Dr. Monna Arvinen-Barrow, Associate Professor in the Laboratory for Sport Psychology & Performance Excellence and UWM LSPPE doctoral student Derek Zike are contributors to the newly published Performance Excellence: Stories of Success from the Real World of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Edited by Dr. Michael L. Sachs, Dr. Lauren S. Tashman, and Dr. Selen Razon, Performance Excellence contains over 60 stories of real-world examples aimed to provide lessons on a variety of topics in exercise and sport psychology. The stories are an accessible and engaging way to demonstrate how sport and exercise psychology concepts can be applied outside of the classroom. The book covers a wide range of concepts divided into six distinct chapters, each containing several independent stories: Teams, Pursuit of Goals, Identity and Transitions, Mental Training, Mindset, and Facing and Overcoming Challenges.

Zike and Dr. Arvinen-Barrow contributed to the chapter Identity and Transitions, with a story titled “Leaving Sport with a Spinal Cord Injury”, where Zike recounts his personal experiences following a career-ending ice hockey injury.

Dr. Arvinen-Barrow, along with her daughter Amie Barrow and a colleague Dr. Amanda Visek (George Washington University) also contributed to the chapter Mindset, with a story titled “Pidä hauskaa – have fun!”, which highlights the role of fun in youth sport from a parent, athlete, and sport psychology perspective.

In addition, Dr. Arvinen-Barrow and her colleague Dr. Damien Clement (West Virginia University) also wrote a story on “Coping With Injury: Deep Breathing and Praying” as part of the Facing and Overcoming Challenges chapter.

Performance Excellence was published in February 2020 by Rowman and Littlefield. See more information >