Book Review: How Bad Do You Want It?

Highly recommended read for any athlete.

I've read a few books by Matt Fitzgerald recently and he has become one of my favorite sports performance authors. In this book he dives deep into the world of sports psychology, pulling several personal stories from top athletes and how they overcame adversity. The interesting part is that none of the strategies included training harder or longer (in fact there were instances of training LESS). They all stemmed from how the athlete's mindset changed, and how this can have just as big of an impact on performance as physical abilities.

The author gives examples of how excess pressure and self-consciousness can cripple even a seasoned athlete's performance. How personality traits can allow athletes to push themselves further. How the placebo effect can influence effort and perception.

He gives examples including when test subjects were given water with an "extra hydrogen" (which doesn't exist) it improved performance when researchers said it would. Or how lying to an athlete and telling them they are doing better than before actually MAKES them do better than before.

The amazing stories and studies presented by Fitzgerald have me reevaluating how I prescribe training as a coach and to myself as an athlete. I will go forward after reading this book with much more respect for the athlete's mentality and mood on a daily basis, and how my athletes and I prepare mentally for individual workouts and races.

I would love to go into all of the stories Fitzgerald tells but it would be easier to just recommend you read it for yourself. Especially if you're an athlete looking to get more out of your physical abilities.