Dr. Curt Ickes

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫

Dr. Curt Ickes is a bestselling sport psychologist, Professor Emeritus, and author of the 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 series, with nearly 100,000 copies sold. Over a 30-year career in psychology and sport performance, he has worked with baseball and softball players at every level, from youth leagues to the pros. More than 1,000 teams nationwide use his books for mental game training.

Dr. Ickes has dedicated his career to one simple idea: young athletes deserve the same mental training tools the best players in the world use. His books make that possible.

𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

The "𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔" Series:

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥:

𝑾𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝑷𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉! (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 8-12)

𝑷𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝑷𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉! (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 10-14)

𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑾𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑷𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 15+)

𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥:

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑮𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔! (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 8-12)

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑮𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 2! (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 8-12)

𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕 (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 10-14)

𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑾𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑷𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 (𝑨𝒈𝒆𝒔 15+)

𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: This latest series teaches young readers important life lessons like believing in yourself, resilience, and the importance of teamwork.

𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑩𝒂𝒕, 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆

𝑾𝒉𝒐'𝒔 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑?

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬:

𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔: 𝑮𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒅𝒈𝒆 (Ages 12+)

𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇!: 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒇𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆

(co-authored with Gary Christian) (Ages 12+)

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥

Dr. Ickes puts young athletes right in the middle of the action. His books use game-situation stories and relatable characters to teach real mental strategies, the same tools used by elite players. Readers learn how to stay calm under pressure, bounce back from mistakes, and lock in when it matters most, all in language that's easy to understand and use right away.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

These aren't just books to read and put on a shelf. Built-in discussion questions, chapter reviews, and practice-ready drills give players and coaches something they can use every day. Teams that train with these books build a "common language" that helps teammates support each other and gives coaches a simple way to reinforce mental skills during practice and games.

Dr. Ickes believes it's never too early for young athletes to build the mental tools they need to compete with confidence and succeed both on and off the field.