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Get Your Head in the Game



Lauren Sampson

“Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence”
By Gary Mack and David Casstevens

“What you think affects how you feel and perform. Training your brain is as important as training your body” (7). Athletes know that excelling in their sport doesn’t require them to just be in good physical shape; instead, having a good mind and spirit towards your sport affects the way you perform more than your physical performance. The book “Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence” by Gary Mack and David Casstevens is a great sports psychology book- written to assist athletes build “mental muscle”. Mack is a world renowned sports psychologist who has worked with professional athletes in just about every sport. The book doesn’t just focus on one sport or one athlete- instead, Mack and Casstevens incorporate a different story within each chapter with the purpose to teach the readers over forty different lessons.

Throughout my reading, I appreciated that I didn’t have to have a great deal of knowledge about other sports to be able to understand the stories. One of my favorite short stories to read about was former Cardinals’ starting quarterback Chris Chandler who found himself on the bench after getting beaten out by Steve Beuerlein in the beginning of the 1993 football season. In order for him to continue his career in the NFL, Chandler worked as hard as he could both physically and mentally. Chandler gradually changed his attitude and became the ultimate team player. Although he did not play much over the course of the season, he was able to happily continue playing in the NFL. As a serious athlete myself, this book has been an extremely useful tool to help me develop my craft; the exercises that Mack and Casstevens offered truly work and keep me relaxed before big games.

Some of the valuable lessons preached in Mind Gym include: “Don’t let your fears get in the way of your dreams” (224), “You have to be willing to get worse before you get better” (181) and “don’t try to make something happen, just trust your stuff and let it happen” (183).

The chapter lengths were brief yet highly informative. The authors’ writing styles were more informal with easy to understand sentences. I was able to hear their voices throughout the story- the writing was polished yet relatable. This book was fantastic and captivating to me. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to put it down because there were so many great short stories and lessons. I gained a much better understanding of how one’s mindset can drastically affect athletic performance. I would highly recommend this book to athletes who have the desire to be the best they can be at their sport. I hope you enjoy just as much as I did!

For a great video that gives tips for creating your own “mind gym”:


Brian Johnson. PNTV: Mind Gym by Gary Mack. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPKeq0wPf8Y. Accessed 11 Jan. 2019.

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