Relax and Win

Quick delivery. Good value. Great present for the committed teen athlete.

I "knew" of the importance of relaxation and thought that I actually ran "relaxed" until this book really broke it down. The 1st part, when he transcribes the actually language given to the test subjects, is awesome. I've read a number of books on meditation, tactical breathing, etc... but this one really gave all the details. I particularly like the focus on sprinting with your face and hands loose. The first time I focused on this during my workouts, was during a speed endurance workout (5x200ms w/ 2:45 rest.) I concentrated on relaxing in between runs as I found myself getting tighter after #3. I think it really helped me recover in between the runs. It got my heart rate down and my breathing down. I ran my fastest times. I also find it helpful when I'm in a bad mood, tense or even driving. I relax my eyes, relax my face and relax my upperback. Good stuff. Definitely worth the purchase. The 2nd half of the book gets extremely redundant in its references to performance under pressure. I've found that I've always had anxiety (i.e. butterflies) before competitions. And I've always been a "big meet" performer, so I don't know if I necessarily buy into choking being the endgame from a little stress. I imagine the relaxation techniques would work if you have clinical anxiety or habitually choke during big moments.

Wonderful book with very specific lessons on how to do better in sports

This books has good content, but could be just a pamphlet or 10 page pdf. It also has typos in it.Deserves to make some money on the product, but definitely longer than necessary and poorly edited.

This book is chock full of practical advice: such as, keep your shoulders low, keep your jaw loose, etc. In this way it is unlike most self-help books which are abstract and try to convince you of some new types of philosophy. Unfortunately, a major quibble is that the book has *tons* of typos-- I wish whoever was in charge could have read it once the whole way through and vet out all the careless spelling mistakes.

Too many books over promise and under deliver - not this one. Actual transcripts from relaxation training sessions with fighter pilots...and so much more packed into simple techniques anyone can practice and master. My top speed as a sprinter has increased (I’m 58 years old) - and I don’t dread the expressway commutes in high speed traffic anymore. This book is great gift to humanity.

Even with an initial skim of the book and following the steps for relaxed sleep (after even just a few days of practice), the value of the advice is worth much more than the cost of the book.

I'm loving it...