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Mind Games: TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 - WINNER Kindle Edition

by Annie Vernon (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 150 ratings
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WINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 – GENERAL OUTSTANDING SPORTS WRITING

'A fascinating book about the psychology of elite sport… Mind Games explores compelling territory.' - Don McRae, the Guardian

'An amazing book that I very much enjoyed.' - Simon Mundie, Don't Tell Me the Score (BBC Podcast)

'...a fascinating book' - Daily Mail

It's well known that to reach the top in elite sport, you need to have spent years honing and perfecting your physical ability. However this is only part of the template required to win – the other half is about mind games.

Throughout her career as one of the world's top athletes, Annie Vernon struggled with existential questions about the purpose of sport in our comfortable, first-world society: Why do we do it? What is it in our psyche that makes us push ourselves to the limit? What allows us to mentally overcome the physical pain?

Now retired from competition, Olympic silver medallist and world champion rower Annie Vernon has decided to look for answers to these questions. Drawing on her personal experiences and interviews with some of the best coaches, athletes and psychologists from across the world of sport – including Lucy Gossage, Katherine Grainger, Matthew Pinsent, Brian Moore, Brian Ching and Dr Steve Peters – Annie discovers the secrets of how athletes train their brains in order to become world beaters.

Annie debunks the myth that elite performers are universally cool, calm and brimming with self-assurance. Through exploring the bits on the inside that nobody can see, Annie instead creates a new understanding of what it takes to be successful in sport and uncovers that, in fact, an elite athlete is not that different from you and me.

It's simply a question of mind games.
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  1. Print length
    289 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Bloomsbury Sport
  5. Publication date
    March 21, 2019
  6. File size
    723 KB
  7. Page Flip
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A tour de force of elite sport, nerves, expectation and pressure from all perspectives.” ―Matthew Pinsent

“There is no better person to shed light on the fascinating subject of sports psychology than two-timed World Champion, Olympian and talented sports journalist, Annie Vernon” ―Chrissie Wellington OBE

“a fascinating book about the psychology of elite sport… Mind Games explores compelling territory. It asks searching questions about the mentality required to succeed at sport's highest level while mining themes of self-doubt, determination, competitiveness and why “talent needs trauma” to blossom.” ―the Guardian

About the Author

Annie Vernon is a former Olympic rower. She was a full-time athlete for eight years and in that time competed in six World Championships and two Olympic Games. She won gold at the 2007 and 2010 World Championships and silver at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Annie retired from elite sport in 2012 and is now a sports journalist and corporate speaker, regularly contributing to BBC Sport, The Times, Guardian, Sunday Times and Rowing & Regatta. She lives in Cornwall.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07LH3F5WC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Sport; 1st edition (March 21, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 21, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 723 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 289 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1472949145
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 150 ratings

About the author

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Annie Vernon

Annie Vernon

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Annie Vernon is an Olympic silver medallist and two-time World Champion rower. She spent eight years as a full-time, Lottery-funded athlete, going to six World Championships and two Olympic Games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012).

Born and bred in Cornwall, Annie went to Downing College, Cambridge which is where she first won selection to row for her country. She retired from elite sport after the London 2012 Olympic Games, and is now an author and speaker.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
150 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, great insights
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book is a insightful, enjoyable, readable tour of the importance of psychology in sport, and in life, with some fascinating interviews and anecdotes from some of the top athletes in the world of sport. As a technology CEO the ideas captured here helped me both reflect on my own psychology and how to drive my performance even higher. Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
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Aaron Miller
3.0 out of 5 stars Few interesting stories. Nothing new and nothing unique.
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
Very little new information. A few interesting anecdotes from Olympic athletes, but I can’t say I learned anything new.
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dorsey lyle mcvicker
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book !
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
Really enjoyed this book. It covered s wide spread of sports. Enjoyed the mental aspect of rowing. Highly recommend to others.
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13
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - full of ‘lightbulb moments’
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2019
I discovered this absolute gem via Simon Mundie’s BBC Don’t Tell me the Score podcast.

