Are you tired of fear holding you back from reaching your athletic goals? Discover how to overcome the fear of failure and unleash your true potential in our latest blog. Learn why fear hinders your performance, how to embrace challenges, and why seeking guidance is key to your success. Don't let fear dictate your destiny – take the first step toward greatness today. Read the full blog now!

Is Your Athlete Struggling Mentally?

As a parent, you sense when something's off with your athlete—dips in performance, timid plays, or overwhelming pre-game nerves. But what if the issue isn't just physical? Dive into our latest blog to uncover the signs of mental blocks in athletes, understand their root causes, and discover actionable ways to support your child's mental game. Don't let mental hurdles sideline your athlete; empower them to perform at their best with insights from Pina Performance Coaching.

Read the Full Blog to Unlock Peak Performance for Your Athlete!

Discover how technology is revolutionizing the world of sports! From advanced tracking tools to performance metrics, athletes are harnessing the power of tech to achieve peak performance. But is it always a game-changer?

Dive into our blog to explore the pros and cons of integrating technology into your training regimen. Find out how personalized insights can propel you toward success.

So often athletes excel in practice but falter during games. They feel frustrated and wonder how to bridge this gap. Extra practice isn't the solution; the problem lies in their mindset.

In this blog, we delve into this common mental block that athletes face and how mental skills training can overcome them. I walk you through the exact process I take my clients through to ensure that their performance on game day matches what they bring to practice.

Ready to transform your game? Dive into this blog for actionable insights on how to unlock your full potential on the field.

As a woman in sports and a former female athlete i recognize the incredible value that being an athlete has added to my life. I learned so many skills that I may not have otherwise learned if I wasn’t an athlete.

I also recognize that women and girls in sports face their own unique set of challenges and specifically mental challenges that their male counterparts might not.

Even though performance anxiety is extremely common in athletes, I don’t always see it being addressed in an effective way.

Because there are two sides to performance anxiety that need to be addressed. What’s going on in the mind AND what’s going on in the body.

How much time do you spend thinking about what other people are thinking about you?

I like to call this being stuck in someone else’s head. Instead of focusing on yourself, you’re in their head trying to figure out what they are thinking about you.

This is not the place you want to be.

In this blog I walk you through the exact steps that will get you out of the habit of worrying what your coach (or anyone else) is thinking of you.

Sport psychology is rapidly growing, and for good reason too. It’s no longer about just practicing more or putting in more reps. We’ve finally recognized that the mental side of sport plays a huge part in the way athletes perform and the results they get.

Just in the past five years more and more college and professional teams are hiring mental performance coaches to work with their athletes. The beauty of this is that it not only helps athletes perform better but it also helps them outside of sport as well!

But even with all of this growth in sport psychology there are still some assumptions that I want to make sure we clear up.

When I was an athlete I had no idea that there was an entire aspect of my game I was leaving out. All of the physical aspects were dialed in as best I could.

But there was one area of my game I completely left out. I dedicated 0% of my time to mental training.

As a sport psychology professional I can now reflect back and see what I didn’t know when I was an athlete.

How often have you heard; “show no emotion”, “rub some dirt on it”, “toughen up”, “stay neutral”, etc.?

And, how does that advice help you when you’re feeling upset that the other team scored? Or when you’re feeling anxious before the championship game?

I know that advice is not helpful when emotions inevitably arise.

Actually emotions are normal! Especially when you’re competing and you want to win. When you’ve trained for months. You’ve sacrificed to put more time into your sport. OF COURSE you are going to have emotions come up in competitions.

In the summertime it can be so much harder to have the motivation to do the little things. Summertime should be fun. You should enjoy yourself and relax.

However, just like during the school year, you still need a good balance. But instead of the balance between school and sport, it’s between fun and sport.

Which is why this blog walks you through my top 5 tips to staying motivated throughout the summer.

There’s one thing that ALL great athletes have.

One thing that will allow you to know:

Exactly what to visualize to show up with confidence. How to manage pre-game nerves. What pumps you up and gets you in your zone. How to respond when the ref makes a bad call. What to do when you’re focusing on the college coach in the crowd. How to rest and recharge your mind and body in between games.

There is so much more weight put on the postseason. And I get it. Everything you’ve done throughout the season has added up to get you to this point. You don’t want your season to end. You want to end the season celebrating with a trophy in your hands.

But, this added pressure makes you feel like you’re playing a completely different game. Even though it's the same game you were playing a month ago.

I don’t think I’ve ever met an athlete that doesn’t have a goal for themselves.

Whether it’s getting recruited, ranking higher, qualifying for a certain event, getting a new PR, learning a new skill. You name it, athletes are aiming to reach it.

Goals are so important to provide direction and motivation.

But there are two common things I see that hold athletes back from achieving their goals.

When an athlete experiences a serious injury, the mental toll it takes impacts them beyond their sport.

Athletes have an identity that is tied to being an athlete. But when an injury occurs it can feel like their athletic identity has been ripped away.

When an athlete’s athletic identity is at risk due to injury, they will go through a form of the grieving process.

When your main focus is how bad you don’t want to lose it holds you back. You don’t want to make a mistake that might cost you the game. Your game plan might change to play it safe rather than going for it. You become timid because the fear of failure is telling you that “you can’t make a mistake”, “be careful”, “you have to win”. 

The fear of failure or losing often ends up preventing you from winning and success. The thing you’re so desperately trying to avoid ends up happening. 

Instead of believing that you are an anxious player, wouldn’t you rather believe that you are a confident player that can manage anxiety?

Instead of defining yourself as a negative athlete, wouldn’t you rather define yourself as an athlete that is positive with themselves and others?

It’s up to you. You get to create the definition of who you are as an athlete.

Having balance in your life will provide benefits in and out of sport. It allows you to see your value beyond the field, and as a result you will perform better. And, when you don’t feel like your sport is a job, you enjoy it so much more!

You get to choose how you interpret the emotions you feel. You get to choose what you will make them mean about you (if anything).

It feels so much better when we accept that 1) feelings and emotions are normal, 2) we don’t have to interpret them as a bad thing, 3) we can choose what feeling a specific emotion means.

Unlike many other mental skills, mindfulness techniques are often used outside of sport. Meaning athletes aren’t necessarily going to be meditating during a game or journaling at practice. So how do these skills make an impact in their mental game?

Mindfulness techniques help athletes train their mind. And as a result that training of the mind cultivates 3 core mindfulness principles as these skills are utilized.