Mental Performance Coaching Articles

A mental coach is a professional who works with athletes to improve their mental game. Learn about what a mental coach does and how you can get started with mental coaching today!

Quick Summary:

• The Problem: You play great in practice but struggle under pressure during games.
• Why It Happens: Practice feels safe — no score, judgment, or external pressure. Games bring pressure, anxiety, and fear of failure that shift your focus from process to outcome.
• The Root Cause: Outcome thinking — worrying about results, what others think, or not making mistakes.
• The Fix: Identify your main distraction (Is it pressure, anxiety, or fear?). Work through it using tools like mental imagery, a pre-game routine, and reframing mistakes. Focus on the process — controllables like effort, attitude, and specific performance cues.
• The Goal: Train your mind to stay present and play freely, so you perform the same in games as you do in practice.

Quick Summary:

• Mental performance coaching helps athletes strengthen their mental game just like physical training.
• A mental performance coach works with athletes to overcome fear, anxiety, self-doubt, and distractions.
• Coaching focuses on developing key mental skills such as positive self-talk, visualization, breathing control, mindfulness, and goal-setting.
• Through structured sessions, athletes gain confidence, focus, resilience, and composure under pressure.
• The goal is to help athletes perform freely, naturally, and consistently—unlocking their full potential in competition.

Do you underperform in competitions? Learn why you underperform during games and learn how you can perform up to your potential during games.

A mental coach will teach you the skills you need to develop a strong mindset. By working with a mental coach, you will learn how to unlock your full athletic potential.

Should you work with a mental coach as an athlete? Learn what you can expect from working with a mental coach and the benefits it will have on your game.

Quick Summary:

• Mental performance coaching helps athletes and performers strengthen their mindset, overcome mental barriers, and build confidence to perform at their best.
• A mental performance coach (MPC) teaches skills like focus, self-talk, visualization, mindfulness, and managing pressure.
• Coaching can be used proactively to develop mental toughness or reactively to recover from struggles such as anxiety, low confidence, or burnout.
• Benefits include improved performance, better coping with competition pressure, faster injury recovery, increased motivation and confidence, and renewed enjoyment in sport.
• The Success Starts Within Coaching Program uses a structured, one-on-one system to assess your mindset, create a personalized plan, and guide you through weekly training calls.

There’s no questioning the need for physical training. But as an athlete, how do you know when it’s time to turn your attention to sport psychology training?

There’s a reason more and more athletes are getting serious about mental coaching…the work has an impact. Not only on your game, but your life as well.

In this article, I’m going to cover what mental coaching is, how mental coaching works, and how you can get started with mental coaching as an athlete.