Athlete Mindset

Athlete Mindset Helping young athletes become their best through the power of mindset & cognition 🧠


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Well done to Ossett Town U9 Panthers who won the Liversedge Cup 2026 🏆⚽The boys showed fantastic resilience throughout t...
15/05/2026

Well done to Ossett Town U9 Panthers who won the Liversedge Cup 2026 🏆⚽

The boys showed fantastic resilience throughout the tournament and demonstrated real determination in some tough moments. Their attitude and togetherness ultimately led them to the final where they produced a brilliant performance to win 2-0 đź‘Ź

Having worked with many of these players previously, it was brilliant to see them applying some of the tools, habits and information we’ve spoken about over time.

Seeing players grow in confidence, compete and enjoy their football is what it’s all about.

A massive well done to all of the players, coaches and parents involved 👊🏆⚽

11/05/2026

A big shout out to the RTC U8 boys who we’ve worked with throughout the season 👏⚽🧠

Their blue team recently won their JPL division and then went on to win the play-off game, earning an invite to the National Finals in Warwick — a fantastic achievement for the players, coaches and parents involved.

Unfortunately they didn’t come away as winners on the day, but the boys remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and, most importantly, embraced and enjoyed the experience. That in itself says a lot about the group and their mentality.

We’re looking forward to continuing the mindset and cognitive work with the players during pre-season and helping support their development both on and off the pitch 🧠👊

Parent Workshop Reflection 🤔💭Last night we ran a parent workshop for netball parents to explore the journey their child ...
28/04/2026

Parent Workshop Reflection 🤔💭

Last night we ran a parent workshop for netball parents to explore the journey their child is on - and more importantly, what they want that journey to look like.

One of the big themes…
Parents often say it’s about development, enjoyment, and confidence, but, in the moment, it can quickly shift to results, selection, and performance.

We also spoke about the role of a parent. Put simply:
• You’re not the coach; your child already has one of those.
• Your role is to create a safe, positive environment—
before the game, during the game, and after the game.

That means:
• Before - reduce pressure / create happy environment
• During - let them.play & support
• After - connect & reflect

Being a parent of a young athlete today is demanding. There’s more pressure, more noise, and more comparison than ever before. Yet very few parents are ever shown how to navigate it in a way that truly supports their child.

If last night did anything, we hope it:
âś“ Reinforced what parents are already doing well
âś“ Challenged a few habits
âś“ Or simply gave a fresh perspective

Because the environment around a young athlete…
matters more than we think!

Reflection isn't an opportunity to criticise or beat yourself up. It's a LEARNING ACCELERATOR! Most post match reviews f...
19/03/2026

Reflection isn't an opportunity to criticise or beat yourself up. It's a LEARNING ACCELERATOR!

Most post match reviews focus on outcome -
Win or loss.
Good or bad.
Effort or intensity.

That does not change perception behaviour.

Learning science revolves around prediction error. The gap between what the player expected and what actually happened drives adaptation.

Post game reflection should examine:
• What did you expect to happen?
• What cue did you miss?
• When did your decision timing slip?
• How did emotion affect perception?

Without structured reflection, errors repeat because they are never cognitively processed.

If players train and play without reviewing their perception decisions, the same mistakes will keep on happening.

Reflection is the missing multiplier to understanding and development.

On Saturday we delivered a Mindset & Resilience Workshop for a local netball club.The session focused on mindset and res...
15/03/2026

On Saturday we delivered a Mindset & Resilience Workshop for a local netball club.

The session focused on mindset and resilience — two areas that are just as important to develop as the physical, technical and tactical sides of sport.

We spoke about what mindset actually means and the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, and how the way we think can influence how we perform and respond in different situations.

A big focus of the session was on resilience as a superpower for athletes.
In sport, players will always face challenges — mistakes, pressure, emotions, fatigue, setbacks and outside influences. The key isn’t avoiding these things, but learning how to deal with them and respond positively rather than sitting in the moment for too long.

We explored the six areas that test resilience in sport and then looked at some simple tools and habits that can help players build resilience over time.

Just like improving technically or physically, mindset is something that needs to be trained and worked on consistently.

