 |
 |
|
|
| JUMPUSA home |
About Competitive Fire . . . Words have been used to describe it: intensity, burning desire, mental toughness, warrior attitude. Athletes such as Michael Jordan, Nancy Lopez, Roger Clemens, Paula Newby-Fraser, Alan Shearer, and Steffi Graf have demonstrated it. Coaches like Bill Cowher, Pat Summitt, and Dan Gable have tried to teach and inspire it. Now award-winning writer Michael Clarkson explores and explains it in Competitive Fire. "It" is the special inner drive that allows an athlete to thrive in competition. At times it manifests itself in anger, at other times as a great burst of energy or power, and sometimes even as an almost surreal experience commonly called "the zone." This highly readable and thought-provoking book examines this special inner drive and the great athletes who have harnessed, mastered, and unleashed it to maximize their potential. Competitive Fire not only uncovers the mental and emotional essence of sports champions, it also offers valuable insights for aspiring athletes who want to achieve that powerful, winning mindset. Clarkson asserts that there are two common psychological and emotional characteristics of world-class athletes: their need to defend their egos and their controlled anger. He documents many cases in which the channeling of "negative" emotions spurred athletes on to great performances in every arena of sports competition. Throughout this engaging book, Clarkson supports his positions with research, anecdotes, and quotes. He also presents several case studies featuring stars like Michael Jordan and Jack Nicklaus that serve to highlight and confirm key points. Competitive Fire is a refreshing, insightful, and controversial look at one of sport's least understood subjects. The book may be just the spark athletes need to think and perform like champions.
About the Author Michael Clarkson is a sportswriter for the Toronto Star. Over the past decade, he has interviewed, studied, and researched athletes in all types of sports, focusing especially on the motivational techniques of elite athletes. His research and insights into athletes’ behavior and motivations have received substantial worldwide attention and acclaim. As a player and coach, Clarkson has won many amateur championships in basketball and soccer. He has been a newspaper journalist for more than 30 years, winning 11 national and international awards. Clarkson lives in Mississauga, Ontario.
Table of Contents PART I: Fight, Flight, or Fright
PART II: Warring Athletes
PART III: Soaring Athletes
PART IV: Crashing and Burning
Athletes
Words of Praise "Competitive Fire delves into
the subconscious and conscious abilities that are so important to success
in athletics and in life. Many aspects of the mental side of sports are
discussed that usually get left out. This book gives athletes, coaches,
and leaders a great insight into outstanding performance."
"Competitive Fire is a fascinating
read. Its insights into athletes’ upbringings can be valuable to understanding
their motivations and why they act the way they do sometimes. I don’t want
anyone to go through what I did in order to win a race or a game. The research
contained in this book can be helpful to those who want to prevent this
motivation from becoming manic."
|
