True Competition PDF
Author: David Shields, Brenda Bredemeier
$52.95 CAD
Access Duration: 10 Years
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The e-book for True Competition: A Guide to Pursuing Excellence in Sport and Society is available at a reduced price and allows students to highlight and take notes throughout the text. When purchased through the Human Kinetics site, access to the e-book is immediately granted when the order is received.
True Competition: A Guide to Pursuing Excellence in Sport and Society offers a blueprint for maximizing the potential of competition to foster excellence and enjoyment. It provides a novel perspective on competition that challenges traditional beliefs through a research-backed defense that—up until now—has been lacking. With this text, readers will learn the differences between positive and negative competition, and they will discover how to implement change in their organizations, teams, and individual practices.
The authors of this groundbreaking book, who are leading experts in sport psychology, redefine what competition is and should be. Unlike the more typical and often socially destructive form of competition—which they call decompetition—true competition brings out excellence in participants, fosters positive character development, and leads to lasting enjoyment. This socially and psychologically positive perspective on competition challenges Alfie Kohn's No Contest: The Case Against Competition, which has been called the definitive critique of competition. The authors propose that competition itself is not problematic; rather, they question how competition is sometimes envisioned, interpreted, and implemented. They provide suggestions for achieving positive outcomes from competition, including creating challenging yet supportive environments in sport programs and teams, fostering the well-being of athletes, and encouraging athletes to handle various situations.
The research-based text uses a field-guide approach, in which the components of true competition are presented in chapter 3 and then detailed in the following chapters. This approach helps readers understand competition and how it is being used in their own lives. While the book relies heavily on the arena of sports, it also provides many examples of applying this revised understanding of competition in business, education, politics, and other nonsport environments.
To enhance the learning experience, True Competition offers the following features:
-A scholarly analysis of competition is presented in a clear and engaging writing style, making the provocative concepts easily accessible to any reader.
-Engaging sidebars give examples of how true competition has been created in various environments to shorten the implementation curve for readers.
-Q&A sidebars pose practical questions to ponder—just as a parent, coach, or official would—and prepares readers for issues they will confront in the field.
By applying the information presented in this text, students, professionals, and athletes will learn how to maximize the benefits of competition by avoiding decompetition. Not only will they understand how to recognize and respond to positive and negative forms of competition, but they also will gain the tools they need in order to promote true competition in their own worlds.
Instructions for downloading and accessing the e-book will be provided once the order is complete.
Adobe Digital Editions® System Requirements
Windows
-Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, or Windows Vista® (Home Basic 32-bit and Business 64-bit editions supported)
-Intel® Pentium® 500MHz processor
-128MB of RAM
-800x600 monitor resolutionMac
PowerPC
-Mac OS X v10.4.10 or v10.5
-PowerPC® G4 or G5 500MHz processor
-128MB of RAM
Intel®
-Mac OS X v10.4.10 or v10.5
-500MHz processor
-128MB of RAM
Supported browsers and Adobe Flash versions
Windows
-Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Mozilla Firefox 2
-Adobe Flash® Player 7, 8, or 9 (Windows Vista requires Flash 9.0.28 to address a known bug)Mac
-Apple Safari 2.0.4, Mozilla Firefox 2
-Adobe Flash Player 8 or 9
Supported devices
-Sony® Reader PRS-505
Language versions
-English
-French
-German
Foreword by Senator Bill Bradley
Prelude. Compass for the Journey
Chapter 1. The Case Against Competition: Was Kohn Right?
Groundbreaking Anticompetition Research
Kohn's Case Against Competition
Competition's Appeal
Chapter 2. Naming the Imposter: Unmasking Decompetition
Decompetition
The Power of Metaphors
Why Metaphors Matter
Competition and Cooperation
Chapter 3. True Competition: A Field Guide
Motivation
Goals
Opponents
Regulation
Playing and Winning
The Ideal Contest
Field Notes
Interlude. Character and Competition
Chapter 4. Motivation: Pathways to Enjoyment
Two Types of Motivation
The 3 Cs of Intrinsic Movitation
Enjoyment
Finding Enjoyment in True Competition
The Threat of Rewards
Importance of Democratic Leadership
Chapter 5. Goals: Pathways to Excellence
Two Views of Success
Social Comparison
Decompetition in D Minor
The Ultimate Goal of True Competition
Excellence
Excellence and Character
The Threat of Insecurity
Leading for Excellence
Chapter 6. Opponents: Allies and Adversaries
Structure of Competition
Respect
Challenge of the Decompetitive Opponent
Leadership: Cultivating Allies, not Adversaries
Chapter 7. Regulation: Upholding the Spirit of the Game
Decompetition and Rules
Players vs. Officials
The Role of Perceived Injustice
Leading for Responsibility
Chapter 8. Playing and Winning: The Pursuit of Victory
Playing to Win
Values of the Game
Winning and Losing
Pressures and Loyalties
Leaders as Culture Creators
Chapter 9. The Ideal Contest: Embracing the Challenge
The Art of Competition
Threats to Balanced Competition
Guiding Youth Into Competition
Postlude. Reclaiming Competition
“True Competition is a very insightful book that can guide the positive
pursuit of excellence at all ages and stages of life. It is a great
contribution to the performance enhancement field and to humanity.”
Terry Orlick, PhD
“Brilliant! True Competition has once and for all destroyed the popular notion that nice guys (or girls) finish last. In this insightful and practical book, the authors demonstrate how ethics propel excellence. It belongs on every coach's bookshelf. More importantly, it belongs in their hearts and minds.”
Vivian Stringer
Rutgers University Women's Basketball Coach