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The Pressure Principle: Handle Stress, Harness Energy, and Perform When It Counts
''If you are struggling with exams, vivers, job interviews, work presentations, with performing in a team or individual sport - or find it difficult to interact in social situations - then this is for you' - Amazon reviewThe book on how to handle pressure from the performance coach to Francesco Molinari and Jonny WilkinsonWhether it's the stress of hitting a deadline at work, passing an exam or an upcoming job interview, pressure is everywhere.So how can we turn this into our advantage?Dr Dave Alred MBE is widely acknowledged as one of the best coaches on the planet. A pioneer in performance psychology, he nurtured Jonny Wilkinson into rugby's most feared kicker, and has helped Premiership footballers, number one golfers and England cricketers deliver on the biggest stage.He believes that dealing with pressure is a skill like any other and in this book he shares his eight ground-breaking principles, distilling his life's work into an accessible and practical book with examples from the world of business, sport and the classroom.From writing down personal affirmations to understanding how to use language more effectively, The Pressure Principle will help you become your best self and stay calm when the heat is on.'Dave Alred is a genius. There is simply no-one around to match him in his field' Jonny Wilkinson CBE'Dave Alred is the coach who helped Jonny Wilkinson keep his cool. We can all learn from him' Matthew Syed, author of bestselling Black Box Thinking
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 8, 2022
"By implementing the Pressure Principle, as you enjoy and celebrate your own success, you’ll discover that there really are no limits at the margins of everything you do. You can rekindle that youthful vigour, that fearless, curious approach to challenges – and you will rekindle it, if you’re prepared to commit. We can all continually improve and enjoy the thrill of getting better.
You can do it. You’ll see..."
Although it got off to a bit of a slow start, I really enjoyed The Pressure Principle. It seemed to pick up steam as it went. If you are involved with, or interested in the application of performance, especially performance under pressure, then this one needs to be on your list.
Author Dave Alred is widely acknowledged as one of the best coaches operating on the planet today.
Dave has helped athletes and businesses alike, to improve themselves far beyond their own personal expectations. His relentless drive and application towards performance and improvement has put him right at the very peak of his field.
Dave Alred:
The book opens with a good intro; Aldred gives a working definition of the term "pressure":
He also states the aim of the book:
Alred has a decent writing style, and the book has excellent formatting. It is broken into chapters, and each chapter; into segmented writing with relevant headers at the top.
The writing in the book follows along this timeline; with a new chapter for every box in this picture:
Aldred covers many performance-related topics in here, including personal affirmations, as well as power-posturing.
To increase one's competence at any given "match" skillset, the player must get into what Aldred calls the "Ugly Zone." This is an unfamiliar zone, where personal growth and competence takes place. By default, it is an area outside of your personal comfort one. As you progress, your comfort zone will grow to encompass the new behaviors that you have learned.
And although adults seem to have trouble being in this zone, children do not. He writes:
Aldred also mentions the importance of physical fitness in any performance field. There is an optimal heart rate to peak performance, which will vary depending on the particular endeavor.
The more fit you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be, and the longer it will take to get your heart rate up to a level detrimental to performance. Sports performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais calls this your "Activation Level."
Performance zone and heart rate :
If your activation/ performance level gets too high, you may experience sensory shutdown to some degree. He says:
***********************
As mentioned at the start of this review, The Pressure Principle was an excellent read.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested.
5 stars, and a spot on my favorites shelf.
You can do it. You’ll see..."
Although it got off to a bit of a slow start, I really enjoyed The Pressure Principle. It seemed to pick up steam as it went. If you are involved with, or interested in the application of performance, especially performance under pressure, then this one needs to be on your list.
Author Dave Alred is widely acknowledged as one of the best coaches operating on the planet today.
Dave has helped athletes and businesses alike, to improve themselves far beyond their own personal expectations. His relentless drive and application towards performance and improvement has put him right at the very peak of his field.
Dave Alred:
The book opens with a good intro; Aldred gives a working definition of the term "pressure":
PRESSURE: The interference with the ability to concentrate on a process, consciously or subconsciously, causing deterioration in technique and decreasing the level of performance.
