{"id":1734,"date":"2011-04-13T18:32:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T18:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports_psychology_blog\/?p=1734"},"modified":"2025-06-13T06:43:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T10:43:53","slug":"how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Apply Mental Game Skills to Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/mental-game.jpg\" alt=\"Mental Game\" class=\"wp-image-6433\" title=\"practice\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/mental-game.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/mental-game-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=\"Apply_the_Mental_Game_Lessons_I_Teach_to_Competition\"><\/span>Apply the <strong>Mental Game Lessons<\/strong> I Teach to Competition <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\/how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2\/#Apply_the_Mental_Game_Lessons_I_Teach_to_Competition\" >Apply the Mental Game Lessons I Teach to Competition<\/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\/how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2\/#You_want_more_information_on_pregame_mental_preparation\" >You want more information on pregame mental preparation?<\/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\/how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2\/#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-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2\/#The_Confident_Athlete\" >The Confident Athlete<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>I receive this question quite often from both athletes and coaches who struggle with the application of the mental game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your ultimate success with mental game improvement lies in your ability to transfer the concepts I teach you to competition. For many athletes and coaches, this is a huge stumbling block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to the mental game, learning <strong>sports psychology strategies <\/strong>is much different than applying and using them in competition consistently&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know you can easily understand the basic <strong>mental game skill <\/strong>of how to refocus when distracted, for example. However, can you do it when the pressure is on and emotions are elevated in competition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What prevents you from taking the lessons I teach into competition? Bad habits. Bad habits are hard to break. Just like the physical game, <strong>mental skills <\/strong>must be well learned and assimilated for you to use them in competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What are some strategies for helping you <strong>apply mental game lessons to competition<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One way to take what you learn about the mental game to competition is to integrate my lessons in to your regular <strong>pregame warm-up routine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m sure you have a specific warm-up routine that you use to prepare yourself for competition. Most athletes do. If you don&#8217;t have a warm up routine, you need one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But more importantly the <strong>warm-up routine <\/strong>is also a time to hone your focus, boost your confidence, and prepare to trust in your learned skills from practice. So the warm-up routine is an ideal time to apply your mental game strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you&#8217;ve been following my tips you know that I&#8217;m an advocate of eliminating expectations that cause pressure and undermine confidence when they&#8217;re not achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of your <strong>pregame routine<\/strong>, you&#8217;ll want to check in with yourself and note any expectations you&#8217;re feeling about the upcoming performance or competition. The next step is to replace these expectations with smaller more manageable objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, perfectionist golfers expect a hit perfect shots. This expectation is not healthy for confidence. Instead, I suggest to my students that they focus on small objectives such as to pick good targets and have full trust in their swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus I want you to look at your warm-up routine as a mini <strong>mental preparation routine <\/strong>in which you get your game face on, are focused, confident, and ready to play freely without the shackles of over control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"You_want_more_information_on_pregame_mental_preparation\"><\/span>You want more information on pregame mental preparation?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We just posted new sport specific pregame mental preparation guides for athletes at Peaksports Network, my online mental training system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Become a Subscriber today and download these for free along with hundreds of pages of e-books, interviews, and teleclasses to improve your <strong>mental game<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note: New members who join Peaksports Network in April get a 20-minute live one-on-one mental coaching session with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Demo my online mental training program today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/\"><strong>Online Mental Training Program<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your Mental Game Coach,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Patrick Cohn<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>p.s. If you&#8217;re already a member of my online mental training system at Peaksports Network, you can download the sport-specific pregame mental preparation guides here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/\"><strong>Peaksports Network: Sport-Specific Mental Preparation Guides<\/strong><\/a><\/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\/how-to-benefit-from-mistakes-in-competition\/\"><strong>How to Benefit From Mistakes in Competition\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-grow-competition-confidence\/\"><strong>How to Grow Competition Confidence\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-stop-overthinking-in-competition\/\"><strong>How to Stop Overthinking in Competition<\/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-css-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>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apply the Mental Game Lessons I Teach to Competition I receive this question quite often from both athletes and coaches who struggle with the application of the mental game. Your ultimate success with mental game improvement lies in your ability to transfer the concepts I teach you to competition. For many athletes and coaches, this is a huge &#8230; <a title=\"How To Apply Mental Game Skills to Competition\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-apply-mental-game-skills-to-competition-2\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about How To Apply Mental Game Skills to Competition\">Sport Psychology Article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[380,505,849,850],"class_list":["post-1734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-psychology-tips","tag-mental-game-skills","tag-routines-in-sports","tag-sport-psychology-article","tag-sports-competition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.6.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you apply the mental game lessons I teach to competition and not just use it during practice or training? 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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. 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