The Athlete's Workbook: A Season of Sport and Reflection

The Athlete's Workbook: A Season of Sport and Reflection

This is a workbook for individual athletes or entire teams to help organize and optimize athletic performance....Published in cooperation with the National Writing Project, The Athlete's Workbook provides serious athletes and dedicated coaches with a toolkit for success. Based on the training logs, notebooks, and journals of Olympians and other world-class athletes, The Athlete’s Workbook presents a variety of reflective activities that can ultimately optimize an athlete’s performance. The workbook includes training logs, athletic writing prompts, in-season reflections, competition analyses, injury rehabilitation forms, and note pages. Individual athletes and full teams seeking the next level of performance will benefit from using The Athlete’s Workbook. "Writing in a journal can help clear out negative thoughts and emotions that keep you feeling stuck." -Serena Williams, U.S. Tennis Champion "Athletes should write down anything that they think is important... thoughts about their technique, goals, favorite foods... keep track of their aspirations and their passion." - Mikaela Shiffrin, U.S. Olympic Gold Medal Skier "I enjoy writing in my journal when I'm sitting on the plane. I'm sureI'll go through a couple of pages and write down all the moments and experiences that I've had here in London." -Michael Phelps, U.S. Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer "Writing is a way to process what is buzzing around in my head. When I put my thoughts on paper, I begin to see things more clearly." -Samuel Morse, U.S. Ski Team "Keep a journal... This type of daily 'mental muscle' work will gradually improve your focus in practice and games." -Leif H. Smith and Todd M.Kays, sport psychologists "We write not to say what we know, but to learn, to discover, to know. Writing is thinking, exploring, finding out..." -Donald Murray, writing teacher "Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think ourway into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know--and what we don't know--about whatever we're trying to learn." -William Zinsser, writer The Athlete's Workbook is a practical, hands-on book that is the result of research, conversations, and studies with elite athletes and coaches from the NCAA, professional leagues, US National Teams, high school and middle school programs, and sports academies. My first book on the subject is  Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports . An informative read for coaches, would-be coaches, and serious athletes,  Writing on the Bus  is a how-to and why-to book that can help athletes and teams at all levels and in all sports move to the next level.   The Athlete's Workbook  is the second book in the series. A practical book that provides space for athletes to write up their training and reflect on their performances, this workbook is used during sports seasons or the offseason by entire teams or individual athletes. The Athlete's Workbook  offers athletes lots of choice and may be adapted in many ways.  Checkout WritingAthletes.com website for more information. For coaches, if you'd like to place a discount team order on 10 books or more, contact me on our website ( WritingAthletes.com ). Have fun with the workbook as you improve and learn more about yourself as an athlete. Best of luck! Rich Kent   Thoughts from coaches and athletes about Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals " Team notebooks create a different way for players to learn." -Mike Keller, Head Coach, University of Southern Maine Men's Soccer "I like to have my student-athletes write about their experiences, be it about practice, a game, or even an injury. Writing helps them to analyze their play, thought processes, and feelings. It brings more meaning to what they are experiencing. Writing ... is a reminder of what we all are playing for and working towards." -Coach Nicole Moore, Stetson University "I like free writing... it's a meditation, trying to open up the mind and go for it." -David Chamberlain, Nor/Am SuperTour Cross-Country Ski Champion "Writing provides another avenue for strengthening the player/coach relationship." -Brian Bold, Head Coach, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Soccer "No one likes skiing with a cluttered mind, so put it on paper and free some space." -Carter Robertson, Alpine Ski Racer Praise for The Athlete's Workbook companion book, Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports... "If this book did nothing else other than lay out ... opportunities for reflective writing, it would be a useful guide for coaches. But the book is more than a set of suggested practices; it is filled with examples of Rich Kent and other coaches interacting with their athletes. We get excerpts from the writing of coaches at all levels, and from athletes--high school soccer players to world class skiers. An