He also states the aim of the book:
"My hope is that anyone wanting to improve their performance in a pressured environment will be helped by this book. My message is that you are capable of achieving so much more, whoever you are. I don’t have all the answers – I too subscribe to the no-limits mindset and am always learning and keen to improve – but I am about to share the results of my experience as a teacher, a learner and a coach to some of the best in the world in the most pressured environments imaginable."
Alred has a decent writing style, and the book has excellent formatting. It is broken into chapters, and each chapter; into segmented writing with relevant headers at the top.
The writing in the book follows along this timeline; with a new chapter for every box in this picture:
Aldred covers many performance-related topics in here, including personal affirmations, as well as power-posturing.
To increase one's competence at any given "match" skillset, the player must get into what Aldred calls the "Ugly Zone." This is an unfamiliar zone, where personal growth and competence takes place. By default, it is an area outside of your personal comfort one. As you progress, your comfort zone will grow to encompass the new behaviors that you have learned.
And although adults seem to have trouble being in this zone, children do not. He writes:
"The truth is that we can learn a good deal from our youthful approach to challenges. A twenty-nine-year-old man can learn much from a five-year-old in their ability to take on a task with enthusiasm and excitement. Young children get into the ugly zone very easily. They have an instinctive, relentless curiosity and hunger to learn new things and they have none of the fear of failure that inhibits an adult. They love the thrill of learning, and when it gets tough and they fail at it, well, they just try again … and again – attempting to work out what they need to do differently. How much more easily than an adult is a child able to learn to ride a bike, speak a new language or learn to swim?
One would hope that children receive nothing but encouragement from their parents as they try new things, so their self-esteem is high, there is no negative consequence of failure and, once they stop, they’re often mentally exhausted and go to sleep for an hour or so, before waking up and doing it all again with the same enthusiasm and commitment. What a great mindset to bring to learning to perform in a pressure environment!"
Aldred also mentions the importance of physical fitness in any performance field. There is an optimal heart rate to peak performance, which will vary depending on the particular endeavor.
The more fit you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be, and the longer it will take to get your heart rate up to a level detrimental to performance. Sports performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais calls this your "Activation Level."
Performance zone and heart rate :
If your activation/ performance level gets too high, you may experience sensory shutdown to some degree. He says:
"When we’re under pressure, there is a continual tension between the onset of sensory shutdown and effective performance and decision-making.
Some are more relevant to the likes of a fighter pilot than they are to, say, a golfer, while others might be more useful when driving a car than when playing in a football match, but most are universal.
It is our challenge to implement these techniques to help us delay sensory shutdown, which can debilitate us when we need our wits about us most. The greater our awareness, the more we are able to delay its effects, through taking up command posture to manage the physical impact of anxiety; through self-talk if we need it – either in our heads or out loud – to help us focus; through sequencing the less-critical layers of our performance that we often need to keep aware of even under duress; by doing our best to keep a lower heart rate, whether that’s by going beyond match in your preparation, keeping fit through regular exercise or just taking deep, controlled breaths to take on more oxygen and calm us before we take to the match environment.
In this way we can improve our control in the pressured environments we face, rather than having the environment control us. Through managing these facets and practising them we will navigate, communicate and administrate effectively when flying our own plane..."
***********************
As mentioned at the start of this review, The Pressure Principle was an excellent read.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested.
5 stars, and a spot on my favorites shelf.
February 3, 2017
This books is about performance in sport, life and work. It starts with anxiety as a major role in making us feel under pressure. Examples of different sports men and how they deal with it. As the Olympic basketball coach put it " Its not a case of getting rid of the butterflies, its a question of getting them to fly in formation"
This book is a philosophy to your approach to sport. I take part in triathlons and feel anxiety creeping in from the start of the swim. What comes to my mind is I am not going to finish the race. I tell myself to focus on my swim, then suddenly I am out of breath. If you ask anyone that competes for a living they will most probably have felt the same way I described above. You will find the techniques and ideas to deal with this. Every sports person, coach or manager should read this book. It has helped me personally with my swimming.
