Archivio per il tag 'Human Kinetics'

Recensione Libro: Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology – 7th Edition

Published on maggio 2, 2019 in Allenatori, Generale e Libri. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , , .

Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology – Seventh Edition

Robert S. Weinberg and Daniel Gould

Human Kinetics, pp. 663

This updated publication of Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology,Seventh Edition, includes web study guide, with technique videos, expert interviews and interactive activities.

Since many years, this is the leading handbook in sport and exercise psychology, now is back in a revised version, introducing new topics and updating the classical fields of this discipline. In this way, this textbook continues to play its role toward students and practitioners, providing a global and specific vision of sport and exercise psychology and drawing a strong bridge between research data and applied interventions.

In the first part of the book, Robert Weinberg and Daniel Gould describe in this 7thEdition a broader horizon of this field, with a section dedicated to talk about the present and future, centered on counseling and clinical training, the ethics and competence issues, the tension between academic and applied sport psychology, the problems related to the limited full-time positions for applied sport psychologists, the globalization of sport and exercise psychology, the advancement in technology and sport psychology-business link.

There is also a new chapter, in the third part of the book, titled  “Diversity and Inclusion” addressing topics related to gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and disability. New contents are introduced in different book part related to popular and emerging areas like grit, mindfulness, organizational sport psychology, and technology in sport psychology.
Modern-day practical examples and anecdotes have been choose to better illustrate the concepts. The references have been updated including more current publications.

The updated web study guide represents an important learning tool supporting the educational journey. It includes more than 100 engaging activities, allowing students to apply the concepts from the text by completing activities for each chapter:

  • Use actual sport and exercise psychology instruments to assess their skills
  • Determine how to respond to real-life scenarios (with short answers or essays)
  • Review research studies and experiments
  • Search the Internet for relevant information
  • Apply and test their understanding of principles and concepts of sport and exercise psychology

Many of the study guide activities are completed by audio and video clips showing how sport psychology consultants interact and talk with athletes and coaches to improve their experiences and competences. These clips have been registered by esteemed experts from the field discussing concepts and situations they have encountered and managed during their careers.

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Recensione libro: Running flow

Published on febbraio 6, 2019 in Allenatori, Corsa, Generale, Libri, Mental coaching e Stress. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , , , .

Running flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Philip Latter and Christine Weinkauff Duranso

Human Kinetics

2017, pp.189

As long distance runner I know very well the difficulties to maintain the focus on my run, refreshing in the same time the kind of mood which represents the positive background where to design the pleasure to run also when I am mentally and physically tired. So I learned that what happens in those is what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has called mental flow, the running flow.

For these reasons, I have been immediately captured by this book, Running flow, written by him with fellow psychologist Christine Weinkauff and running journalist and coach Philip Latter. It’s the first book devoted to this state of mind for runners, to learn how to reach and coach this mind condition and most important how to maintain it during the worst moments. Till some years ago, the flow experiences was studied only in the top level performances and it were described as something which happens spontaneously and difficult to replicate in a voluntary manner. Now we know, that it is something we can train through specific exercises not only to improve our performance but also, and maybe more important, to live more enjoyable experiences through the running.

“Flow refers to an optimal experience during which the mind and body work together while honed on a task. Flow is often associated with peak performance” (p.16). I remember when running 100km Ultramarathon “Il Passatore” I reached the 79°km and in that moment I started to think: “Ok; focus on the light of  your lamp in the road, and run till the end.”  I have had only this unique thought for the next 21km. For me this has been my flow experience. This is what it’s written in the book when the authors talk about the 9 components of flow (clear goals, challenge-skills balance, unambiguous feedback, focused attention, merging of action and awareness, sense of control, loss of self-consciousness, distortion of time and intrinsic motivation). The first four dimensions represent the flow antecedents and the other six the outcomes of the flow process.

In the book, it’s well explained that the flow state it comes out when the athletes live a condition of optimal self-control associated to an efficient arousal level.

Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues describe five ways through which one athlete is able to cultivate one’s self into an autotelic person: set goals with a clear and immediate feedback, become immersed in the particular activity, be focused to what is happening in the here and now, learn to enjoy immediate experience and proportion one’s skills to the challenge at hand.

In my opinion the strength of this book is evidently to be applied to one specific sport (long distance running) but the stories of the athletes and the practical information the runners can find to improve their focus and running with this state of mind are absolutely important.

