Sport and Exercise Psychology

′Clear definitions of scientific concepts are presented throughout and highlighted together with discussions relating to strengths and limitations. In addition, conflicting research is presented and reflected upon. The learning activities challenge the reader′s way of thinking and problematizing around both method and content. Other valuable educational approaches are case studies, which make the text more interesting and facilitate a deeper learning approach, as well as suggested further reading for students who want more information and depth....To conclude Sport and Exercise Psychology is well worth reading. As a reader you will find the content slightly different from the mainstream sport and exercise psychology literature and with a strong focus on critical reflection....Is especially well suited for the reader that has a genuine interest in understanding the science behind sport and exercise psychology′
Sofia Bunke
Department of Psychology, Lund University
The text is laid out in a very easy-to-follow and logical structure. Nice to see sport and exercise represented fairly equitably. I really liked the definition boxes and case studies/learning activities, all of which are sure to be of use to undergraduate students, particularly those in the first year of their degree programme. -- Andrew Manley * drupal *
Clearly written, informative and easy to read.
The price is also suitable for students to purchase. -- David Mycock * drupal *
The text covers both exercise and sport psychology in distinctive sections which is helpful for undergraduates. The theory is balanced well with situational specific examples. -- Dr Andrew Balsdon * drupal *
Information is concise and contains multiple references for students to obtain/access independently. Chapters/sections within the book correspond with with pertinent/key lectures that you would expect to be contained within any sport and exercise psychology module. Sections of the book could be used by both 2nd and 3rd year students on an undergraduate course. This transferrability across levels is a definite advantage and also enables students to acquire/purchase a text that does not necessarily become redundant after one year of study. -- Dr Carmel Triggs * drupal *
I particularly like the student exercises in the book, as well as figures/diagrams plus practical examples. One limitation is that it covers both exercise and sport psychology - one for each would be warrented. -- Dr Cecilie Thogersen-Ntoumani * drupal *
Strengths of the book include its thematic structure and the use of case studies and learning activities (with suggested answers). Many of the chapters will be of interest to undergraduates. Whilst the layout of the book is generally attractive, I thought the font size could have been slightly larger and greater use could have been made of images/photographs. -- Dr Christopher Spray * drupal *
A huge amount of technical detail from the discipline of sport and exercise psychology is artfully crystalised in this text. -- Dr Costas Karageorghis * drupal *
The book is very good and provides a good overview of the key issues. It is well written and easy to navigate. The only reason I′m not putting it on my reading list is because the material is probably best suited for first/second year students rather than final year or masters level students (which is the level I teach). However, I have used some of the exercises in my third year practical seminars. -- Dr David Fletcher * drupal *
A good introductory text - particularly for Exercise Psychology.
I would recommends that my first and second year degree students use this text as supplementary reading. -- Dr Denise Hill * drupal *
THe sport psych section of the book gives a good overview of some of the key areas of sport psych that we cover on our undergraduate degrees. It is delivered in a fashion that is relatively digestible for our student cohorts. -- Dr Duncan Mascarenhas * drupal *
A very succinct book - containing very good information - well presented and structured throughout. Really like the different points of interest in the book, eg: Learning Activity, etc. -- Dr Fiona Mcconnochie * drupal *
A good, easy to read text that will enable our undergraduates to better understand this important aspect of teaching, learning and the coaching process. -- Dr Graham Smith * drupal *
As with all your sport titles they do a neat job of taking a breadth of information and summarising it . A great introduction to the topics of sport and exercise psychology. Student-friendly text at a great price.I like the fact that it covers both sport and exercise psychology and treats them separately (thus making the book applicable to our Exercise and Health Psychology module too - not running until October 2012). An affordable text for students written for the undergraduate. -- Dr Hazel Brown * drupal *
I like the case sudies and learning activities that are useful to our practical/seminar sessions.
The selection of literature reviewed and/or list of references are unusual to me, but it gives a slighly different perspective, so this book will be a useful additional reading to our undergraduate students. May be our master`s students will be able to use some parts of it. -- Dr Istvan Soos * drupal *
Great introduction to new students, preliminary reading prior to starting in-depth at postgraduate level. -- Dr James Byron-Daniel * drupal *
I think that this book is an excellent resource for students. Firstly, I like the way the book is split into sections such that part is dedicated to exercise psychlogy and part to sport psychology. The book covers some really interesting aspects of the subject, which are not always found in text books. It is, in my opinion, a particularly useful resource for students because it is so easy to read. I like the way the authors have used illustrative case studies throughout but used the same cases to eplore different aspects of the sport/exericse experience. This really helps to consolidate learning. I also like the boxes that highlight key points, and the learning activities at the end of the chapters to test understanding are really useful. Above all though, I think the sections that apply theory to practice are of great value. It′s not always easy for students to make these links and this book does this extremely well. I currently run a sport and exercise psychology course for adult lea -- Dr Jane McKay * drupal *
I did like this book because it is the type of text a student could pick up and grasp the basics of the key areas. It provides a ′whistle-stop tour′ but it is clearly not enough on it′s own as more comprehensive texts are available. I would class this book as a reasonable text for year 1 and 2 undergraduates but year 3 students need to be looking for a bit more depth. The learning activities were well designed to make students think about application. -- Dr Lee Crust * drupal *
Like- good range of material, appropriately covered for initial undergraduate years. Like the use of case study examples to contextualise theory. Dislike- Students report that Learning Matters texts are not immediately engaging due to basic black and white presentation. -- Dr Mandy Gault * drupal *
The material is up to date and the structure of the book with case studies, learning activities and definition is helpful for the reader. From a personal perspective most of my teaching is at MSc level towards which the book is not gated. -- Dr Marc Jones * drupal *
In general, I think it is a good book. The reason i don′t plan to add it to my reading lise as recommended or essential reading is that I cover many topics that are not included in this book. my module is mainly in sport psychology and the topics covered in this book which i use are already covered by other books. however, in general i think the book is good and i liked the learning activities and the information on key concepts in the boxes. -- Dr Maria Kavussanu * drupal *
does not related to any specific course. -- Dr Marilyn Kirshbaum * drupal *
I very much like the additional reading section and in particular the rationale given for the journal articles listed. This is a nice touch and connects the reader more readily to research and how it informs the theory or psychological process just outlined.
