A young athlete can spend hours practicing their sport, lifting weights, running drills and playing games.But there is another part of performance that is easy to overlook: what happens in their head when the game gets difficult.What happens after a bad turnover?Can they stay focused after missing an important shot?Do they become nervous before a big competition?Can they recover quickly from a mistake instead of carrying it into the next play?Those situations are part of being an athlete, and they are also skills that can be developed.For San Jose athletes surrounded by competitive high school, club and college sports, mental performance coaching in San Jose can provide another way to approach development.The Mental Game Shows Up When the Pressure DoesPractice and competition are different.An athlete might look confident during a normal training session and then struggle when the score is close. Another player might perform extremely well until they make their first mistake, then lose focus.That does not necessarily mean the athlete lacks ability.Sometimes they simply have not learned how to manage those moments yet.Mental performance work can focus on things like building athletic confidence, controlling distractions, developing pregame routines, managing competition nerves, using positive self-talk and recovering after mistakes.These are not replacements for physical training.They are tools that help athletes use the skills they already have when the pressure increases.San Jose Already Takes Sport Psychology SeriouslyAthletes in San Jose do not have to look far to see mental performance incorporated into high-level athletics.San Jose State Athletics has a sports psychologist who works with student-athletes, coaches and sports medicine staff and provides mental skills training to NCAA teams. SJSU also has a Sport Psychology program within its Department of Kinesiology, with a history at the university dating back decades.That is a useful lesson for younger athletes.Mental performance is not just something professional athletes suddenly start thinking about. It is already part of how athletes at the collegiate level prepare, compete and handle the demands of sport.For a San Jose athlete, learning about sports psychology can start well before college.Stanford’s Approach Shows How Broad Mental Performance Can BeJust up the road, Stanford Athletics also has a dedicated Sport Psychology team.Its services include individual performance counseling, team sessions and education around skills such as maintaining focus, building confidence, goal achievement, self-talk, visualization, communication and leadership.That list is important because mental performance is not just about “being mentally tough.”An athlete’s mental game can involve several different skills.A basketball player might need a better routine before free throws.A soccer player might need to stop dwelling on a missed opportunity.A swimmer might need strategies for staying composed before a race.A baseball player might need to reset after an error.The sport changes, but the mental skills can transfer.If your athlete is looking for mental skills training for athletes, the goal should be to identify what they actually need rather than giving every athlete the same generic advice.Confidence Is More Than Telling an Athlete to “Believe in Yourself”Parents often hear that confidence is important.The harder question is how an athlete actually develops it.Telling a player to be confident usually does not help much when they are standing at the free-throw line, stepping into the batter’s box or preparing for a major race.Confidence can come from preparation, repetition and having a plan for difficult moments.Confidence coaching for young athletes can help players identify what they can control and develop routines they can return to when things do not go perfectly.That can be especially useful for athletes who are highly self-critical.Instead of treating one mistake as proof that they are not good enough, the athlete can learn how to acknowledge the mistake, reset and focus on the next play.Your Athlete Does Not Need to Be Struggling to StartMental performance work is not only for athletes who are already dealing with a major problem.A healthy athlete can work on performance habits just like they work on physical skills.An athlete preparing for a high school season might want to develop a better pregame routine.A competitive player might want to improve focus during competition.A younger athlete might simply need help becoming more comfortable making mistakes and continuing to play.Mental skills can be developed alongside individual sports coaching, strength training and regular team practices.The key is making the work specific enough that the athlete can actually use it.Turn “I Choked” Into Something You Can Work OnOne of the biggest benefits of mental performance work is changing how athletes describe difficult moments.“I choked.”“I always mess up.”“I can’t play under pressure.”Those statements do not give an athlete anything to work with.A more useful approach is to break the moment down.What happened immediately before the mistake?Where was the athlete’s attention?What were they telling themselves?Did they rush?Did they become distracted by the score?Did they stop trusting the preparation they had already done?Those questions can turn a frustrating performance into information.Working with a mental performance coach can help an athlete identify those patterns and build strategies for future situations.The Goal Is to Make the Mental Game Part of TrainingSan Jose has athletes competing at every level, and the demands increase as competition gets tougher.The physical side of development will always matter.But athletes also have to learn how to respond when they are tired, nervous, frustrated, behind on the scoreboard or facing a moment they have never experienced before.That is why mental performance for San Jose athletes deserves a place alongside physical preparation.Whether your athlete is working toward high school competition, trying to take the next step in club sports or dreaming about playing in college, finding an athlete coach in San Jose can help them build a more complete development plan.Athletes Untapped connects athletes and families with coaches who can provide individualized support based on the athlete’s goals and current needs.Explore Athletes Untapped coaches and give your athlete another tool to work with when the game gets bigger, faster and more challenging.