 

 

 

 

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Recensione libro: Promoting Active Lifestyles in Schools

Published on gennaio 31, 2019 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Libri, Tennis e Tiro a volo. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , , , , .

Promoting Active Lifestyles in Schools

Jo Harris e Lorraine Cale

Human Kinetics 

2018, 128 pagine 

Promuovere l’attività fisica e di conseguenza uno stile di vita attivo è diventato in questi anni un tema sempre più importante di cui parlare, laddove invece sembriamo essere spinti a condurre una vita sempre più sedentaria. Diventa poi essenziale parlare di movimento quando si è in relazione con i bambini e in senso più ampio con i giovani: sappiamo ormai anche troppo bene cosa determina la carenza di attività fisica, dall’aumento probabile di peso a limitazioni nella conoscenza di se stessi e alle interazioni con gli altri coetanei.

Sono contento quando si pubblicano libri dedicati a questo tema, a questo riguardo il libro di Jo Harris e Lorraine Cale, intitolato Promoting active lifestyles in schools, rappresenta uno stimolo per tutti, non solo per gli insegnanti di educazione fisica ma anche per i genitori e i dirigenti scolastici o delle organizzazioni sportive, per chiedersi cosa e come possiamo fare di più e meglio per promuovere nei giovani una mentalità tesa a ricercare il movimento come forma di benessere, divertimento, gioco, collaborazione ma anche di sfida con se stessi e con i propri coetanei.

E’ un libro molto ben articolato che nella prima parte parla di come promuovere uno stile di vita attivo nelle scuole del Regno Unito con attività che promuovano la salute, il movimento e la forma fisica nella fascia di età dell’infanzia e dell’adolescenza. Particolare attenzione è rivolta al ruolo della scuola nel promuovere questo approccio al movimento e viene, inoltre, tratteggiato il contributo che l’educazione fisica fornisce alla promozione del benessere personale.

Le altre due parti del libro sottolineano le modalità di monitoraggio che dovrebbero essere svolte dalla scuola relative alle tre aree della salute, dell’attività fisica e della forma fisica. Inoltre, nella terza parte vengono evidenziati gli apprendimenti dei giovani nell’area della salute che determinano uno stile di vita attivo, e questa volta la variabile studiata corrisponde alle diverse età della giovinezza, passando così in modo interessante per il lettore dalla fascia di età di 5-7 anni via-via per blocchi di due/tre anni sino ai 15-16 anni.

Il libro si rivolge agli insegnanti di scuola ma certamente è una lettura utile per tutti coloro che sono interessati a promuovere uno stile di vita fisicamente attivo fra i giovani.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Recensione libro: Soccer Speed

Published on febbraio 22, 2017 in Allenatori, Calcio e Libri. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , , , .

Soccer Speed

Richard Bate and Ian Jeffreys

2015, pp. 216

Champaign, IL,  Human Kinetics

Why is Speed so important in today’s soccer?

Definitely during its history, soccer has changed in the rules of the game, in sportswear and footwear, in game organisation. But there are other key factors that differentiate modern soccer:

  • Today’s game is quicker; specifically, both ball speed (as it travels from player to player) and players own movements are much faster than they were even just 10 or 15 years ago.
  • Players now regularly cover distances between 9-14 km per game, because they are running faster and moving more often.
  • The game features of today’s attack are the accuracy and speed to pass the ball.
  • The typical characteristic of a player has also evolved into a quicker, more agile and physically sculpted athlete.

So Speed is a vital commodity for players who want to maximize their performance.

In soccer we’re talking about Game speed, in other words the speed requirements for soccer are different compared the practice by track athletes; indeed, the player during the game moves in an open environment in which distance, direction and starting pattern all vary from moment to moment. In addiction, the athlete’s movements need to be linked with game skill requirements. Maximum speed and Acceleration (two important terms related to running speed) are performed to accomplish a soccer-specific task, such as shooting, tackling, dribbling or passing. Players are also required to change direction more than a 1000 times per game, exactly every 6-7s. Those directional movements are closely linked with the high speed actions. So it’s important the development of Agility too. For modern players Speed and Agility are two key components that contribute to the ultimate quality of performance.

