Sports Mental Performance Coaching
You can train hard, prepare carefully and have the physical ability, but still find yourself overthinking, freezing, holding back or losing confidence when it matters.
Perhaps nerves take over before competition. Maybe one difficult experience has changed the way you approach your sport. You might be struggling with mistakes, comparison, perfectionism or the pressure you place on yourself to perform.
Sports mental performance coaching gives you space to explore what is happening beneath the surface and develop practical tools to help you respond differently.
This is not about forcing yourself to be fearless or trying to think positively all the time. It is about learning how to work with your thoughts, emotions and nervous system, so you can stay more present, trust your ability and reconnect with the enjoyment of your sport.
Build confidence, manage pressure and perform more freely
The mental side of performance can have a powerful impact on how you train, compete and experience your sport.
I help athletes understand the thoughts, emotions and patterns that may be getting in the way of their performance, so they can develop greater self-trust, emotional awareness and confidence under pressure.
WHO IT’S FOR
This coaching could support you if you:
Feel anxious, tense or overwhelmed before training or competition.
Lose confidence after mistakes, setbacks, injury or a difficult experience.
Struggle to perform as well as you do in training.
Overthink your technique, decisions or other people’s opinions.
Put a lot of pressure on yourself to get things right.
Find yourself holding back, avoiding challenges or playing safely.
Want to develop a healthier and more confident relationship with your sport.
Are ready to perform with more freedom, enjoyment and self-trust.
What we can work on
Depending on your goals, our work may include:
Understanding performance anxiety and identifying your triggers.
Building confidence after setbacks or intimidating experiences.
Developing pre-performance routines and grounding techniques.
Managing nerves, self-doubt and unhelpful thought patterns.
Learning how to respond constructively to mistakes.
Improving focus, presence and emotional regulation.
Working with perfectionism, comparison and fear of judgement.
Reconnecting with your values and the reasons you love your sport.
Creating a personalised mental performance plan.
How I work
A personalised approach:
Every athlete’s experience is different, so our work begins by understanding your current challenges, goals and relationship with your sport.
Together, we’ll identify the mental and emotional barriers affecting your performance and explore practical tools to support you before, during and after training or competition.
My approach brings together coaching, psychotherapeutic insight, sports psychology principles and my own experience of working with confidence, anxiety and performance. The aim is not simply to help you perform better, but to help you feel more at home in yourself while you do it.
SPORTS MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACHING
A practical process for confident performance
Understand what’s happening, develop new tools and practise responding differently when it matters.
UNDERSTAND
We’ll explore your current experience, your goals and the situations where you feel most challenged, such as nerves, self-doubt, perfectionism or fear of making mistakes.
Together, we’ll identify the thoughts, feelings and patterns that may be affecting your performance.
REVIEW
We’ll reflect on what you’ve noticed, what has helped and where you may need further support.
Your approach can then be refined so it continues to fit your sport, your goals and your development.
DEVELOP
We’ll create a personalised plan to help you manage pressure, improve focus and build greater self-trust.
This may include practical tools for emotional regulation, confidence, preparation and responding to mistakes.
ONGOING SUPPORT
We can continue with regular check-ins as you develop and encounter new challenges in your sport.
These sessions provide space to reflect, refresh your tools and stay connected to your confidence, focus and longer-term goals.
PRACTISE
You’ll apply these tools in training, competition or other real sporting situations that are relevant to you.
This might include using a pre-performance routine, shifting your attention, working with your breathing or approaching something you have been avoiding.
IN PERSON SUPPORT
Where appropriate, in-person support may also be available at competitions or sporting events, giving you additional guidance before, during or after performance.
This can be discussed as part of your personalised coaching plan.
Help your athletes develop the mental skills to perform with greater confidence.
Are you a coach, club leader or team manager looking to support the mental performance of your athletes? I offer one-off workshops and group coaching sessions focused on confidence, managing performance anxiety, responding to mistakes, staying focused under pressure and building a healthier relationship with sport.
Sessions can be tailored to the needs of your team, club or group and delivered as a practical, engaging addition to your existing training programme.
Support for teams and groups
Recommendation Letter & Athlete Testimonial
Recommendation Letter
James Bell, PhD, is a leading sport psychologist who has worked with Premier League football clubs, the Lawn Tennis Association and ATP Tour players, UK Olympic and Paralympic teams, international rugby and cricket programmes, and an NFL team (the Cleveland Browns).
He also served as UK Sport’s first Head of Mental Health and Head of Culture Development, and now teaches ELVTR’s Sport Psychology course, where he endorsed my work applying evidence-based frameworks to athlete mental performance and resilience.
Athlete TESTIMONIAL
Sofie is a former SUP European bronze medallist who has competed internationally for Sweden.
We worked / are working together on rebuilding her confidence, managing freeze responses, and preparing mentally for the pressures of returning to shortboard competition.
She kindly offered for me to share this as a testimonial. Thanks so much Sofie.
INTERESTED IN WORKING TOGETHER?
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