Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

"Mind Gym hits a home run. If you want to build mental

muscle for the major leagues, read this book"

-Ken Griffey Jr., Major League Baseball MVP

Mind Gym, written by Gary Mack and David Casstevens, is a sports psychology book about the mental strength needed to perform your best. Mack uses motivational quotes, thoughts, and shares stories of his career in helping teams and athletes reach their full potential by using their most powerful weapon, the brain. Gary Mack explains how your "mental muscle" is as, if not more important then the physical muscle needed to play like a star. The mental aspects of the game are what is keeping good players from amazing sports careers. Throughout the book, Mack and Casstevens give you tips that will take your game to another level.

One section is in titled "Mind Games". Here, they explain how actions follow your thoughts and images.Tommy Bolt once said, "The mind messes up more shots than the body." This quote along with many others in this book help you realize just how important it is to train your mind like your body. "When a weekend golfer arrives at a water hole what is the second thing he does after fishing an old ball- a water ball- out of his bag?" Mack asks. "Stepping to the tee he tells himself, 'Don't hit it in the water.' If you say 'Don't hit in the water' and you're looking at the water, you have just programmed your mind to send the ball to a watery grave." A little while later Mack states, "Rather than say 'Don't hit it in the water,' try another instruction, like 'Land the ball ten yards to the right of the pin.' You get what your mind sets. The mind works most effectively when you're telling it what to do rather than what not to do."

I couldn't believe that changing your thoughts could ultimately effect the outcome of your game. So I put it to the test. While in one of my volleyball matches, I decided to try this exercise when I was serving. Before I read this book, my serve was inconsistent and I couldn't control the flight of the ball no matter how hard I tried. While standing at the line I would tell myself, "Don't serve it out... Don't serve the libero." But instead I changed my thoughts to, "Serve the seam of 1 and 6." Right in the seam of 1 and 6 is where the ball landed. In order to change my muscle memory, I first had to change my mental one.

Many people who read Mind Gym aren't convinced that all the successful stories are theories

that can work for everybody. But beyond the many stories of success Mack and Casstevens share, they support their theories with evidence and experiments they have conducted. In one experiment, they used three groups of basketball players. The first shot free throws for an hour. The second thought about shooting free throws for an hour. And the third both physically, and mentally practiced shooting free throws for thirty minutes each. The third group outplayed groups one and two every time. This shows that mental training is as important as physical training.

Along with this experiment, I have also tried many of the theories talked about in this book. Every single one I performed, worked. Getting me one step closer to the volleyball career I want someday.

Personally, Mind Gym helped me improve past my physical skill. This book isn't a bunch of unsupported theories that two men threw together. This stuff really works. I absolutely loved reading it and putting their theories to the test! Gary Mack and David Casstevens put together an amazing book that every athlete should read. A