The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion

If by now you've read a few books that focus on the mental side of sports performance, there is likely nothing new for you in this book. It recommends practicing mindfulness and explains how the human mind works in terms of a professor brains which deals more with facts, truth and logic and the chimp brain which controls the flight/fight response and is irrational. The book covers various topics ranging from body image issues to handling pressure and coping with injury. As expected from the title, the language can be quite irreverent. However, I felt that the swear words with written in tastefully. The four-letter words weren't inserted for the sake of being irreverent but to drive a point home. Overall, I think this book is a great addition to any athlete's sports psychology library. The content isn't anything but is presented in a way that can be digested easily. It includes some written exercises to help an athlete organize themselves. The language, while irreverent, may be a nice format for athletes to more readily dive into various exercises.

I have really enjoyed this book. It has pertinent information that easily can be assimilated into whatever you are trying to overcome. For me, I am a reserve firefighter, and it is just as much a mental game as any tri-athlete pushing through pain and being uncomfortable when the going gets tough. It is hard enough without structural fire turnouts to complete tasks, but then we add 75 lbs and breathe from an SCBA. It's important to have the ability to calm down, slow our breathing and heart rate so we can help ourselves, our crew, and the people who called 911 so we can save them, their home, memories etc. I have benefitted a lot from the mind tricks and triggers that Simon has laid out in this book. One of the quotes that I love that everyone can relate to deals with the embarrassment that comes with not doing well in front of others while training and how that can create a mental block. "It sucks to suck at things. It sucks even more if people are watching you suck. The suck is worse still if other people are doing the exact same activity as you and they are clearly not sucking.....The truth is, most people would prefer to suck at stuff in private." When I read this I said to myself "Doc, you get me!" When you are new at something sometimes you suck at it or systematically you suck somewhere in it. But being able to overcome self doubt so you can push past and overcome is what this whole book is about, and that's why I gave it 5 stars.

A friend of mine posted an online comment about this book that caught my attention so I decided to read it. My friend is a much better athlete than I am and competes in marathons and triathlons throughout the year, so I expected this book to be aimed at elite athletes. I was a little intimidated, but decided to read it, anyway. I'm glad I did. I believe this book can be very helpful to athletes at all levels; not just elites. The authors explain that you are controlled mentally by three parts of your brain that each influence your decisions differently. They call the first your 'chimp brain' which is your limbic system and makes fight or flight decisions to help you react to situations immediately. Next is your professor brain, which is your frontal cortex and waits to gather facts before making decisions. The third is your computer brain, which uses many regions of your brain, including memory, to help determine the best decision. When you try to motivate yourself to get out and train or race, deal with injuries, or when you actually get out to race, your different brains fight each other for control. Your decisions are based on which brain wins. This book goes into detail about how to tell which brain is 'winning' and how to ensure you are making the best decision. From my description, you might think it is best if the computer brain always wins. That's not really always the case, though, and this book explains why. It's a great book for any athlete who ever thinks about what they're doing. As you might expect from the title, this book is full of 'adult language.' That, to me, is its one drawback. Maybe the authors thought the language would make their book more conversive or 'cool.' I just think that was unnecessary and could turn some readers off. That's the only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five.

Not your normal motivational read - and that is a good thing!!! This book will make you feel normal in your own everyday thoughts, athlete or not. It will not only help you be a better athlete, but also a better parent, friend and spouse. Great ideas that are applicable in everyday life. It will keep you interested, and laughing along the way. I even highlighted a few of the chapters for my own 12 year old to help him with skills in sports (and life!). You will read it over and over and it is the perfect book for your nightstand.

A must-read book for any athlete and I would recommend it as general life advice for frankly anyone! The audiobook version is tons of fun to listen to as the authors did a fantastic job reading it! Segments of it I have listened to many times when injured or prepping for an event. Just get it, money well spent!

Pretty good stuff, but I think this was pretty basic. I liked the writing, and liked the perspective provided by a world-class athlete; but overall, I did not find much new for me. I surely think younger (less experienced?) athletes could pick up several nuggets of wisdom here, so if you are eager to find an "edge" or solve a mental/emotional "weakness" in your game, then by all means give this book a read. Mental training, and controlling emotions are a HUGE part of achievement in many areas of life, so I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book-it is a fun and easy read, but it just didn't give me a lot of new information.

Loved the book so much that I signed up to be coached by them for the past year. They have helped me tremendously, and their information laid out in the book is a terrific foundation for those who are always told to "just get out of their own head and everything will be fine". Follow the exercises, make it part of your off season training, and it will help you manage your inner crazy instead of trying to squash and ignore it, which has proven to be an unsuccessful tactic.

I am still reading this book, but am more than halfway through it. I have found the book and the exercises provided by the author(s) to be very beneficial. I have recommended this book to friends who have also found it meaningful. I am a nurse educator; I have used some of the principles and exercises in this book to help nursing students overcome the stress, anxiety, and challenges of nursing school, particularly in their simulation and clinical experiences. So glad I found this book. I heard about it on the podcast, "The Sonya Looney Show", which I also highly recommend!!

The authors cover a lot of topics athletes have to deal with and they do not limit it just to enduring pain, they also deal with other topics like body image, which affect mental health, and getting things done by habit building. They give the scientific background for each of these topics, give metaphors to make it easier to understand and give detailed advise including specific exercises. They also mix in quite a bit of humor. It is not a terribly sophisticated kind of humor, but rather an occasional (sometimes dirty) comment. Other reviewers find this somewhat divisive, some enjoying it, some hating it. Personally, I am fine with the humor and do not think that it reduces the value of the book.

Great book for young aspiring athletes. My young man is an inspiring young footballer that needed that extra bit of mind focus, discipline to keep his drive . Now he's striving to go overseas for a professional contract, while studying hard in his final years of study.

This is a fantastic book, very relatable and well written with plenty of humour throughout which makes it even more interesting and enjoyable to read or listen to (I've done both). I'm very confident it will help me in training and races and I highly recommend it.

This is a must read for any athletes and coach but also for anybody who have to strugle with performance stress/anxiety!

Un libro fondamentale per migliorare se stessi come persone e come sportivo/atleta. Esempi e scrittura facile e scorrevole. Un must da tenere nella propria libreria