Preface
Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of popular and scientific interest in the
psychological factors that are associated with athletic success. Against this background,
the discipline of sport and exercise psychology has emerged as an exciting new field with
intellectual roots in both psychology and sport science. Increasingly, the theories,
methods and research findings of this discipline are being taught to students of
psychology and sport science at undergraduate and postgraduate levels around the world.
In spite of this impressive development, there is a need for an introductory textbook that
fills three apparent gaps in the teaching of sport and exercise psychology at present. First,
students need to be encouraged to think critically about important conceptual,
methodological and semantic issues in this field. For example, to what extent does
contemporary sport psychology have agreed objectives, a coherent professional identity,
clear academic pathways and an established role within the sporting community?
Unfortunately, many of these questions have not been addressed adequately by textbook
writers to date. Therefore, I have included a number of boxes labelled ‘Thinking critically
about...” in each of the chapters of this book. Second, there is a need for a book which
tries to augment its coverage of theoretical ideas with practical insights obtained from the
everyday experiences of athletes in various sports. For this reason, I have used illustrative
quotations from athletes, coaches and researchers at the beginning of every chapter.
Finally, I have learned that students like to receive practical suggestions concerning
possible research projects in sport and exercise psychology. In response to this need, I
have indicated a number of empirical project ideas at the end of each chapter.
The book is divided into four parts. Part one introduces the field of sport and exercise
psychology as both an academic discipline and as a profession. In Part two, I investigate
the various psychological processes that affect individual athletes in their pursuit of
excellence. Included here are chapters on motivation, anxiety, concentration, mental
imagery and expertise. Part three addresses the role of team cohesion in athletic
performance. Finally, in Part four, I explore exercise psychology and the psychology of
physical injury. In conclusion, I hope that this book manages to convey the theory and
practice of contemporary sport and exercise psychology in an accurate and accessible
manner.