Tag: Stuart Carrington

Decision Making for Sports Officials: Training and Assessment Perspectives by Ian Cunningham and colleagues (Routledge) provides a comprehensive, holistic, and evidence-based account for improving the decision making of sports officials across different sports and levels. Our reviewer is Stuart Carrington, himself a contributor to the literature in the field, and his review is both knowledgeable and enthusiastic; “Anyone interested in the development of this profession should purchase this volume to obtain a better understanding of the challenges faced by officials“.

There are bright and dark aspects of sports and exercise behaviour – passion and addiction. In their new book Passion and Addiction in Sports and Exercise (Routledge), Attila Szabo and Zsolt Demetrovics attempt to explain the significant differences between them. Stuart Carrington appreciates their point of departure, the concept of harmonious versus obsessive passion. From then on, its critical scholarly work throughout the book, and thus beneficial reading. However, the treatment chapter would have gained from greater depth and accuracy.

Managing and Developing Sports Officials: Officiating Excellence, edited by Tom Webb, David J. Hancock, Pamm Phillips & Jacob K. Tingle (Routledge), offers an evidence-based guide to the development, management, and retention of sports officials. Our reviewer is Stuart Carrington, whose 2019 book Blowing the Whistle: The Psychology of Football Refereeing places him well for the job. And he is quite satisfied with this crucial contribution to the literature around sports officials that more than meets its aim.

In Sports Psychology: Concepts and Applications (Routledge), authors S. K. Mangal and Shubhra Mangal analyse the essential aspects of sports psychology by throwing light on issues related to the upkeep of athletes’ mental state and improving their performance in sports activities. Stuart Carrington is our reviewer, and he finds much to recommend this book, not least for undergraduates as an introduction to the field. And it’s not a flaw, he contends, that the authors have sacrificed depth for breadth.

Cognitive behaviour therapy in sport is all the rage, as witnessed by two recent publications from Routledge: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in Sport and Performance: An Applied Practice Guide by Paul McCarthy, Sahen Gupta & Lindsey Burns, and Applying Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic Approaches in Sport edited by Martin J. Turner, Marc V. Jones & Andrew G. Wood. Stuart Carrington’s knowledgeable review guides us through the complexities of the issue.

An effective coach must understand the fundamentals of sport psychology. Fully revised and updated, the third edition of Adam Nicholl’s Psychology in Sports Coaching: Theory and Practice (Routledge) clearly and accessibly introduces the principles and practice of sport psychology in the context of the coaching process. Stuart Carrington likes what he reads, and his review points out a number of quality features that will be appreciated by coaches since they relate to their everyday practical work with athletes.

Back in the 1950s, Albert Ellis developed a therapeutic approach, considered the first cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which he named rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Today, REBT is gaining renewed interest, and Martin Turner’s brand new The Rational Practitioner: The Sport and Performance Psychologist’s Guide To Practicing Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (Routledge) is a sign of that. Our reviewer is Stuart Carrington, and to his mind Turner does an excellent job presenting and explaining REBT.

The Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (JCSP) is intended to be a scholarly refereed journal designed to stimulate thought, promote empirical investigation, and disseminate scientifically informed knowledge related to the comprehensive psychological care and overall well-being of athletes, coaches, and sport organizations.