Sport Pressure

As lead presenter for Sky Sports Formula One live coverage, Simon Lazenby is at the centre of Grand Prix race-weekend action. In this book, he takes us off camera to give us exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the people who power this multi-billion-pound sport. Drawing on over a decade's accumulated first-hand knowledge and connections across the paddock, Simon talks to key experts and professionals within the teams and the overall organisation, who each reveal how they operate, how they compete, the skills they've learnt to navigate the challenges they face.

The penalty shootout is the most intense drama in sport. The anxious wait, the building dread, the lonely, heavy-legged walk towards the penalty spot. One kick while the world holds its breath. Even the most casual observers cannot escape the nerve-wracking suspense. What happens to a footballer's brain and body in these heart-pounding moments of pressure? Why do some thrive while others choke? In this ground-breaking book, sport psychology Professor Geir Jordet dissects each agonising element of the shootout's duel and the universal human stress mechanisms that it triggers and illuminates.

Allen's grandpa has never missed a baseball game until tonight. While Allen plays his most important game ever, Grandpa fights for his life at the hospital. Allen wants to win the game for his grandpa, but he's facing his biggest challenge, Hank "The Tank" Steele.

Kayla is the best gymnast on her team. When she misses her vault at an important gymnastics meet, no one sees her mistake - except her best friend, Chandra. When Chandra pressures her to tell the truth, Kayla must decide if keeping her trophy is worth losing her friend.

Myomi Ford has been unlucky in love since she experienced her first crush. Although in a new relationship, she has an unsettling feeling that her current man Xion is just like the others. But without proof, she is left wondering, suspecting, and predicting, which has naturally caused a rift in her relationship. All the beauty has ever wished for was for someone to be about her and love her as deeply as she loved them. At the moment, however, that seems impossible to find.

What’s it really like to wear the pinstripes? This riveting account from New York Post writer Michael Morrissey takes listeners inside the clubhouse of the 2006 New York Yankees and reveals what really goes on behind the hype, the media glare, and the roar of the fans surrounding the most fabled organization in the world of professional sports. The New York Yankees began the 2006 season with baseball’s highest payroll and sky-high expectations - and more challenges than other any Yankee team in history.

When high school senior Jonas moves to Seattle, he is glad to meet Levi, a nice, soft-spoken guy and fellow basketball player. Suspense builds like a slow drumbeat as listeners start to smell a rat in Ryan Hartwell, a charismatic basketball coach and sexual predator. When Levi reluctantly tells Jonas that Hartwell abused him, Jonas has to decide whether he should risk his future career to report the coach.

Elise comes from a long line of college athletes. More than anything else, she wants to wear the University of North Carolina uniform and play for the college where her parents went. It's a lot of pressure, but if she works hard, she just might make it. At least that's what Elise thinks before she notices that some of her teammates are outplaying her. And a UNC scout is visiting in a few weeks. That's where the pills come in.