Mind Gym

Wow, this has been such a great book to read. Being an elite athlete, I could definitely relate to the book Mind Gym by Gary Mack. It's considered "An athlete's guide to inner excellence." Mind Gym is somewhat of an inspirational and sports pyschology focused book. Gary Mack is a noted sports psychologists that shares lessons and techniques for athletes to build their mental "muscle." It was helpful to have words from such a highly recognized name that gave many experiences from his clients, especially famous athletes. I also really enjoyed how each chapter was short and sweet; it got straight to the point. The book was extremely helpful giving tips concerning mental aspects and was motivational without being too cheesey.
My favorite part of the book was that each chapter began with 2 quotes from 2 famous athletes. One of my favorite quotes was "You have to train your mind like you train your body," from Bruce Jenner (I'm also kind of obsessed with the Kardashians so of course I'll like anything he says). Most of the time, players focus on doing extra work, lifting extra weight, putting in more hours to build their bodies to be the best. Jenner's point helps athletes to realize that you should train your mind just as much. In swimming, my coach always likes to make tough "challenge" sets that are supposed to tear you down physically but build you up mentally. I love those sets. While I'm killing my body, I know I'm still growing stronger and gaining confidence because I am able to say I got through it.
There's another quote that caught my eye by Knute Rockne, and he said, "Build your weaknesses until they become your strengths." This is such a great quote to say to a swimmer, and my coach would agree. He's always stopping us during practice to remind us of the silly errors we all make that affect our swimming so we can correct it. This may include breathing out of a turn, no streamline, breathing too much and so on. The more he reminds us and the more we work on those weaknesses, obviously that better we will be. For me, I have a tough time breathing out of my turn (this means as soon and I flip turn and take another stroke, I breathe right away.) Taking this breath breaks your streamline sooner and can therefore slows you down, so it's best to just hold your breath. One of the goals I have set for myself this season is to work every day to hold my breath for that much longer after each turn until it becomes natural and I'm actually good at it.
I would highly suggest this book to any athlete that wants to grow. Reading this book came at a perfect time for me since swimming has just started again and you always to that extra push to get you motivated for a great season. My coach is pretty pumped I chose to read this as well.