Developing Mental Skills

Coaches can help athletes develop the mental skills they need for improving performance, and for dealing with many mental health challenges outside of sport.

Each of these 15 mental skills are explained below, with links to resources at the bottom of this page that might be helpful for coaches who are trying to help their athletes develop mental skills.

Calculating risks
Creating a vision
Dealing with loss
Focusing attention
Identifying distress
Making decisions
Managing anxiety
Parking negative thoughts
Planning for success
Reducing fear of failure
Reframing negative thoughts
Replacing negative thoughts
Setting goals
Thinking positively
Working through adversity

1 – Calculating risks: Taking risks can lead to success. The difficulty is determining if a risk is worth taking or if the cost of taking the risk is too high. Sport can help athletes calculate risks before making decisions.

2 – Creating a vision: Visions put meaning behind goals. The ability to create a vision can be developed through sport.

3 – Dealing with loss: Sport introduces the concept of grief, which is a natural reaction to any loss. The ability to deal with loss can be developed through sport.

4 – Focusing attention: It is critical for athletes to concentrate and focus their attention on completing tasks to be successful. Sport provides opportunities to focus attention.

5 – Identifying distress: When stress becomes distress, performance can suffer. The ability to identify stress and prevent it from becoming distress can be developed through sport.

6 – Making decisions: In many sports, the competitive environment changes quickly. Sport provides opportunities for athletes to problem-solve and make decisions.

7 – Managing anxiety: The ability to manage anxiety, including increasing and decreasing anxiety levels to find the optimal level of anxiety for performance, can be developed through sport.

8 – Parking negative emotions: Negative emotions cause worry. Sport can help athletes develop the ability to compartmentalize negative emotions and deal with them later, which can improve focus and make them more likely to take risks.

9 – Planning for success: Being organized, prioritizing actions and developing a plan to achieve a goal can reduce stress. The ability to plan for success can be developed through sport.

10 – Reducing fear of failure: Having a fear of failure can prevent people from trying things. Sport can help athletes develop the ability to persevere through failure.

11 – Reframing negative thoughts: The ability to reframe negative thoughts so they become part of the process for finding purpose and hope can be developed through sport.

12 – Replacing negative thoughts: Sport can help athletes develop the ability to identify negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts.

13 – Setting goals: Goal setting improves focus and is motivational. The ability to set realistic goals can be developed through sport.

14 – Thinking positively: Being optimistic and focusing on the good in each given situation without taking the situation too lightly can reduce stress. The ability to think positively can be developed through sport.

15 – Working through adversity: Adversity is part of sport, and many athletes can put adversity into perspective. Sport provides athletes with opportunities to develop the ability to work through adversity, which helps build resiliency.

Here are some resources that might be helpful for coaches who are trying to help athletes develop mental skills: