"I've had to struggle a lot"

Linz’s sports director is now turning his mental strength into a book!

Throughout his successful career, Max Hermann often had to contend with mental hurdles; now he’s written a practical guide about it.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Wolfgang Pichler)

During his successful handball career, Max Hermann—who has 61 caps—has been through a lot. But due to his numerous injuries, the current Linz sports director also often had to overcome mental hurdles. To help young talents, the 34-year-old has now become an author and offers tips for building mental strength.

Cold hands, a cluttered mind, the pressure too great. Everything still works in practice, but suddenly nothing goes right in a match. Someone who knows this all too well is Max Hermann. The sports director of HC Linz played in 61 international handball matches for Austria during his career. “Because of my many injuries, I’ve often had to deal with mental challenges myself. I always thought I was mentally strong, but it kept bothering me!”

Available for free on the website
Drawing on the experiences of his successful career, Hermann has spent over a year working on a book (*The Teen Athlete’s Guide to Overcoming Performance Anxiety*), which will be available on Amazon starting Tuesday and can be downloaded for free in advance from his website, mhharlan .

The 150-page book includes a 30-day program and 20 worksheets designed to help young athletes between the ages of 12 and 18 become mentally stronger. “I deliberately wrote the book in English because the market in the U.S., for example, is more receptive. But of course, this book is meant to help not only up-and-coming talents but also established handball players. The tips can also be integrated into everyday professional life,” says the 34-year-old first-time author.

Only his twin brother Alex was in on the secret
For a long time, however, no one knew that Max was writing a book at all; only his twin brother Alex was let in on the secret, and he was enthusiastic from the start. “Alex has always been a role model for me with his ambition and professionalism! So I knew that if he said it made sense, then it would work for me, too.”

“I wish I’d known that when I was 20!”
These are virtues that the book aims to instill in the young talents in Linz, especially since Max wishes he’d had a guidebook to turn to when he was younger. “It would have helped me because there were situations during a game where I thought, ‘It’s tight. Can I pull this off?’ I would have told my younger self: It’s just a moment. Even when something bad happens, there are positive sides! When I was injured—especially toward the end of my career—I knew: Okay, now I have the time to work on my weaknesses while I’m out. That’s what I did, and I really wish I’d known that when I was 20.”