This book is a philosophy to your approach to sport. I take part in triathlons and feel anxiety creeping in from the start of the swim. What comes to my mind is I am not going to finish the race. I tell myself to focus on my swim, then suddenly I am out of breath. If you ask anyone that competes for a living they will most probably have felt the same way I described above. You will find the techniques and ideas to deal with this. Every sports person, coach or manager should read this book. It has helped me personally with my swimming.
September 8, 2017
I found the authors stories and insights throughout his career fascinating. Obviously a really interesting person who questions everything and breaks life down to the stuff that matters.
His principles are amazing and life changing but I felt like it's been ironically forced to fit modern books of it's type following the norm such as eight ways to improve X. The author and publisher should have found a way to challenge the readers thoughts into a pattern reflective of the author. Original content but the conforming style stopped it being five stars.
His principles are amazing and life changing but I felt like it's been ironically forced to fit modern books of it's type following the norm such as eight ways to improve X. The author and publisher should have found a way to challenge the readers thoughts into a pattern reflective of the author. Original content but the conforming style stopped it being five stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2019
Alred's The Pressure Principle: Handle Stress, Harness Energy, and Perform When It Counts is first and foremost about his career coaching elite sports players and teams and only tangentially about improving the reader's performance in stressful situations at work. Specifically, Alred outlines an eight-part strategy for dealing with clutch situations: (1) how to turn anxiety into the fuel for your best performance; (2) the importance of employing carefully selected language (by coaches and/or self-talk) to bolster confidence and performance; (3) the key difference between simply instructing vs. actually managing learning; (4) the importance of maintaining the implicit-explicit balance so as to KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and best focus on what matters in a pinch; (5) that behavioral change in the form of improvement must be rooted in all elements of preparation (what Alden refers to as repair, training, and match) and not just on game day so that it is ingrained as a rehearsed and refined practice that becomes second nature; (6) that environment is key and training in both match conditions and "dislocated expectations" are essential to thinking clearly and reacting efficiently in the heat of the moment; (7) that paralyzing sensory shutdown can be delayed by a series of strategies that can and should be honed at all stages of training and preparation, which will contribute to better decisions and performance under pressure; and finally (8) that thinking correctly under pressure is the result of focusing on your process--and NEVER the outcome--as a means of distracting yourself from inhibiting or derailing your best performance via the introduction of self-doubt. Each of these eight premises is developed in the book's chapters, and is accompanied by odd little low-tech graphics that I found unappealing and less than intuitive and short box blurbs at the end of each chapter that were outstanding in providing a pithy precis of each chapter's contents.
Overall, the book contains some business examples, but they most assuredly take a backseat to examples drawn from the world of elite football (i.e., soccer), golf, rugby, cricket, and Australian football. Any reader can likely do the math to translate it to his/her own circumstances, but the book will likely be more helpful to anyone looking to overcome performance anxiety in their sporting life. The idiom, slang, and examples are decidedly British, and at times impede the flow of the narrative for the non-British reader. And while the content is more or less universal to all genders, one toss-away reference to the "glass ceiling" in an underdeveloped example from the world of work fell profoundly flat with this reader as it suggested that the author had no personal knowledge of what the "glass ceiling" actually is--let alone the fact that there might well be different strategies employed for breaking it. Instead, he normalized it as something that "just is" and I had a very real problem with that implicit assessment.
In sum, The Pressure Principle . . . contains some solid ideas to ponder, but did not prove to be the epiphany-laden game changer that its back cover suggests. I am glad to have read it, but consider it to be just one tool to have in your box and not the only--or even the best--device upon which to rely in negotiating, let alone thriving, in those pressure-laden situations we frequently encounter.
Overall, the book contains some business examples, but they most assuredly take a backseat to examples drawn from the world of elite football (i.e., soccer), golf, rugby, cricket, and Australian football. Any reader can likely do the math to translate it to his/her own circumstances, but the book will likely be more helpful to anyone looking to overcome performance anxiety in their sporting life. The idiom, slang, and examples are decidedly British, and at times impede the flow of the narrative for the non-British reader. And while the content is more or less universal to all genders, one toss-away reference to the "glass ceiling" in an underdeveloped example from the world of work fell profoundly flat with this reader as it suggested that the author had no personal knowledge of what the "glass ceiling" actually is--let alone the fact that there might well be different strategies employed for breaking it. Instead, he normalized it as something that "just is" and I had a very real problem with that implicit assessment.