The book examines different themes within sports psychology such as confidence, drive, race day performance and the critical ability to learn to ‘turn the key’ and step up to a higher level. I wish I’d read it before I got too old to win stuff (yes, it’s that useful). It’s not written as a ‘how to’ book but the effect is similar - there’s lots to take away.

While it is about sport, the psychological lessons in it do actually apply to regular life. I found myself drawing parallels between what I read and my career in finance. There was lots of ‘lightbulb moments’ which helped me understand why I did stuff (either as a club rower / track athlete or in the office), or why team-mates and colleagues behaved the way they did. Again not a ‘how to’ book, but certainly a lot to take away. You learn a lot about humans from this book!

It’s very well written, brought to life by constant interviews and experiences of a huge cast of world leading athletes. I devoured it in one sitting with lots of coffee.
3 people found this helpful
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peter landrebe
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow ! this is a valuable contribution in the field of sports psychology book.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2019
I coach / facilitate quite a few amateur sport training sessions on pathway programs going from talented to Elite to Mastery ; I read and resource a lot and lot of books, use of videos , podcasts for the relevant material . Most books i get some important message or something i can utilise to make valid points.
But Annie Vernon's Mind Games is my new favourite, written in a manner that concisely gets the important stuff out quickly , with multiple examples from a varied field of expert coaches and athletes. Ease of reading and feedback from players i give the info out to makes it a must read and own if this is your field of interest.
I am constantly using quotes from it and the highlight for me was that it is current, taking all new studies and balancing them with the generic thinking of the tried and trusted.
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Top reviews from other countries

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marcia
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind games
Reviewed in Brazil on February 26, 2020
Verified Purchase
Ótimo livro . Vale a leitura.
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Gaurav
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Games
Reviewed in India on March 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
It all goes in the space between the ears. From coaches to Olympian sportspersons tell stories of how they trained their minds to get to the pinnacle of their sports.
3 people found this helpful
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B. Whitehead
5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic dive into the mental make-up of top-class athletes
Reviewed in Germany on September 1, 2019
Verified Purchase
Despite not being the biggest sports fan, I was able to understand and get some kind of insight into the mental side of the highest level athletes. This book is a great gift for any aspiring athlete on their way towards the top, or getting into their sport - I'm sure it would've helped me back when I was doing sport more competitively!
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Peter Mc
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Games, Annie Vernon - Both Informative, Accessible & Enjoyable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2019
Verified Purchase
I came across this book via a newspaper interview with its author Annie Vernon. As a father to a very promising young athlete going through serious injury & a long-term lay off, long interested in that great unknown (or untrained) of sporting development - the mental aspect, it seemed a perfect fit for my, and his, current moods and interests. Ordered immediately on Amazon, and within days it had (literally) winged it's way thousands of miles to my home.

I wasn't disappointed. From the first few pages it was obvious that here was a book full of fascinating insights into athletes of all fields, and there mental battles, strategies, failures and successes. Yet at the same time, it immediately had me laughing out loud, as Vernon's sense of humour enhanced her insights into, and observations about, this vital field of sporting endeavour - the footnotes themselves had me chuckling on the sofa, and getting some odd looks from my dearly beloved!.

So there you have it, for this book is both highly informative and immensely enjoyable, and I highly recommend it.
5 people found this helpful
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Alister Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars A glimpse into athletes' minds
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2019
Verified Purchase
I didn't know what to expect on this one - whether it was a look by the author at sports psychology as 'why am I like I am?", or a wider look at sports psychology and the makeup of the elite athlete. As one who wasn't good enough to be elite, it was very interesting to look into the minds of many elites across a number of sports, and the conditions for success - if ever an athlete can look into the mirror and think that they are successful.

It was also interesting to get a look into the mind of Annie - one of the toughest people I've ever met. The writing style is enjoyable - the referential and conversational style has one looking to the footnotes with anticipation about what comes next - and the book is a page turner.

Proper Job.
2 people found this helpful
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