Hopefully the girls took away a few ideas they can start to apply in training, games and everyday life. Even if they remember and use just one or two things, that’s a great starting point.

Following the workshops, we will also be running four online sessions for the players which will cover additional areas of mindset and cognition.

These sessions will help the players piece everything together and continue developing their mindset over time.

No training tonight unfortunately for some of the RTC age groups, so we used the time as an opportunity to run a couple ...
11/03/2026

No training tonight unfortunately for some of the RTC age groups, so we used the time as an opportunity to run a couple of Mindset & Cognition workshops.

The first session focused on pre, peri and post-game routines for our youngest groups — the U7s and U8s. It was brilliant to see 30+ players listening, engaging and interacting. If they can take just one small idea from each stage and start using it, then the session has been a success.

The second session focused more on the cognitive side of the game with the U11s and U12s. Just like mindset, cognition is a massive part of football and it’s something that can be trained and developed. The best players are often the ones who are cognitively ahead of others.

We spoke about the steps to football intelligence, including:
đź‘€ Scanning & perception
🧠Anticipation
🤔 Decision making
⚙️ Ex*****on

At the end of the session the U11s also mentioned that they’ve been starting games slowly recently, so we discussed a few simple mental and physical strategies they could use to help start games faster.

I know the U11s and U12s were disappointed not to train tonight, especially with some big games coming up this weekend, but hopefully everyone took something useful away from the evening.

Remember: You are what you think 🧠💭⚽

How good is this... Last week we ran a workshop with some of the RTC boys focused on what it means to be a good teammate...
09/02/2026

How good is this...

Last week we ran a workshop with some of the RTC boys focused on what it means to be a good teammate — looking at mindset, behaviours, and how we support those around us to get the best out of each other.

Tonight one of the boys showed us his notes and told us he has revisited them… that’s not just listening — that’s ownership. That’s mindset development in action.

It shows curiosity, commitment, and a genuine desire to improve — which is often the real separator, not just technique.

Well done Thomas and keep striving to be your best đź‘Šâš˝

09/02/2026

Cognition 🧠 is definitely the next frontier of football.

Whilst cognition is high at elite level football there is still significant room for development and growth. As we go down the levels and age groups the gap and immaturity in relation to cognition is evident.

In football, we often talk about performance as if it starts with action -

• Pass quality
• Shot accuracy
• Pressing

In reality, EVERYTHING starts before the action and this includes -

• What information the player picked up
• What the anticipated was about to happen
• How much time they took to decide what they would do next
• How they responded to a mistake

In the past these things were talked about as "game intelligence" or "football IQ".

If we want better decisions and ultimately outcomes we have to coach what happens earlier.

In our programme we cover the key pillars of cognition and speak about what players can do to develop their understanding of them.

If you're interested in running a one-off workshop or participating in our 6-week programme please reach out 👍🏼

Post-game routines aren’t about over-coaching kids.They’re about helping young players build:✓ Better thinking✓ Better e...
21/01/2026

Post-game routines aren’t about over-coaching kids.

They’re about helping young players build:
âś“ Better thinking
âś“ Better emotional control
âś“ Better resilience
âś“ Better long-term confidence

The game teaches lessons. Post-game routines make sure kids actually learn them.

And that’s real development. 👊🏼⚽

17/01/2026

Most people think pre-game routines start on matchday…
or maybe 30 minutes before kick-off.

👉 The reality?
Pre-game routines start much earlier — often the night before.

They’re one of the most overlooked areas in sport, yet a healthy, consistent pre-game routine (night before + morning of the game) can have a huge impact on:

âś“ Confidence
âś“ Composure
âś“ Focus
✓ And ultimately… performance ⚽

How you prepare before you arrive at the ground shapes how ready you feel when you step onto the pitch.

That’s why in our 6-week Athlete Mindset course, we go deep into:

âś“ What players should do the night before
âś“ How to set the tone on game morning
âś“ Simple routines that help players feel calm, confident and in control

Preparation isn’t just physical — it’s mental.

đź’¬ Over to you:
What pre-game routine do you follow?

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