In sum, The Pressure Principle . . . contains some solid ideas to ponder, but did not prove to be the epiphany-laden game changer that its back cover suggests. I am glad to have read it, but consider it to be just one tool to have in your box and not the only--or even the best--device upon which to rely in negotiating, let alone thriving, in those pressure-laden situations we frequently encounter.
August 6, 2017
Excellent book to help us address the nerves that invariably we will all face from time to time. I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Alred and his book is just as informative as his live presentations. Read it, and make yourself big!
January 24, 2020
This book is about performing under pressure. Of course, a liberal seasoning of the no limits mindset is required, but it made me see how I can overcome that sick feeling I get when Im stepping out of my comfort zone. The author talks about his work with various sports personalities and how they too had to cope with feelings of stress and pressure. He also hammers home how posture is extremely important as well as communication For me there were too many references to men and men playing sport but I found the story of Englands football penalty failure particularly interesting- basically they’re rubbish because they never practice penalties. A good read for anyone who suffers from butterflies, anxiety, worry or that sick feeling when they do something different.
October 30, 2016
Liked it. It is very good if you are a sports person, looking to improve your game and how you approach it. However, the ideas are not entirely new but are simply phrased differently. I work with high achievers in the corporate world, mainly finance, and it does not quiet fit 'the pressure priniciple' of personalities in that field.
If anyone has any ideas about recent publications in this area I would appreciate a review
If anyone has any ideas about recent publications in this area I would appreciate a review
January 3, 2020
Nervousness, Anxiety and feelings of pressure are natural emotions that shouldn't be avoided but instead should be embraced and learnt to control.
The Pressure Principle is for those who are aspiring competitors or people that seek high performance. Dave Alfred outlines how controlling emotions is what achieves high performance, not removing them.
The Pressure Principle is for those who are aspiring competitors or people that seek high performance. Dave Alfred outlines how controlling emotions is what achieves high performance, not removing them.
Currently reading
February 9, 2017i am interested
December 21, 2023
The basic premise of the book is solid - reduce anxiety and improve performance through adequate preparation and sufficient practice. Not exactly groundbreaking, but accurate.
The rest of the book it poorly written bloat that doesn’t really support the central thesis so much as swaddle it in random sports anecdotes and contrived business scenarios that serve as some kind of weak allegories.
None of the graphs or section headings are particularly useful or memorable, rendering any useful bits of information more difficult to find and hold onto.
Overall, Alred isn’t saying anything new, and he’s certainly not saying it better than many other authors covering the same topic. The whiff of nationalism and misogyny that floats of the pages doesn’t do it any favors either.
If you’re a sports mega fan you’ll probable get more enjoyment out of this book than I did - at least you might find the name-dropping more relevant and less obnoxious anyway. If you’re in any other field, I’d recommend looking elsewhere.
The rest of the book it poorly written bloat that doesn’t really support the central thesis so much as swaddle it in random sports anecdotes and contrived business scenarios that serve as some kind of weak allegories.
None of the graphs or section headings are particularly useful or memorable, rendering any useful bits of information more difficult to find and hold onto.
Overall, Alred isn’t saying anything new, and he’s certainly not saying it better than many other authors covering the same topic. The whiff of nationalism and misogyny that floats of the pages doesn’t do it any favors either.
If you’re a sports mega fan you’ll probable get more enjoyment out of this book than I did - at least you might find the name-dropping more relevant and less obnoxious anyway. If you’re in any other field, I’d recommend looking elsewhere.
November 24, 2018
Knizka to neni spatna, autor ocividne nasbiral za svuj zivot nespocet zkusenosti, jak dostat z cloveka ten nejlepsi vykon, i kdyz je pod neuveritelnym tlakem a stresem, a snazi se ho predat dal, beznym lidem do bezneho zivota. Podle meho se ale nedokazal po letech odpoutat od svoji cilove skupiny - tedy sportovcu, a i kdyz se asi snazil, tak se mu nepovedlo to proste dostatecne zobecnit. Po precteni mam proto silny pocit, ze proste pokud nejsem sportovec, tak tohle neni pro me, i kdyz tam nektere principy jsou ukazane i na beznem zivote - ale je to tezka mensina celeho textu. Takze za me - kniha pro sportovce, ostatni si muzou v dane oblasti sehnat vhodnejsi motivacni knizky.