Also liked the quality of the learning objectives and learning activities. These were well thought out and detailed.
I would have liked to have seen a dedicated chapter on expertise and/or skill acquisition. I think these are very hot topics right now. Also I dislike the concept of mental toughness and think it should not be in the optimal performance chapter. Overall a very nicely put together book which is ideal as a foundation introductory text to sport and exercis psychology. -- Dr Mark Campbell * drupal *
It is a very well written and structured book that could be a good complementary manual for undergraduates within the “sport programmes” with particular knowledge in psychology. The learning activities made it even more interesting and helpful.\
The book explores and summarizes the principal psychological concepts related to physical activity and sport. In trying to embrace a wide range of contents, it attempts to synthesize the main contributions within each of them for that reason it loses some important details. Some negetives include:some concepts are scratched ′superficially′, some practical cases are very schematic, Some guidelines for psychological assessment / evaluation could enhance the content -- Dr Monem Jemni * drupal *
Very basic text. I may recommend a chapter or two. Somewhat accessible for students-definitely not comprehensive. -- Dr Paul Davis * drupal *
It is a very well-written, concise summary of some of the most important topics in sport and exercise psychology. However, the content covered is spread across a number of the modules my colleagues and I teach. At present, therefore, it would be difficult to suggest it as an essential reading for students to purchase on any specific module. That said, I do believe it could be valuable resource for students to refer to at various points across their entire degree programme so would be a potentially useful text for our library to stock copies of. -- Dr Paul Freeman * drupal *
An easy to follow text on sport and exercise psychology. Clear examples help students make the link from theory to real situations. -- Dr Pete Coffee * drupal *
I liked the structure of the book, particularly the practical focus and use of UK based case studies. The text provides a concise overview of important theory and developments within sport and exercise psychology, whilst providing a critical eye on this theory and its application. While Edinburgh Napier University do not currently have any combined sport and exercise psychology modules, this text would be ideal for such a combined module, particularly at an introduction level. -- Dr Russell Martindale * drupal *
Good balance of topics & activities. -- Dr Ruth Lowry * drupal *
Like the half in half split between exercise and sport. Content just about covers the whole of my undergraduate exercise psychology module at levelt two, thank you! Students will like the learning activity with answers, I think. -- Dr Sandra Leyland * drupal *
Reader friendly; easy to follow material from a student perspective. -- Dr Stephen Cobley * drupal *
A useful text with case studies to highlight key points. The font is rather small and tiresome. -- Dr Tracey Devonport * drupal *
Our undergraduate programme is being validated to sport and exercise science from sports science and the book provides a resource appropriate for all modules as opposed to directing students to a ′sport′ or an ′exercise′ text.
Learning activities are appropriate and well thought out. I can see students engaging in these in sessions. -- Dr Zoe Knowles * drupal *
Like- the suggested tasks and discussion points in each chapter are a very welcome and useful resource. Dislike- the divide between exercise and sport is a limiting factor for our course. -- Gerry Fitzpatrick * drupal *
Equal weighting between sport and exercise science areas - usually exercise is not addressed in as much detail. British authors mean material and examples are directly relevant to our students. -- Kathryn Cook * drupal *
Scope of the book is good with wide ranging topics and useful subsections and learning boxes with case studies and definitions are useful. Nothing I really dislike. -- Katie Dray * drupal *
Part 1 ′Exercise Psychology′ was most relevant and of great interest to me and the modules I teach. -- Lorayne Woodfield * drupal *
I like the coping chapters related to pressure and injury, also the individual and social factors that may affect training - some holistic aspects are considered. Well presented book. -- Melissa Coyle * drupal *
Help distinction between exercise and sport psychology with clear and in depth information and exercise psychology theories. -- Miss Arabella Ashfield * drupal *
Some key theories and issues discussed, again in a good format suited to level three. -- Miss Francesca Bousfield * drupal *
We thought that the balance given to sport and exercise was suited our needs. The other two things we particularly liked were the use of the case studies that built across the chapters and the explanations (if brief) of the methodology related material. -- Mr Adrian Schonfeld * drupal *
Section 1 on Exercise Psychology will be of value to my Physical Education students who are generally more concerned with this area than with purely performance related psychology. -- Mr Charles Birtwisle * drupal *
This book is a good compliment to the other sport/exercise psychology books and I feel suited to year 1 and 2 of an undergraduate degree. It offers some fundamental foundations of relevant theory and sets the scene for much deeper research within the two fields. -- Mr Dominic Cunliffe * drupal *
This text is highly recommended for any student studying key aspects of sports psychology from A-level upwards. There are frequent references to case studies throughout the book to show the application of key theories as well as recommended further reading at the end of each chapter and learner activities with an answers section at the back. The book looks at many relevent issues in modern day society, which is why it is of keen interest to students currently studying this topic. Theories surrounding inactivity and the factors affecting low participation rates are dealt with in detail as well as strategies for "modelling" and changing attitudes and behaviour towards sport and exercise, which is a key area of study for modern day sports psychology students...