{"id":11685,"date":"2020-01-02T19:38:09","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T19:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/?p=11685"},"modified":"2025-06-06T04:54:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:54:57","slug":"think-better-perform-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Think Better-Perform Better"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/think-better-perform-better.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/think-better-perform-better.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/think-better-perform-better-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_Mental_Training_For_a_Competitive_Edge\"><\/span>Using Mental Training For a Competitive Edge<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Article Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #0769bf;color:#0769bf\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #0769bf;color:#0769bf\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/#Using_Mental_Training_For_a_Competitive_Edge\" >Using Mental Training For a Competitive Edge<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/#Lets_take_these_points_one_at_a_time_to_examine\" >Let\u2019s take these points one at a time to examine<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/#Take_it_from_Lebron_James%E2%80%A6\" >Take it from Lebron James\u2026<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/#Related_Sports_Psychology_Articles\" >Related Sports Psychology Articles<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/#The_Confident_Athlete\" >The Confident Athlete<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am pretty much doing everything wrong from a mental perspective and just beginning to work on understanding better ways to think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The above comment was received from an athlete in one of our recent surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mental game<\/strong> challenges are problems that many athletes ponder. In fact, many athletes who complete our survey have identified going through similar circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your mental game or lack of a mental game directly affects your level of performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you avoid the mental game, performance declines, confidence drops, anxiety and frustration increase, focus becomes scattered, performance declines\u2026 and the cycle continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Others wrote the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMentally, I\u2019m breaking down in games.\u201d<br>\u201cI\u2019m not sure what I need to work on mentally.\u201d<br>\u201cI don\u2019t know how to fix these mental areas of my game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lets_take_these_points_one_at_a_time_to_examine\"><\/span>Let\u2019s take these points one at a time to examine<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Breaking down mentally in games \u2013 First, it\u2019s good that you can recognize how your <strong>mental game<\/strong> affect performance and that you can identify what precedes these breakdowns. Awareness is important to making changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breaking down in a game is a matter of mental toughness and mental toughness is built through mental training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Not knowing what to work on mentally \u2013 Performing at your peak consistently includes many mental skills, such as competing with confidence, managing emotions, staying poised under pressure, focusing and re-focusing during competitions, overcoming adversity, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key to improving your mental game or building mental toughness is to focus on one mental skill as a time. I try to teach my athletes one lesson at a time when doing mental coaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Improving my mental game \u2013 As you notice, I steered clear of the word \u201cfix.\u201d Your mental game is something you build upon, similar to your physical conditioning. We don&#8217;t cure or fix your mental approach, only educate you on how to improve over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For these reasons, you want to connect with a mental game coach who can help evaluate your mental game to improve performance consistency. Also, it is important for you to apply mental strategies in training as well as competitions in order to reap the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Take_it_from_Lebron_James%E2%80%A6\"><\/span>Take it from Lebron James\u2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Lebron James is arguably one of the best athletes and basketball players the world has ever seen. James credits his elite level of play to being mentally conditioned as much as being physically conditioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For me, what gets lost in translation over time is that athletes forget that there&#8217;s more than just a physical side. At this point in my life, it&#8217;s not that I&#8217;ve recognized that the mental side is important \u2014 I knew that as a kid when I was younger, but now I&#8217;m at a point in my life where I&#8217;m able to tap into it and take advantage of it. And take advantage of the benefits because there&#8217;s only so much you can do with the physical. There&#8217;s only so far you can get with the physical side,&#8221; James said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s holding you back from embracing <strong>mental game<\/strong> coaching? You want to look at mental training as another facet of your overall training program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you understand that mental training is for all athletes who want to improve their game and not just &#8220;head cases,&#8221; you can embrace mental training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact us if you&#8217;d like to learn more about personal mental coaching&#8211;the best option to fast track your mental toughness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-979ef383-5bc7-43ee-b8f9-249663ca1a6c\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_Sports_Psychology_Articles\"><\/span>Related