The Champion's Comeback: How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Re-Ignite

by Jim Afremow

Your ultimate guide to overcoming losses and injuries and achieving greatness—on and off the field.

Leading sports psychologist Jim Afremow, author of The Champion’s Mind , knows what makes good athletes great, especially when they come back to win after facing devastating injuries, tough obstacles, or seemingly insurmountable odds. Making a comeback isn’t just about raw talent or athletic ability—it’s the mental game that counts most.

In The Champion’s Comeback , he offers winning strategies for athletes of any age or skill level to get mentally psyched for competition, quickly rebound after a loss, and overcome injuries (and the fear of re-injury). Afremow explores the psychology of commitment and shows you how to develop the core confidence of repeat champions.

Featuring unique tips and advice, including guided imagery scripts, easy-to-follow mental training exercises, and motivating stories of famous “comeback” athletes, The Champion’s Comeback is the ultimate athlete’s handbook, encouraging you to not only stay in the game but also achieve greatness, no matter what.

Genres: Sports, Psychology, Nonfiction, Leadership, Health, Self Help

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2016

Reviews

[Katie Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked reading "The Champion's Mind" by Dr. Afremow, but I LOVE "The Champion's Comeback." I learned a lot about excellence and resilience from this entertaining read. Definitely a keeper!

[Sho · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Same old clichéd advice. After a point, most of these self-help books recycle the same themes and stories over and over again. A saccharine surface-level read with no real takeaways.

Quick tl:dr; to save you the trouble-
1. never give up.
2. it's all about a positive mindset.
3. your injuries don't define you; the comeback does.

[Florent Diverchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can be the most technical or skilled on the field, that doesn't make you a champion.
To become one, everything starts in the head. It's how you react to bad beats, losses and accidents of life that will make you a Champion.
A great book, whose conclusions can help you understand why some teams/players will never make it, contrary to the predictions.
But also a book whose conclusions can be applied to your own life and professional path, even if you don't do sports.

[Brian Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The segments on mindfulness, owning the moment/presence in the moment, and mental repetitions made the entire book worth reading.

LG 💪🏻

[Jen (The Jenerator) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good tips in this one :)

[Leona · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe this was supposed to be a motivational book to keep us going. I didn't feel motivated at the end; instead, I just felt the mantras "be positive" and "don't give up" were repeated constantly but in different ways. I liked the idea of sharing athlete stories to help us see how they overcome obstacles; I wish there were fewer of those stories, but the stories themselves were delved into more. I felt like we were on the surface of everything for the majority of the text. Lastly, I'm sure this wasn't intentional, but it came across that depression is just a mind-set that we can overcome, not a mental condition.

[Dr NSCA-CPT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading "The Champion's Comeback: How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Re-Ignite" by Jim Afremow will help everyone who reads it develop greater mental toughness, focus and visualization skills. The author does an outstanding job discussing how great athletes and coaches overcame setbacks to become champions. He discusses Michael Jordan, Ben Hogan, Tom Izzo and more. The first chapter is loaded with useful information & chapter six provides an in depth description of Michael Jordan's mindset to winning and becoming a six time NBA Champion.
I highly recommend this book for everyone. Athletes will benefit a tremendous amount, and so will business professionals and anyone else with a clear objective.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that focuses on positive mental attitude! They believe that you should work hard. And that you can find ways to overcome what might seem like insurmountable odds.

I Love the notion that, as I would say, you’re run at competition not away from it. Try, test, modify, improve!

There are the 7 Ls but I put it differently. Learn from the past. Be positive and be with positive people. Love the game. Keep learning more about the game and adapt. Be mentally tough. Work hard. And be super optimistic and believe in come backs, miracles, the impossible can happen.

Have the belief that you need to keep growing and struggling to improve. Always strive to improve!!

Use energy for positive thoughts only.

At time things seem repetitive, but the messages are very good!

[Karina Avila · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an Athletic Trainer, I grabbed this book hoping to understand/find methods to help athletes get through certain blocks. Relating to something as simple as fear/doubt to major injury and return to play. Bits and pieces of the book I highlighted and will definitely like to come back to when dealing with an athlete that has these struggles. I think I was hoping to get more out of the book than I did, but overall a good read.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read for any athlete working on mental preparation

Read The Champion’s Comeback and it is excellent book especially if one is working on mental preparation. One must read the “Champions Mind -How Great Athletes, Think, Train, and Thrive first to get the most out of this book. I would recommend it to any athlete who wants to improve there Mental Aspect as a athlete.

[Tom C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for its purpose. I'm recovering from a pretty significant injury last year (and it's not my first) and this book hit the sweet spot. Just what I was looking for in terms of a strong mental approach and motivational tools for recovery and getting back in the saddle. It's a little clichéd at times, but lots of usable tools here. I'd strongly suggest it, and not just for athletes.

[Luigino Bottega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s practice looking at ourselves from the outside, being aware of our thoughts (meta-awareness). Analyzing what happens in our mind allows us to adjust our behaviour, pointing us in the best direction to obtain the results we want.
Inspiring book!

[Joanie Hymas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping this book would make me feel awesome while doing the three hours of PT I get to do everyday, but I had no such luck. There is just no way to feel awesome while doing your ankle exercises for the umpteenth time. It was still pretty motivating though.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book to help you bounce back from any situation.

[Weronika Forys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone can find some personal truth in this book. Personal guidance to greatness. Highly recommended !

[Rabin Rai · Rating 5 out of 5]

good positive book

[Akshay Gahlaut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough for teen sportspersons

[Paul Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for athletes.

[Ryker Spear · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not my favorite what so ever but, I did like that morale of the story. There is a lot of good and fun things to remember out of this book

[Sammy Samurai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific follow-up to The Champion's Mind. A fun read about excellence and resilience in sports and life.

[Brain Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enthusiastically read Dr. Afremow's new book, "The Champion's Comeback." Several chapters alone are worth the price of the book, such as "Cracking the Comeback Code" (Chapter 1), "Mental Game Bounce Backs" (Chapter 4), and "The Champion's Mental Success Academy" (Chapter 7). Overall, a lot of wisdom and practical tips for being the best version of oneself in the face of adversity. Good for excelling in sports, business and life. Get yourself a copy!

[Kirk Weikart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was somewhat disappointed with the quantity of cliches and sports-speak. A large portion of the book seemed rambling, unorganized and the thoughts of people other than the author. I did enjoy the author's application of criteria set out early in the book (7 L's) to certain historical situations in sports comebacks; I wish there would have been more of that type of structure to the book.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just OK. Not very fast moving and dry at times.

[Kari Mccrory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find Afremow's suggestions for focus and attitude towards setbacks to be helpful in moving forward in recovery or comebacks not just in sport but in work, academics and other endeavors.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it really motivational. The stories presented were insightful, and the author took time to mention looking after yourself physically and mentally. It addresses bounce backs after injuries or serious defeats and older athletes getting back in the game.

I listened to the audio, so I probably could get more out of a traditional read.