As a mental performance coach, I’m big on asking my athlete-clients to reflect. After a win. After a loss. After a season. What went well? What didn’t go well? What can they do differently tomorrow? Reflection is a simple, yet critical skill. It fuels self-awareness and the learning required to get better. And if I’m
Mental Performance Coach Reflections: 10 Powerful Lessons Read More »
Becoming a Mental Performance Coach: 3 Lessons From My Worst Slump Why did I swing at that pitch? I should have crushed that ball. How can I fix myself? Those thoughts kept me up at night. Not as a teenager. As a grown man with two kids, a career change in progress, and a neck
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Can You Keep a Secret? Why Mental Performance Coach Confidentiality Matters Have you ever had someone close to you who couldn’t keep a secret? I’d be shocked if you haven’t. What did it feel like when they shared yours? Probably like crap. It did for me. And I’m guessing you trusted that person a little
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I am a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® with a Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology. My mission is to help athletes ages 14 to 22 be themselves when everyone is watching. Learn more about me. I’ve learned that most parents seek out my services when they don’t know how to help their young athlete anymore. Parents
3 Things to Know Before Hiring A Mental Performance Coach for Young Athletes Read More »
Journaling for Athletes: The 5-Minute Habit I Started (and Kept) A new notebook. A couple of good pens. Five questions. That’s how I started a habit on January 1, 2024. Not because I believe in New Year’s resolutions. I don’t. You can start a new habit whenever you’re ready. But the end of a year
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I am currently supporting a freshman high school basketball player who expects to have a significant role on his varsity basketball team this season. We are working on techniques to build sustainable confidence, given the challenges he’s expected to face in a new and highly competitive environment. In one of our recent sessions, we watched
Spotlight Effect: 3 Simple Ways Athletes Can Boost Confidence Read More »
A Mental Performance Coaching Journey. Many years ago, I took my daughter to a local art studio for some daddy-daughter time. I can’t recall exactly when — it was before I went back to school for my master’s degree in sport psychology, before I started my mental performance coaching practice. I’m a kid at heart.
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“Too often, sport psychologists are asked to ‘fix’ struggling athletes.” That line from a 2008 study by Holliday and colleagues sums up a lot of my work as a mental performance coach. It’s also why I believe in offseason mental training. The offseason is the best time for a young athlete to build a stronger
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Mindfulness for Athletes: 3 Proven Steps to Reduce Performance Anxiety Burned out. Rigid. Judging every mistake. That’s the athlete I’ve been working with lately — a college-bound high schooler who’s lost the love of his sport somewhere along the way. His identity got tangled up entirely in being “an athlete.” Not a student. Not a
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Psychological safety in youth sports is one of the most important, and most misunderstood, ingredients of a positive athletic experience. In Episode 53 of The Freshman Foundation® Podcast, my guest Bill Eckstrom and I discussed what this looks like for young athletes, their parents, and their coaches. In this post, I explain what psychological safety
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