
Author: Amy L. Baltzell
Published: January 2011
Pages: 326
Format: Paperback 9781935412090
Price: $18.95
Preparing for Performance in Sport and Life
Living in the Sweet Spot: Preparing for Performance in Sport and Life inspires readers to prepare for life’s big performances. The author integrates the principles of positive psychology and sport psychology, relating techniques to strengthen daily fulfillment to get the most out of the experience when those big moments take place. The issues performers face when under pressure come to life through examples from top athletes, musicians, and the author's experiences as an Olympian and America's Cup sailor. Every chapter contains practical, effective, reflective exercises that help readers rise to the challenge of performing their best when it counts.
“What I learned in this book is that if you focus on the positives and what actually brings you joy, it will change your perspective, and maybe most importantly, give you more energy. Everyone, not just athletes, can benefit from reading Living in the Sweet Spot—we can learn how to accept ourselves, our endeavors, our sport, or our profession.”
— from the foreword by Phil Simms, Super Bowl XXI MVP
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
Part I: The Building Blocks of a Champion Approach
Chapter 1: What Is Living in the Sweet Spot?
Chapter 2: Self-awareness and Your Strengths
Chapter 3: Positive Emotional Experience
Chapter 4: Small Changes
Chapter 5: The Learning approach
Chapter 6: The Positive Perspective
Part II: Preparing for Performance or Competition
Chapter 7: Flow and Engagement
Chapter 8: Facing Negative Emotions
Chapter 9: Coaches, Family, Teammates, and Friends
Chapter 10: Imagery and Scripting for Performance
Chapter 11: Mental-Emotional Goals for Performance
Part III: The Day of Performance
Chapter 12: Empowered Thinking
Chapter 13: Emotions on the Day of Performance
Chapter 14: Motivational Flexibility
Chapter 15: Your Plan for Game Day
References
Index
About the Author
Amy L. Baltzell, EdD, directs the sport psychology program and is a professor in the School of Education at Boston University. Her academic credentials include a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wesleyan University of Connecticut (1987), a master’s in counseling (1996) from Boston University, and a doctorate in counseling psychology, specializing in sport psychology, from Boston University in 1999. Her research interests are in the areas of mindfulness, performance enhancement, and values in sport. She has presented a dozen academic papers and dozens of invited talks across the country.
As a licensed psychologist specializing in sport and performance, Baltzell works with professional, elite, collegiate, and high school athletes and professional musicians. She provides educational workshops to teams and organizations, keynote presentations, and coach education training sessions. She also has a private practice in which she provides one-on-one consulting to athletes and performers.
Prior to entering academia, Baltzell was an elite multi-sport athlete. She was a three-year member of the U.S. National Rowing Team, including the 1992 Olympic team and during that time won multiple national and international gold medals. She also was a member of the historic 1995 all-women’s America’s Cup sailing team, America. Additionally, she played basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, sailed, and ran the Boston Marathon. She also previously served as an athletic coach, notably as the head women’s lightweight rowing coach at Harvard University.This is Baltzell’s third book. She is a co-author of Whose Game is it Anyway, Parenting Your Athletic Child and Character and Coaching.