ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to bridge the gap between research and practice. It addresses fundamental psychological factors which play a crucial role in sport performance: personality, motivation, cognition, and emotion. The book deals with coaching essentials in football and provides an overview of psychological skills for performance development, and focuses on developing young players in football. It explores the importance of considering positive aspects of mood and its interaction with motivational aspects. The book identifies some of the behaviours and situations in football associated with being ‘mentally tough’. It also deals with the subject of consistent psycho-social development of young footballers. The book also focuses on athlete leadership in football. Leadership and team dynamics are the cornerstones to helping athletes achieve individual and team success.