Sports Psychology Articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul id=\"block-05642731-8752-4dbf-9c18-5cc4d276e821\" class=\"wp-block-list has-normal-font-size\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/do-you-or-your-team-have-the-comeback-mindset\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/competitive-self-confidence-really-matters\/\"><strong>Competitive Self-Confidence Really Matters<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-grow-competition-confidence\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-athletes-can-benefit-from-sports-psychology\/\"><strong>How Athletes Can Benefit From Sports Psychology<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-preparation-boosts-confidence\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/performance-anxiety-in-sports\/\"><strong>The Roots of Performance Anxiety in Sports<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\" id=\"block-5726d13f-f715-4ca4-8813-2f8a9ebd8bc3\">*Subscribe to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/sports-psychology-podcast-by-peaksports-com\/id152566009\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on iTunes<br>*Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0ynyaalKxbnNmsoeL8gF5X?si=8224669de9b3435b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a> on Spotify<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\" id=\"block-281f5afb-980b-4c71-9aa0-11d606b5f7c9\"><strong>Download a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/mental-toughness-report-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free sports psychology report<\/a>&nbsp;to improve your mental game!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\" id=\"block-94138e75-d591-4645-bb1d-212cf57a8841\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sport-psychology-training-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learn more about our one-on-one mental game coaching.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Confident_Athlete\"><\/span>The Confident Athlete <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/confident-athlete-audio250.jpg\" alt=\"The Confident Athlete Audio\" class=\"wp-image-16347\" style=\"width:198px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Confident Athlete\u201d consists of 2 audio programs that include 14 days of confidence fueling exercises and a simple to follow workbook that guides you through the 14 days, helps you apply the strategies, and customizes the exercises to your personal needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me help you put a <strong>stop to the confidence leak<\/strong>. You can learn to have greater levels of confidence in competition than you do in practice by identifying the specific ways you undermine your own confidence and <strong>how to convert your practice confidence into COMPETITIVE CONFIDENCE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Confident Athlete\u201d is a ground-breaking system to teach you how to think like a champion and have ultimate self-confidence every time you step on the playing field, court, track, or course. The confident athletes was <strong>developed for any athlete \u2013 junior to professional \u2013<\/strong>that wants to gain confidence. However, coaches and sports parents can learn how to teach others to perform with ultimate confidence. Use my program if you want to bust a slump or just wanting higher or more consistent levels of self-confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-0b39f7aa\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-a74417ae gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-confident-athlete-cd-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GET DETAILS<\/a>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-461ab57c gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/collections\/the-confident-athlete-series-digital-download\/products\/the-confident-athlete-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BUY NOW<\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using Mental Training For a Competitive Edge \u201cI am pretty much doing everything wrong from a mental perspective and just beginning to work on understanding better ways to think.\u201d The above comment was received from an athlete in one of our recent surveys. Mental game challenges are problems that many athletes ponder. In fact, many athletes who complete &#8230; <a title=\"Think Better-Perform Better\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/think-better-perform-better\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Think Better-Perform Better\">Sport Psychology Article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[247,116],"class_list":["post-11685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-psychology-tips","tag-mental-toughness-in-sports","tag-mental-game"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.6.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mental game challenges are problems that many athletes ponder. 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Cohn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.peaksports.com\\\/sports-psychology-blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/patrick-cohn-mental-coach-web-sq.jpg\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/PeakPerformanceSports\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/PeaksportsCoach\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/sportspsychcoach\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@peakperformancesports\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/peaksports\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MindsetForSports\"],\"description\":\"Mental Performance Coach Dr. Patrick Cohn has helped athletes for over 40 years enhance their performance. Dr. Cohn earned a master's degree in sports psychology from CSUF and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, specializing in Applied Sports Psychology. He is also the creator of The MGCP Mental Game Coaching Professional program. He's worked with athletes in the NFL, NHL, Olympic Athletes, Motocross Champions, and NASCAR drivers. 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