators, students and professionals. From both academic and practitioner perspectives, this book takes readers through contextual understanding of this field of study and into a wide variety of important areas. Specifically, the chapters focus on the mind-body relationship and performance challenges, and on core mental skills applied across different sport, exercise and performance examples (including professional athletes, normal exercise populations and military service members). The final section expands the context into the role of relationships and performance in group settings to cover a broad practice of modern day applied performance psychology.

"This edited textbook offers a global perspective on research, practice, and future directions in social psychology in sport. Topics include relationships, communication, leadership, motivation, and morality. Readers gain insight into the interactions and dynamics that affect sport performance and the sport experience for youth and adult athletes and coaches"--

Sport psychology is no longer just an academic subject, it is a discipline studied and applied by all those associated with sport, whether athletes, coaches, journalists or fans. This text concerns key topics in the field of sport psychology.