Sport Psychology Books

Below are a few books that I would highly recommend for anyone who is on their way to becoming a sport psychologist, who is currently active as a sport psychologist or psychology practitioner, coaches or who have a general interest in the topic. 

The first book from my sport psychology selection is “Being a Sport Psychologist” by Richard Keegan. This provides a clear, in depth and holistic practical guide and a framework for understanding best practice. As a neophyte practitioner, it helped with developing my consulting philosophy and process. Some key chapters include ethical considerations, philosophical assumptions, needs analysis, case formulation and many more areas that will help evolve a practitioner. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is on their pathway to accreditation. Also, this could be beneficial for anyone working with clients, not just in a sport psychology context but situations where you are working in multidisciplinary teams and have jobs where confidentiality and ethical considerations are important. I feel as though this is my sport psychology bible.

Roughly £26 on amazon, but worth way more in terms of help for the accreditation process. 
ISBN-10: 1137300892
ISBN-13: 978-1137300898

The next book is “The Resilience Factor” by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté. When choosing books around mental resilience you have to throw caution to the wind as the science behind mental toughness and resilience still has a long way to go and can be very complex as there are challenges with definition and confining the factors influencing it. This book was recommended to me by Dr Mustafa Sarkar (lead lecturer in sport psychology – mental resilience) earlier this year. The authors express that it isn’t what happens to us but the way we appraise the events which has greatest effect on the pathway of our lives. It is suitable for anyone wanting to know more around mental resilience in humans. 

Roughly £13 on amazon. 
ISBN-10: 0767911911
ISBN-13: 978-0767911917

“Performance Under Pressure” by Josephine Perry. I was listening to a podcast by Dan Abrahams and Josie Perry on the ‘Sport Psych Show’ when I was on the way to run a sport psychology workshop. I remember being captivated by the way Dr Perry articulated and presented the strategies she used in her practice. She then went on to talk about her book she had just released at the time and I knew it was a must read. I was not mistaken. It offers really straightforward and practical psychological strategies for success in sport. It bridges the gap between theory and practice really well and has 64 strategies that supports the sporting mindset. It is empirically-based and gives advice around areas in high pressure situations, building confidence, concentration and focus, coping with injury and facing adversity, to name a few. 

Roughly £13 on amazon. 
ISBN-10: 0767911911
ISBN-13: 978-0767911917

Another book which I feel is massively appropriate for sport psychology consultants and coaches is “Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best – Motivational Interviewing in Sports.” This is written by Stephen Rollnick, Jonathan Fader, Jeff Breckon and Theresa Moyers. Motivational Interviewing is a proven approach to harness the power of conversations, build relationships and trust. It provides effective strategies to for firing up motivation, address problematic behaviour on and off the field, improve performance and teamwork and a lot more.

Roughly £18 on amazon. 
ISBN-10: 1462541267
ISBN-13: 978-1462541263

“You are Awesome” by Mathew Syed. If you are reading this article then you most probably have heard of this author, most likely from the book Bounce or Black Box Thinking (which also I’d highly advise reading if you are new to this area). However, this book is aimed at kids. It offers a more open minded way of thinking, not just in sport but other areas in life as well and is an extremely positive and thought provoking read. It is always a book that I advise parents to buy for their kids. Especially when kids have to (or should I say fortunate enough to be allowed) to read in school. They could have a go at reading this instead of ‘pretending’ to read a random book during silent reading sessions in school. 

Roughly £8 on amazon. 
ISBN-10: 9781526361158
ISBN-13: 978-1526361158

The next book is “Conversations for the Journey” by Richard Shorter. This book is mainly suitable for parents / guardians and it offers really practical ways to approach areas of uncertainty, stress and preparing your child for success and happiness on and off the field. It will help guide conversations and improve your relationship and help nurture the character of your sporting children. One of the many approaches that I like to recommend from this book is to do with the post-game interview and how parents can shape their conversations and behaviours in the journey on the way home - I won’t give anything more away.

Roughly £8 on amazon.  
ISBN-10: 191646470X
ISBN-13: 978-1916464704

I don’t get any endorsements for recommending these books, they are only purely recommended based on my experience working in the sport psychology field and has helped me develop and then ultimately my clients improve themselves as athletes but more importantly as people. 

Please feel free to comment below if you want to add any thoughts around these books or have any suggestions. I look forward to seeing your responses. 

These photos are from a screenshot from amazon.