Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book really is a mixed bag of good ingredients. It has lots of new interviews with true American sports greats talking about their inner thoughts conducted by two degreed psychologists. Lots of first-hand insight and wisdom here. But unfortunately these are not mixed or cooked with much else; resulting not in a fine meal, but rather we are left still with a collection of individual bits and pieces.
It's very surprising that a book on the psychology of champions doesn't mention the work of Abraham Maslow or K. Anders Ericsson, and indeed doesn't cite any other of the considerable scientific body of work in the acquisition of expertise or sports psychology. They state, "Although most sport psychology books from experimental psychology, we have utilized a very different approach called experiential (not experimental) research. This type of research focuses on the actual experiences of human beings as the source of its data and conclusions." OK. But other than a `Focus Edge' catchphrase repeated on and on, the results are pretty thin considering the richness of the ingredients.
The quotations are amazing, really good stuff, but many of them are repeated in different chapters. And sometimes they are different! On page 80 Matt Williams is quoted "Only think about the task at hand. Keep it simple. We tend to overthink. When I am concentrated, things just happen. The speed of the ball appears to slow down." On page 97 it's "Keeping it simple. Thinking only about the task at hand. Things are just happening. Speed of ball appears to slow down." Huh? On page 116 Deion Sanders is quoted, "I want to do what has never been done before. To be creative, to be undone, to show the unseen." But on back on page 20 the quote marks were around "I want to be the best and take things to a new level--to do the undone, to show the unseen, to be creative. I want to do what has never been done before." The repeats and changes are jarring.
So I enjoyed reading the first-hand thoughts, but felt the rest of the `Focus Edge' fill was kinda weak. More science, more background, more history, more insight from the coaches that help create champions -- some or all of these would have been more welcome than the filler 15 pages of `biographical sketches' of the superstars that were already given introductions in the main text. This is not a stand alone book in its subject area, but more a fascinating supplement to other works. It needs more mixing and cooking in other words. I hope you find this review helpful.
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