Think about your favourite sport. Now ask yourself how much of success in that sport is down to physical skills and how much is down to mental skills?

We all know that physical skills are vital for performance and understand about training them. We know that psychology is important too, but what people actually do to understand and train in it is less well known. Sport Psychology: A Complete Introduction gives you the answers, explaining everything you need to know in one place.

Structured in two parts, theory and application, chapters in part 1 define the idea of personality and cover essential psychological traits, including mental toughness, confidence, motivation, stress and character. Part 2 covers topics such as assessment, working with groups, skills training, coping techniques and working with coaches and teams. You will also find substantial coverage of measurement questionnaires, skills and routes to practice.

As well as learning about how the mind works and how that has an impact on sporting performance, you will discover what sport psychologists actually do to improve a performer's psychological skills and mindset.

Whether you are a student, involved in sport at any level, or simply interested in sport and sport performance, Sport Psychology: A Complete Introduction is your go-to guide.

John Perry is a lecturer in sports coaching and performance at the University of Hull. He has a PhD in psychology and over ten years' experience in lecturing in sport psychology. His main research areas are mental toughness, coping with stress, sportspersonship, and statistical methods.