What sport tells us about real life by Ed Smith

[Harps 21]

Just wondering has anyone else read this recently-released book?  Just finished it myself and thought it was a fascinating work, cutting through a lot of the shite associated both with sports psychology and traditional training techniques, and furthermore demolishes clichés such as "you can be anything you want to be if you really want it enough" and "we train hard because training hard always works" etc. - one chapter in particular explores the domain of luck and its role in the rise and fall of all sporting careers, from the lowest Sunday League pub team to Premiership footballers and top soccer rugby and cricket clubs.  He doesn't say that the emphasis nowadays on making sacrifices and taking roads less travelled is mere fallacy, but rather in doing so, we are merely buying no more than what he describes as "a lottery ticket for a deserving slice of the prize."  There's a lot more to the book, but it made very intelligent reading, and I would recommend it to any players or coaches out there.  Anyone else had a read of this? 

[Aristotle Flynn]

A very interesting book. A lot of the focus is on Cricket because that's the authors game but worth a read for anyone involved in sport. Certainly thought provoking. I'd give it 8/10.

[Harps 21]

Granted he may refer back to cricket a lot of the time, but personally I found that no problem as I've always held a great interest and intrigue for cricket, and it can't be denied that it is a sport that when played at the top level demands a level of mental toughness superior to most sports.  Regardless, Smith's principles are applicable to any sport, and GAA fans shouldn't let the fact that Smith comes from a cricketing background dissuade them from giving this book a try.  Certainly I learnt a lot more from it than I did reading countless autobigraphies such as Paidi O'Sé's...

[magickingdom]

Granted he may refer back to cricket a lot of the time, but personally I found that no problem as I've always held a great interest and intrigue for cricket, and it can't be denied that it is a sport that when played at the top level demands a level of mental toughness superior to most sports.  Regardless, Smith's principles are applicable to any sport, and GAA fans shouldn't let the fact that Smith comes from a cricketing background dissuade them from giving this book a try.  Certainly I learnt a lot more from it than I did reading countless autobigraphies such as Paidi O'Sé's...

did you actually think at any stage you'd learn anything from that? never heard of ed smiths book but i'm going to get it now..