Speed is important for decision making of players. The game rarely presents exactly identical situations, especially in free play, so the abilities to think and decide at speed, to act at speed, and to change decision at speed are crucial to “build” an intelligent player.

Development of Speed and Agility starts with young players coaching, remembering the essential of sensitive phases, in other words the “fertility” moments of development of physical abilities. We can start to stimulate the abilities of reaction and movements frequency (Cyclic speed) at 6 years old, even if the peak is between 9-11 years old. The rapidity of isolated movements (No-Cyclic speed) and Acceleration have their sensitive phase during 11-14 years old. After those years Speed and Agility will tend to stabilise and then decrease. So it’s vital to create right training programs that help players to maintain this capacity to high levels, remembering and following the elements of a Game speed program (technical and physical development) and the right Game speed exercise progression.

(di Michele Rosci)

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Recensione libro: One Goal – The mindset of winning soccer teams

Published on novembre 7, 2016 in Allenatori, Calcio, Generale, Giovani, Libri e Stress. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , .

One Goal

The mindset of winning soccer teams

Bill Beswick

Human Kinetics, 2016, p. 222

What I liked more in the book titled “One goal” by Bill Beswick is the great passion and competence that he shows in every chapter. The goal of this book is to describe why/how a psychologist has to be committed in this kind of job. The answer is that there are a lots of things to do, but only if you are passionate. This means that what you read inside, you cannot in any other book concerning performance psychology, because is coming from the application of the expertise and passion to a specific context. The second reason to read this book comes from the several professional examples that Beswick provides in each chapter. This approach is relevant because the young professional has to know that the consultant job with a team needs these skills. It means that our knowledge science-based need to be translated in terms to be useful in the everyday job with the team, the players and the head coach and probably with the team managers too. The book goes around a main focus based on two interrelated concepts: the positive environment supports the fighter mentality. Therefore the team has to share a unifying identity and culture and it must be very well clarified that the positive results come from this homogenous mindset and the viceversa is never true. So the team culture is based on common: effort, enthusiasm, execution and endurance. First the attitude, than any other specific competence (strength or focus or game schema).  At this regard, Beswick say:

“Arguably, the most successful team in international sport, the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team, clean their own locker-room after the game, showing the humility that is common to many great teams.”

Another relevant topic concerns how the coach teach individual and collective responsibility, in the first part of the book there many ideas that a coach can use to work on it, to reach this important goal. In the second part the main topic is presented in the chapter titled “Fostering coachability.” It’s a key attitude to develop a winning career. The players’ progresses depends on their coachability, that is the relatively stable position to be involved in the process of continuous improvement independently from the current skills, performance level and roles. Another important point is related to the players’ personal accountability and I agree with the Beswick’s  Ten key elements of the accountability cycle (goals and standards, reminders, culture, learning environment, accepting justified criticism, regular feedback, thunderbolts, internal challenge, can’t do or won’t do?, accountability without blame). If the team and the coach will respect these rules they will show an higher threshold for alibis, becoming more accountable and successful.  As Michael Jordan said:

“the better players learn to say «I played bad but tomorrow I’ll play better». A lot of younger players are afraid to admit they have bad nights but everybody has bad nights and it’s how you rebound from those bad nights that dictates what kind of player you are going to be.”

The third part of the book is about competition and the key words are competing cohesively, the momentum, pressure, overcoming adversity, repeat success. Also in this section Beswick shows how to apply the psychologist’s professional skills to work with a constructive approach in the most competitiveness situations, because “pressure is nothing more that the shadow of a great opportunity.”

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Recensione libro: Soccer science

Published on ottobre 22, 2016 in Allenatori, Calcio, Generale, Libri, Olimpiadi e Stress. 0 Commenti Tag: , , .

