Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the help that I received from a large
number of friends and colleagues. To begin with, I would like to acknowledge the
wonderful editorial support and encouragement that I received from Lucy Farr and Ruben
Hale of Routledge and Psychology Press. Next, I wish to thank Pádraig Harrington for his
kindness over the years as well as for his generous endorsement of my work. I also wish
to thank my post-graduate research students—especially, Mark Campbell for his
meticulous research assistance and proofreading skills and Tadhg MacIntyre and Olivia
Hurley for their enthusiasm, insights and valuable references. Other current and former
students who have helped me greatly during the writing of this book are Alison Byrne,
Derek Dorris, Nicola McGlade, Sarah Sinnamon and Arlene Egan. I also acknowledge
the excellent technical assistance of Mark Beatty (UCD Audio-Visual Centre) and
Deirdre Moloney (UCD Sports Centre), Donal Farmer and Norman McCloskey (both
from Inpho Photography), John Conboy and Andrew Flood (for their computing
expertise), Mark McDermott (Irish Rugby Football Union) and John McClean (UCD
Sports Centre) for their rugby knowledge, Sean O’Domhnaill (UCD Audio-Visual Centre
for the excellent cartoons), Linton Walsh (Golfing Magazine) and the practical advice on
wordprocessing received from Mary Boyle and Diana Caffrey. Copyright clearance for
certain figures in the book was obtained with the help of Retesha Thadison (Human
Kinetics Publishers, USA) and Diane Evans (Human Kinetics Publishers, UK). Next, I
wish to express my gratitude to a number of academic colleagues who influenced the
content and format of this book. In particular, I am extremely grateful to John Kremer
(The Queen’s University of Belfast) for his friendship, encouragement and generous help
at all times. I also wish to thank him and the following scholars for providing many
constructive comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this manuscript: Denise
Baden (University of Southampton), Dave Shaw (University of Central Lancashire),
Richard Thelwell (University of Portsmouth) and Catherine Woods (Dublin City
University). Other academic colleagues in sport psychology who helped me with this
book are Albert Carron (University of Western Ontario), Pat Duffy (University of
Limerick), Simon Gandevia (University of New South Wales), Iain Greenlees (University
College, Chichester), Heather Hausenblas (University of Florida), Chris Janelle
(University of Florida), Richard Keeffe (Duke University), David Lavallee (University of
Strathclyde), Deirdre Lyons (University of Limerick), Bill Morgan (University of
Wisconsin, Madison), Peter Mudrack (Kansas State University), Shane Murphy (Western