November 17, 2017
Dave Aldred has clearly had an impressive career, helping the likes of Jonny Wilkinson to handle the one problem we all face, I.e. how we deal with pressure. Dave's background is very much in sport, and a lot of the examples to explain theories and models using sporting examples, this can sometimes be hard to relate to a work environment. If you've read Dweck's Mindset and/or Syed's Black Box Thinking you will notice the connections between their work and Dave's 8 point strategy to manage pressure. An enjoyable read.
March 13, 2019
Picked up in e-book format from the library while trying to figure out their catalogue system, and glad I did!
While this is targeted at high performing sports people and high powered workers, there are tidbits in there for everyone.
The chapter on mantras was particularly useful for me in unblocking my mental wall around the idea of mantras (because I'm used to the cheesy ones of "I am beautiful / worthy" etc - whereas now I'm working on a personal one to build up my confidence around standing up for myself instead and its actually resonating).
While this is targeted at high performing sports people and high powered workers, there are tidbits in there for everyone.
The chapter on mantras was particularly useful for me in unblocking my mental wall around the idea of mantras (because I'm used to the cheesy ones of "I am beautiful / worthy" etc - whereas now I'm working on a personal one to build up my confidence around standing up for myself instead and its actually resonating).
August 19, 2018
Better than expected, The Pressure Principle breaks down the elements of pressure in any situation (anxiety, etc) and helpfully reframes them. Effective training (beyond 'match' conditions), laser focus on process rather than outcome, the power of language... And so much more. Genuinely altered my thinking, highly recommended.
January 27, 2023
The start of this book is fun, however towards the end it gets a little too anecotal for my own liking.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that sometimes it is necessary to explain times where parts of the principle worked, however it would be more of a concise read if it was adjusted. Bear in mind, I read ths book as an esports student at university struggling to adapt to high-level competition.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that sometimes it is necessary to explain times where parts of the principle worked, however it would be more of a concise read if it was adjusted. Bear in mind, I read ths book as an esports student at university struggling to adapt to high-level competition.
June 21, 2019
"Es la convicción de que, cualquiera sea tu nivel, no importa dónde estás ahora, siempre puedes mejorar. Y se trata de empezar con lo que puedes hacer, no con lo que no puedes."
June 21, 2019
Not bad, but there wasn't too much I could take away from this one.
January 31, 2021
Great book with some good methods, nothing groundbreaking though.
August 9, 2021
Superb. One of the best if this type of book I've read. Lots of examples and practical tasks to put into practice. Highly recommended.
November 23, 2022
Way too much talk about sports for me - I felt it was more a book for people to improve their sports performance than to help with managing pressure in general. Did not enjoy
March 15, 2024
it was just what I needed in my life at the moment, first time a self help book has been helpful for me, usually its my least favourite genre.
August 1, 2024
Fascinating and will need another read
January 30, 2020
Quite a decent book, though at times I felt it was a very hard read and sometimes nearly had to forced myself through reading it. Not sure if it was the book or myself that was the problem, will look to read over it again in the near future and give it a proper shot.
August 13, 2023
This book talks too much about sports. Chapters are logically split but felt like it was dragged.
Went through the 'Anxiety' chapter in regular manner. Found it bit boring and skimmed through the rest of the book.
Would have been better if it was crisp and not limited to sports.
Went through the 'Anxiety' chapter in regular manner. Found it bit boring and skimmed through the rest of the book.
Would have been better if it was crisp and not limited to sports.
December 22, 2019
I see this book as a guide to surrender within sports. What the author describes as mental shutdown (so many times personally experienced on the pitch) can be described by another word: resistance. So, accept the facts and the feelings that are saying you are not going to perform and there will be space and serenity to actually perform. What a paradox! There are many other useful details.
June 28, 2016
Because of the varied experience that Dr Dave has it in the sports filed, it's well written for this particular area as you can find a lot of examples related to that and i found a lot of brilliant ideas like how to deal with fear , truing negative statement to positive and more.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews