Peak Performance

by Charles A. Garfield

A leading sports psychologist and a veteran sports writer examine the new mental training techniques of Russian and Eastern European athletes and detail exercises that allow everyone to benefit from those techniques

Genres: Psychology, Business, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Self Help, Leadership, Productivity

219 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1984

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I have taught peak performance, this book has been foundational in my attempt to help individuals reach their goals. The primary reason is the experience that Dr. Garfield had working with world class athletes. A graph in this book was the most profound example I have ever seen regarding the power of mental exercise. The graph showed "The difference in results of four matched groups of world-class Soviet athletes who diligently trained for the 1980 Olympics. Group 1 did 100% physical training, group 2 did 75% physical and 25% mental, group 3 did 50% mental and 50% physical, and group 4 did 25% physical and 75% mental training. When compared shortly before the Olympics, group 4 had shown significantly more improvement than group 3, with groups 2 and 1 following in that order."
So one lesson that readers will learn from this book is how to begin to train your mind to reach your goals, whatever they may be. And a second key learning from this book is the power of creating a mission statement as a way of creating focus around the choice of one's goals. Garfield writes, "Write down and live your mission statement by developing what peak performers call a sense of mission, a passionate belief in a personal philosophy that establishes the basis for setting goals. By doing this you can control your own energies and generate that special drive essential for personal satisfaction/success."
I strongly recommend, if you find this description of the importance of a mission statement compelling, that you not only purchase this book but consider purchasing Stephen Covey's bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Covey also speaks to the importance of creating a mission statement as he describes his second habit, Begin with the End in Mind. He writes, " The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focuses on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
Bottom line, Garfield's and Covey's books are two of the most effective books I know when a person is looking to excel at reaching their goals.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Warning: long]

Extremely helpful work on mental training techniques, relaxation techniques, techniques for improving volition and other critical tools for athletics, but also for any kind of real-world achievement. The author draws from a wide range of sources: Abraham Maslow, Bulgarian psychiatrist Geor...[see the rest on my book review site.]

[Tyson Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in high school as part of my learning to be at my peak for wrestling competitions (late '90's. This book got me pumped and by applying the techniques, I learned to preview success before it happened. A few times, the matches turned out exactly as I'd visualized them. Kinda' creepy, but powerful.

The principles and techniques in this book gave me calm, quiet, exciting power. Amazing.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another self-help book - while it doesn't offer anything new, it's a short, nice overview of much that has been said with more words at other places. In some cases this means a pleasant pragmatism, in others like Pressfield's "War of Art" or Viktor Frankl it loses much of the original magic. I bought it cheap on Audible and it was a good and motivating reminder about some ideas. For everyone who doesn't need more than that it's good - especially as a pep talk to listen to.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to everyone. I believe that everyone can achieve if they are willing to. This book changed my perspective on life and how to become successful in anything. It’s a really good book to read and this is probably one of my favorite books so far. This book isn’t just for athletes, it’s for everyone.

[Stas Lebedenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights.

[Bill Kidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a lot of this information doesn't seem new, I really liked the author's examples.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love or enjoy this book very much, but I found lots of the information it contains useful, as it provides an in-depth, organized mental training program. While I didn’t love it, I believe this read is necessary for coaches and professional athletes, looking to achieve maximum potential. It contains quotes of the great athletes of the time (1984), and uses their thoughts and previous experiences to create a researched mental training program. Also this book is useful for entrepreneurs and business owners, as it changes the way one thinks, not just in sports, in all aspects of life, especially in business. The author focuses his research on the mental part of training, something that is usually neglected, rather than physical training, the one most athletes and coaches tend to focus on. I think this book was very well organized because it provides a step-by-step, detailed program to improve mental toughness. One of the reasons I didn’t like the book is that it was repetitive at times. It felt like the author would constantly repeat ideas and go on and on about unneeded information. Also, the book is certainly outdated, as it was written in 1984, so they’re are probably other books out there that are a better use of time and that provide more modern training tecniques. One of the things I did like was the way the chapters were organized. It allows the reader to flip to the program instructions and skip over the description and benefits of the program. Overall, I wouldn’t read this book unless I was a serious, dedicated athlete or coach, I didn’t love or enjoy this book very much, but I found lots of the information it contains useful, as it provides an in-depth, organized mental training program. While I didn’t love it, I believe this read is necessary for coaches and professional athletes, looking to achieve maximum potential. It contains quotes of the great athletes of the time (1984), and uses their thoughts and previous experiences to create a researched mental training program. Also this book is useful for entrepreneurs and business owners, as it changes the way one thinks, not just in sports, in all aspects of life, especially in business. The author focuses his research on the mental part of training, something that is usually neglected, rather than physical training, the one most athletes and coaches tend to focus on. I think this book was very well organized because it provides a step-by-step, detailed program to improve mental toughness. One of the reasons I didn’t like the book is that it was repetitive at times. It felt like the author would constantly repeat ideas and go on and on about unneeded information. Also, the book is certainly outdated, as it was written in 1984, so they’re are probably other books out there that are a better use of time and that provide more modern training tecniques. One of the things I did like was the way the chapters were organized. It allows the reader to flip to the program instructions and skip over the description and benefits of the program. Overall, I wouldn’t read this book unless I was a serious, dedicated athlete or coach, looking to dedicate hours of time just to improve my or my athlete’s performance by small amounts.

[Colin Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

Peak Performance, Mental Training Techniques of the World’s Greatest Athletes is an educational book, composed of various mental exercises to improve all aspects of the reader's athletic performance. To the target audience, select exercises may be practical and beneficial. With that said, a majority of the exercises are repetitive, quite outdated, and rather unnecessary. The inconsistency of valid exercises is my main reason for rating this book 2.5 stars.
While these exercises' effectiveness was very inconsistent, I did point out a select few that I found beneficial. I found the “Evaluating Your Volition” exercise to be the most useful and effective exercise in “The Peak Performance Training Program”. In this 15-minute exercise, the user characterizes different athletic and nonathletic experiences based off of their volitional impact for the reader in order to construct the most effective training program for each athlete. I found this exercise to be interesting and useful for the future of my workouts.
Overall, this book can certainly be beneficial for the select target audience. The author includes a few valid exercises that can be used effectively to benefit the reader’s performance. With that said, the valid examples were very few and far between. The majority of these exercises were repetitive, outdated, and unnecessary. In addition, The target audience is very specific, therefore this book will not benefit all of its readers. In conclusion, the negative simply outweighs the positive of this book, for that reason, my personal rating is 2.5 stars.

[STEVEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

LIBRO #7
FECHA: ABRIL DEL 2024

TÍTULO: " RENDIMENTO MÁXIMO "
AUTOR: CHARLES A. GARFIELD
DESCRIPCIÓN: Este es uno de los libros más explicativos sobre la psicología del deporte. Por ello, no se adaptó bien a mi gusto (ya que es extenso en conceptos), creo que podia ser un poco más consiso en sus ideas.

Sin embargo brinda técnicas muy útiles que podemos aplicar para un máximo rendimiento deportivo y también consejos prácticos de como se puede implementar en la vida diaria, ya que el rendimiento máximo no es solo en los deportes, sino también un estilo de vida.


Explica reacciones fisiológicas por el miedo, técnicas de relajación, visualización, encontrar motivación, como entrar en el estado de flow en el deporte, etc.
CALIFICACIÓN: 7/10

#C
#PSICOLOGÍADEPORTIVA
#AUTOAYUDA
#MINDSET
#DEPORTE

[Richard Lehingrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s too good to tell my competitors about. *****

[Syril Galindo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago and have constantly applied the mental training techniques learned, practiced, and achieved great success! As I am now reinvigorating my athletics pursuits for Ultra-distance cycling, I will review the specific techniques of visualization, autonomic nervous system training, goal setting, and letting go! Do not mark it as want to read, read it today if you are an aspiring athlete and see yourself achieve PRs and beyond! www.itsfitness.ca

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my life as a young athlete and artist in the early-eighties.