Soccer Science

Tony Strudwick (Editor)

Human Kinetics, 2016, p. 649

http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/soccer-science

The book is very interesting for the reason that it provides to the reader a global and in the same specific vision of what soccer is today, played by 250 million of persons in more than 200 countries. It’s the world’s most popular sport. Goal of the book is to describe how to use the scientific principles to optimize the players’ performance and the preparation. All the chapters are relevant for soccer  but in my review I selected the chapters and the topics that could be more useful for the sport psychologists. The section 2 concerns the talent selection and the player development. In the Mujika and Castagna’s chapter, titled “Practical aspects of player selection and development”,  emerges very clearly that in soccer the relative effect age continues to be a resource to select the players, influencing the drop-out at the age of 12 years and not giving the consideration needed to the role of maturation in the player development. The authors conclude that the talent identification continues to be a critical point in soccer. The following chapter by Unnithan and Iga, titled “Development of the young soccer player”, treats the development of the young soccer players, it’s an updated presentation about the integration among growth, maturation, demands of match and the physiological components concerning the youth soccer players. From the side of sport psychologist also the contribute by Paul Ford, titled “Skill acquisition and learning through practice and other activities”, provides many useful and updated information. He reviews the perceptual-cognitive skills and the decision making processes involved in what in soccer is called “reading the game” and “affecting the game.” These two processes run in parallel and interact together. The chapter presents also the two categories of activities practiced during the training to improve these skills; the drill-type activities (focused on technique and skills) and the game-based activities (containing match-like situations). The author provides also information about the situation where the players use the fast thinking, so called intuition, compared to slow thinking, called reasoning.

In the world are produced each year 85 million balls and one chapter by Andy Garland and Henry Hanson has been published in this book: “Soccer ball dynamics.” Topics like the history of soccer ball development, material, design and construction, social responsibility, ball performances are presented. Other parts of the book regard the soccer biomechanical and physiological aspects and demands, the conditioning programs, the nutritional needs, the environmental  stressor, (altitude, temperature), soccer boots and playing surfaces.

The first chapter devoted to sport psychology is by Geir Jordet, titled “Psychology and elite soccer performance.” He identified 11 key skills showed by the players. They refer to self-determination, motivation, recovery processes and learning from mistakes. A second level of competences regards the players’ interpersonal skills and the ability to be adapted at the new contexts. A third level is composed by different conditions to cope with (adversity, pressure, success). The last emerging factors are the control game dynamics trough the anticipation processes, about what is going to happen in few seconds and the desire to innovatively provide, following the Anders Ericcson’s words, “a unique innovative contribution”. The second chapter of this part by Matt Pain, titled “Mental interventions”, is about the 5Cs mental of toughness regarding the assessment and the development of the following skills: commitment, communication, concentration, control, confidence. It’s the model used by Football Association in England to develop the youth’s psychological competences. The chapter provides case studies based on one-to-one work with players, coaching interventions and team practices to develop this mental approach. Its interest is in numerous practical situations proposed and developed to cope with these five mental skills. The third and last chapter is by Mark Nesti, titled “Performance mind-set.” The author identified four key topics as important for sport psychologists and coaches, they are: anxiety, identity, critical comments and life beyond the training ground. It must be noted that compared to the two contributes these chapter is more based around the authors’ professional experiences with several teams of the English Premier League. Nesti worked more in one-to-one situation with players and coaches than with team, for the concrete limitation to engaging in group works in professional teams. The author said that this approach was useful to meet better and in deep the needs of the players and the type of challenge they had to face. The last two parts of this book are related to the Tactics and strategies (four chapters) and Match performance and analysis (four chapters). It’s a very informative book useful for all are involved in soccer at different levels.

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Book review: Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology – 6th Edition

Published on dicembre 29, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Libri, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis e Tiro a volo. 0 Commenti Tag: , , .

Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology 6th Edition

with Web Study Guide

Daniel Gould and Robert Weinberg

Human Kinetics, 2015, p.649

www.humankinetics.com/FoundationsOfSportAndExercisePsychology

As the leading text in sport and exercise psychology, “Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Sixth Edition With Web Study Guide,” provides a thorough introduction to key concepts in the field. This text is for me the best manual about this topic integrating updated research data and professional tools regarding sport and exercise.

The book is organized in seven-part and key points are highlighted throughout to help readers to learn the main concepts.

Part I – Beginning your journey – Introduces the sport and exercise psychology definition, its history the differences between these two specialties, providing an international perspective of the present and future trends.

Part II – Learning about participants – is devoted to understand the personality studies and its measures, identifying the relation between cognitive strategies and success and the role of the expert in understanding personality. Others two chapters talk about the motivation and the relation between self-regulation (arousal, stress, anxiety) and performance. There is always the focus regarding how to apply these knowledges in professional practice.

