Sports psychology is one of the fields of psychology that has been booming in recent years and few people now doubt the importance of mental factors in increasing the potential of athletes and their sporting performance.

More and more teams and athletes are deciding to hire a professional in this field because of the benefits that his work brings both in competition, training or interpersonal relations.

Best Books on Sports Psychology

If you are interested in this sub-discipline of psychology and would like to know more about it, below you can find a list of great manuals and books on sports psychology that will provide you with knowledge and allow you to go deeper into this field of application.

1. Soccer: from head to toe (Fernando Callejo Muñoz and Carlos Rey García)

Football is a sport that is subject to the continual fluctuation of the many physical, technical, tactical and psychological skills that influence a footballer’s behaviour and performance. This book collects the best techniques used from the Sports Psychology in addition to showing us a variety of practical exercises to carry out in planning a season.

It explains the psychological work that can be carried out with football players, both at individual and team level, with the aim of helping them to optimise and enhance their basic psychological skills to achieve high levels of performance, well-being and satisfaction with the sports practice of the sportsman or woman, regardless of the category and level.

Undoubtedly a fundamental book for psychologists, coaches and any agent who deals with footballers.

  • You can find more information about this book by clicking here.

2. Psychology of sports training (José María Buceta)

This book is one of the best to introduce you to sports psychology. José Maria Buceta is the author of several editorial works and director of the Master in Psychology of Physical Activity and Sport of the UNED .

In fact, this text has trained hundreds of sports psychologists. The content is, without a doubt, of great quality, and in its pages it reviews and analyses the bases of sports training psychology, as well as providing many necessary strategies for both coaches and sports psychologists. A great manual, very complete.

  • You can buy it through this link.

3. Football. Mental strength training (Bill Beswick)

With this book, Bill Beswick, a renowned British psychologist who has worked with the English national team and several Premier League teams, aims to make us understand, always from a practical point of view, how the work on the different psychological variables has a great importance in the success of football players and clubs.

Besides being a psychologist, Beswick was also a coach , which has allowed him to narrate, from a broader point of view, how it is possible to achieve the optimal performance of footballers.

  • Buy it here.

4. With Jordan’s strength (Pat Williams and Michael Weinreb)

Michael Jordan is one of the best players of all time in the sport of canasta . Without a doubt, he is an example of how a successful sportsman should be and how it is possible to always maintain the highest level throughout his career.

But, how does one of the best athletes of all times prepare to compete? This text answers this and other questions concerning the winning mentality of this true basketball genius. A book full of vital and personal stories, but with a strong psychological and mental component that will hook you. As the authors of the text say: “Jordan is a true role model. He personifies how one should behave on and off the court.

  • You can get it here.

5. Mental training to optimize sports performance (Steven Ungerleider)

Many psychological variables affect sports performance : emotional management, self-confidence, motivation, level of activation or stress are some examples.

This book presents the necessary ingredients to increase the mental capacities of athletes and to optimize their potential.

  • You can buy it here.

6. Tennis. Mental strength training (Antoni Girod)

This text is similar to the second one in this list, but focused on the racket sport, tennis . Tennis is a sport that requires individualized work with the tennis player, and in which great training in mental work is really necessary, as the conditions during the game can be adverse.

The author, Antoni Girod, does an excellent job with this book, useful for players, coaches and psychologists alike.

  • Buy this manual here.

7. Psychology and sports injuries (José María Buceta)

One of the worst moments in the life of an athlete is to suffer an injury . The psychological aspect, although many do not think so, influences both the prevention and the recovery of this problem. There are few books like this on the market, and, without a doubt, their reading is totally recommended.

  • You can buy it here.

8. Psychological strategies for coaches of young athletes (José María Buceta)

This book is intended for coaches, teachers, managers and parents of young athletes , so that they can know and apply the appropriate psychological strategies for the sports experience of children and adolescents. Sports practitioners at these ages are in a developmental phase and, therefore, need to be treated differently from adults.

This book therefore deals with the values that these sportsmen and women must acquire during their training stage and offers the appropriate methodology to enable them to make good progress towards success. A totally practical text, which contains exercises throughout its chapters.

  • Buy it at this link.

9. Running. Mental strength training (Matt Fitzgerald)

Running has become a very popular sport nowadays . This is a hard sport in which mental work is necessary not only for competition, but also for training.

The right attention in difficult moments that help to keep alive, the right motivation to train or the ability to recover quickly after a failure, are some of the aspects that this work deals with.

  • You can buy it here.

10. Direct or lead? Keys to group cohesion (José Carrascosa)

A work intended for both coaches and sports psychologists . Leading a group is not easy, especially in sports environments, where interpersonal relationships can affect the performance of the team for good or bad.

This book provides the necessary knowledge to create a winning group, where communication and group cohesion positively affect the work of athletes.

11. Neurosciences and Sport (Stefano Tamorri)

This is an extensive book but with a content that cannot be missed, which proposes a different way of doing sports psychology . In its pages it is possible to find topics as interesting as: neurosciences applied to sport, learning, memory, attention and motor skills in training and competition or how to diagnose the illnesses of the athlete.

  • You can buy it at this link.

12. Fundamentals of Sports and Exercise Psychology (Robert S. Weinberg and Daniel Gould)

It is one of the most consulted books in this field, and one of the best manuals to start in this field . The text offers a rigorous presentation of the fundamental concepts of sports psychology and makes a compilation of the most important research that has been produced in recent years.

  • Buy it here.

13. Mindfulness for runners (J. Moisés González Martínez and Montse Rodrigues Fígols)

One of the most innovative works we can find in the market . In fact, there are many athletes who have applied mindfulness training to their sports routine with the aim of improving their performance on the field, for example, Roger Federer. But for some people, this practice is unknown in the world of running.

Mindfulness helps to better manage emotions, improves attention and helps athletes to achieve a state of flow. It also helps runners.

  • You can buy it here.

14. The Mind of the Champion (Ed Martin)

A work that combines themes closely related to sport: self-confidence and performance, and how they are linked to emotion when it comes to moving. It offers simple explanations to describe complex phenomena, and uses pleasant language to do so.

  • If you’re interested, you can buy it here.

15. Leadership and sports coaching (Alejo García-Naaveira Vaamonde and Roberto Ruiz Barquín)

The leader is one of the most important roles in sport, capable of energizing teams and making them work as an efficient performance-oriented system. This book explains the keys to sports coaching used strategically to enhance the effectiveness of leadership.

  • In this link you will find more related information.

16. Leading coach: sports psychology for successful team management (Oriol Mercadé Canals)

A book to understand leadership styles and how sports psychology can be used in team management. Especially recommended for coaches.

  • To read more about it, check this link.