Sportsmen Under Stress

This study, an import, has a certain clinical interest as freelance writer Patmore explores how pressure attacks participants in such sports as Formula 1 racing, golf, tennis and cricket (although the chapter on Britain's national pastime will be gibberish to most Americans). The book becomes more informative when the author analyzes such phenomena as ""choking''; the lure to the ego of emerging a winner; the stress inherent in having to make split-second decisions; the problem of showing aggression and howor whetherto keep it from evolving into brutality, particularly in violent games like pro football; the role of parents and coaches and the pressure that arises from the desire to please them. Concluding are chapters on attempts to understand and cope with stress on the part of sports medicine researchers and psychologists. Photos. (November)