Part III – Understanding sport and exercise environments – comprehends two chapters one about competition and cooperation and the other on feedback and motivation. To the PE teachers and coaches provides a lot of useful information theory based about the interpersonal relation with their pupils in the different settings (sport, physical education and exercise).

Part IV – Focusing on group processes – is another section focused to provide theoretical and practical information on  group management, leadership and interpersonal communication

Part V – Improving performance – is probably the section more useful for all the practitioners or motivated to be involved in program of mental coaching. There are five chapter on arousal regulation, imagery, self-confidence, goal setting and concentration. From my side the most important content of this part is the first devoted to explain what, why and who should conduct psychological skills training programs.

Part VI – Enhancing health and well-being – this topic has become increasingly important in the last 20 years and the authors have devoted four chapters, regarding: exercise and psychological well-being, exercise and behavior adherence, athletic injuries and psychology, addictive and unhealthy behaviors, burnout and overtraining.

Part VII – Facilitating psychological growth and development – is a section with different topics such as children and sport, aggression in sport, and character, fair play and good sporting behavior.

It also includes web study with: 21 video demonstrations of sport psychology techniques, 30 interviews with leading experts and 89 interactive activities.

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Recensione libro: Physiology of Sport and Exercise

Published on settembre 4, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Libri, Stress, Tennis e Tiro a volo. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , .

Physiology of Sport and Exercise

(Sixth Edition)

W. Larry Kenney, Jack H. Wilmore & David L. Costill

Human Kinetics, 2015, p.627

www.humankinetics.com

Physiology of Sport and Exercise, Sixth Edition With Web Study Guide, frames research findings in physiology in a reader-friendly format, making this textbook a favorite of instructors and students alike. This resource offers a simple way for students to develop an understanding of the body’s abilities to perform various types and intensities of exercise and sport, to adapt to stressful situations, and to improve its physiological capacities.

I agree with these Publisher words and going back to my job as sport psychologist I believe that each colleague, young or with more years of practice, could significantly enrich his/her professional expertise reading this book. For this reason I believe that its weak side is in the brief space devoted to the relation between the Central nervous system, the Autonomic  nervous system and  the other physiological functions. Concerning this topic to provide a more specific psychophysiological knowledge could be very useful for all working in sport and exercise to fully understand the relation between mind and body.   Globally the book treats the main topic of sport and exercise physiology. It’s divided in seven parts concerning: exercising muscle, cardiovascular and respiratory function, exercise training, environmental influences on performance, optimizing performance in sport, age and sex considerations in sport and exercise, physical activity for health and fitness. For the sport psychologists contains a world of relevant information. The first are related to the main concept that usually are in coach and athlete words, like VO2max, lactate, regulation of carbohydrate metabolism, kcal/min, blood lactate concentration, aerobic exercise, glycogen depletion, peripheral or central fatigue, acute exercise, HRmax and so on. Psychologists have to know the meaning behind these words to stay on the same track with them. Second from part 3 to 7 all these sections aspects of sport and exercise that can have an impact also on the practice of our colleagues. For instance part 6 is totally devoted to the sport and exercise through the different phases of our life. The same it can be said for part 7, here the topic is the prescription of physical exercise to recovery and reduce specific pathology and to improve the wellness in the population. For these reason I recommend this book to my colleagues in sport psychology.

Written by a team of distinguished researchers, all past presidents of the American College of Sports Medicine, this updated sixth edition has been enhanced with new elements to facilitate learning comprehension. The redesigned photos, illustrations, and medical artwork of the fifth edition that clarified difficult concepts and illustrated how the body performs are now complemented by new digital components. Seven animations have been added, bringing the total to 25 and providing a dynamic way to experience course material. The 60 audio clips provide explanations of complex physiological processes to aid students’ understanding of important illustrations in the text, and 29 video clips from leaders in the field discuss recent developments and real-world applications to help students connect theoretical and practical concepts. Corresponding icons throughout the text notify students when digital elements are available to complement the materials.

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Recensione libro: Enhancing Children’s Cognition with Physical Activity

Published on marzo 30, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Libri, Mental coaching, Stress, Tennis e Tiro a volo. 0 Commenti Tag: , .

