Who Should You Work With?
Article Table of Contents
Article Summary: Sports psychologists can address both performance and mental health concerns, depending on their training and credentials. Mental performance coaches focus primarily on improving mental skills such as confidence, focus, self-talk, composure, and handling pressure. For healthy athletes who want to perform more consistently, mental performance coaching helps them improve consistency in competition via mental training.
You or your athlete works hard in practice. You have the physical skills. Yet when competition starts, something changes. Maybe you lose confidence. Maybe you overthink, get nervous, or struggle after mistakes. As a parent or athlete, you may start asking, “Who can help me with this challenge in sports?”
Should you work with a sports psychologist? Or would a mental performance coach be a better fit? The answer starts with understanding the difference between the two professionals.
What Does a Sports Psychologist Do
A sports psychologist works with athletes on the mental side of sports. Their training may include psychology, sports performance, and mental health, depending on their education, credentials, and professional license. This last part matters. Usually, you have to be a licensed psychologists to use this title.
Some athletes need help just with their performance. Others are dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, eating disorders, or another mental health concern.
When mental health is part of the problem, a qualified mental health professional should be involved. A sports psychologist with appropriate clinical training and licensure may provide that type of care.
A sports psychologist may also help athletes with performance concerns. These can include competitive anxiety, confidence, motivation, concentration, and handling pressure.
So ask yourself one important question: “Is this primarily a performance problem (I choke in competition), a broader mental health problem, or both?” That question can help you determine what type of professional your athlete needs.
What is a Mental Performance Coach Video
What Does a Mental Performance Coach Do?
A mental performance coach helps athletes improve mental skills needed to perform their best. Think about your physical training. You practice your swing. You work on your footwork. You repeat your shots, throws, serves, or routines. You train those skills because you want them to become more consistent. Your mental game works the same way.
A mental performance coach helps athletes develop skills such as confidence, concentration, self-talk, emotional control, visualization, goal setting, routines, and performing under pressure. The focus is performance. Another focus is helping athletes develop preshot routines.
You might have an athlete who says, “I play great in practice, but I can’t do it in games.” That athlete does not need therapy. Instead, they need to learn how to manage expectations, control their focus, respond to mistakes, and trust their skills when the pressure increases. Those are mental performance skills. And mental skills can be taught to athletes.
Therapist vs. Performance Coach
A simple way to look at the difference is this: Therapy focuses on psychological and mental health concerns. Coaching focuses on developing skills that improve performance. A therapist may help an athlete work through anxiety, depression, trauma, or another clinical concern.
A mental performance coach may help an athlete build confidence, improve concentration, develop a pregame routine, or learn how to reset after mistakes. There can be some overlap between the two.
An athlete may benefit from both types of support. For example, an athlete dealing with significant anxiety may need help from a qualified mental health professional while also learning performance skills.
A Mental Performance Coach Perspective
I have worked with athletes for 40 years who initially misunderstand mental performance coaching. Some think, “I don’t need therapy.” Others think, “There is nothing wrong with me–I’m already confident.” They assume you only work on the mental game when something is wrong.
That’s not the way I see it. You don’t wait until an athlete poor physical skills before they start training. The same principle applies to the mental game.
Many athletes I work with are healthy, motivated, and committed to their sport. They simply want to perform closer to their potential in competition.
Think about a baseball player who hits the ball well in the batting cage during practice but struggles during games. The athlete starts asking, “What is wrong with me?” Now the pressure builds.
One bad at-bat leads to frustration. The next at-bat becomes about fixing the last one, which leads to over thinking. Soon the athlete is thinking about mechanics, results, coaches, getting benched, parents, and what happens if they strike out again. The physical skills didn’t disappear. The athlete’s fear of failure was the culprit.
Mental performance coaching helps the athlete recognize this pattern. Then we work on practical skills such as focusing on the next pitch, trusting preparation, using productive self-talk, and resetting after mistakes. That’s performance training.
When Should You Work with a Mental Performance Coach?
Mental performance coaching can be a good fit when an athlete wants to improve how they perform or overcome a slump. Maybe your athlete loses confidence after mistakes. Maybe they overthink, worry about results, struggle with pressure, or perform well in practice but underperform in games.
Some athletes have trouble staying focused. Maybe they know exactly what to do physically but can’t seem to trust in their skills when competition starts. We work with athlete who have these performance challenges everyday.
We tell athletes that you shouldn’t wait until your mental game becomes a major problem before you work on it. You don’t wait until your physical skills fall apart before you practice. You train before competition so your skills are ready when you need them. Why should your mental game be any different?
How do I Choose the Right Professional?
Start with the problem you want to solve. If your athlete has a mental health concern, look for a qualified mental health professional with the appropriate training and credentials. A sports psychologist with clinical training and licensure may be one option.
If your athlete is well-adjusted in life but struggles with confidence, concentration, pressure, self-talk, focus, or consistency in competition, mental performance coaching may be appropriate.
Ask the professional about their education, credentials, scope of practice, and the types of challenges they work with. A good professional should also know when an athlete needs a different type of support.
Mental performance coaches should not attempt to treat clinical mental health conditions outside their scope of practice. We teach athletes mental skills and do not do “therapy.” At Peak Performance Sports, we have spent 40+ years helping athletes improve their mental game and performance.
We work on practical mental game skills athletes can use in practice and competition. The goal is to help you or athletes think better, focus better, respond better, and compete with greater consistency. Your DO NOT need to have a serious problem to work on the mental game.
They may simply need better mental skills. And just like physical skills, mental skills improve with practice.
FAQ – Sports Psychologist vs. Mental Performance Coach
Is a mental performance coach the same as a sports psychologist?
No. The roles can overlap, but they are different professions with different training and scopes of practice. Sports psychologists may have specialized psychology training and, depending on their credentials and licensure, may provide clinical mental health services. Mental performance coaches focus primarily on developing mental skills for performance.
Can a mental performance coach provide therapy?
Mental performance coaching is not therapy or clinical mental health treatment. A mental performance coach only works with athletes on developing mental skills for performance. When an athlete has a clinical mental health concern, the coach should refer the athlete to an appropriately qualified mental health professional.
Should my athlete see a sports psychologist or mental performance coach?
Start with your athlete’s primary need. Mental health concerns may require a qualified mental health professional. Performance concerns such as confidence, focus, pressure, self-talk, and competition routines may be appropriate for mental performance coaching.
Is mental performance coaching only for struggling athletes?
No. Athletes at every level work on mental skills. You don’t need to have a mental health problem to improve confidence, concentration, emotional control, or your ability to perform under pressure.
What does a mental performance coach teach athletes?
Mental performance coaching may include confidence training, concentration, goal setting, visualization, self-talk, emotional control, pregame routines, handling mistakes, managing pressure, and developing a consistent performance mindset. The mental game is part of your training.
If you or your athlete has the physical skills but struggles to use apply those skills consistently in competition, mental performance coaching can help.
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