Enhancing Children’s Cognition with Physical Activity

Phillip D. Tomporowski, Bryan A. McCullick, and Caterina Pesce

Human Kinetics, 2015, p.241

www.HumanKinetics.com

Enhancing Children’s Cognition with Physical Activity represents a very innovative book about the children development. Its real value consists to describe and explain specifically the strict integration between movement, cognitive processes and scholastic performances. It’s my opinion that every school teacher, youth coach and psychologist (not only sport psychologist) have to read it to understand fully the children growth processes. The authors explain that: “the central focus of the book is on methods of teaching physical activity games in ways that promote learning. Our teaching methods and games are firmly rooted in theory and research drawn from many disciplines: child development, neurobiology, psychology, and teacher education. As a result, you can be confident in offering these games to the children entrusted to you.”

The book is organized in a first part representing the theoretical section where all the aspects concerning the mental development and its relation with the movement and performances are described. Therefore in the same time the Authors coniugate research data and games to be played by the children. The second part is centered on translating research into practice to help teachers put into action the material presented in the first part of the book. The challenges involved in developing, implementing, and assessing the effectiveness of physical activity games are discussed. The third part provides games for preschool- and kindergarten-age children between 3 and 6 years of age and for elementary school–age children between 7 and 11 years of age.

In my opinion, the main topics theoretically presented regard the executive functions of the cognitive processess and the data concerning the relation between the participation to physical activity programs and the school performances. The executive functions  concern “the capacity to think before acting, retain and manipulate information, reflect on the possible consequences of specific actions, and self-regulate behavior.” Anticipation, memory and self-regulation are too important and the Authors have been able to illustrate their relevance in a specific way, that I did not find so well explained in other books. Second, since this chapter the teachers will be aware of the relevance to teach not only the movement technical side ma also its cognitive components. Third form the data it seems clear that in the school with more PE minutes the children improve more their school performances.

Last but not least important characteristic of this book is the presentation and explanation of all the games proposed in the following sections and their age distinction.

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Recensione corso online: Marathon Training

Published on gennaio 9, 2015 in Allenatori, Corsa, Generale, Libri e Mental coaching. 0 Commenti Tag: , , , , .

Marathon Training

Randy Accetta and Greg Wenneborg

Human Kinetics

http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/Marathon-Training-eCourse?associate=16042

Course online

Marahon Training is a course online with an e-book including training strategies for novice marathoners and novice, experienced and competitive runners alike. It is organized in seven main chapters describing the key factors for marathon training, how to use three training efforts, and how to design a complete training plan including daily workouts. The readers will also learn how to design a complete 16-week marathon training programme for each of the four general categories of runners using a periodized program.

It is a book useful not only for coaches but also for sport psychologists for  the reason that it describe the mental aspects of the marathon. For instance the autors write: “Training for a marathon requires patience, goal oriented and focused training, and personal and physical sacrifices that are not as necessary in shorter race distances.” The authors show to understand very well the great commitment required to train at least 4 days a week a long period before to be able to run a race.

For this reason they say that “a large part of the romance associated with the distance is the commitment to the task. Training week after week for months on end often becomes a sort of spiritual an therapeutic endeavor for many people.” They are very realistic in the training approach probably because they know that this text is more oriented to provide information to build a marathon program for novices and beginners, and therefore they explain the relevance of: easy running for months, extension of long running and to start fast running only when you run more than 25 miles a week.

They talk about the mixt system “walk and run” and provide a 16 weeks program for the novices who would like to use this system to appoach the long distances. Another aspects they find useful for novices consists to have explained the psychophysiological positive role to practice a conversation pace running.

For the authors, novice runners are individuals who has never run before or they run less than 10-15 miles a week. They are usually excited about learning, they need daily advices not to run too much. One goal for them is to become aware of their body signals. Novice marathoners run more than 25 miles a week, may be they have already run a marathon in 4h30m and they want to break the wall of 4h. For this reason they have a good runner self-confidence but they need a lot of attention by the coach, because they suppose to know how to do. Experienced runners run between 25- 50 miles a week, may be they completed a marathon or may be not. They already followed a program but they need to be convinced to change it to improve. The competitive runners run over 60 miles including a long session each week. They need to start to believe in the new program proposed. They need a coach spending significant time quantity of counseling to move toward a different coaching program.

This are in my opinion the most important themes that a sport psychologist can learn from this course. Obviously the coaches will learn how to build a marathon program for these different kind of runners. Finally, I recommend this book also because it’s full of practical advices for the young coaches or those who are new in this track and field discipline.

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