​       ​
Do you find yourself overthinking?
       
distracted?
doubting your abilities?
struggling with confidence?

Train Your Body, Train Your Mind

How Mental Health Influences Athletic Performance

Focus & Attention
​
​Anxiety and chronic stress can make it difficult to stay present. Athletes may become distracted by mistakes, future outcomes, or external expectations rather than focusing on the task in front of them. 

Recovery

Mental and emotional strain can affect sleep, energy levels, motivation, and overall recovery. Long-term performance depends on both physical and psychological restoration. 

Confidence

Confidence is often affected by an athlete's internal dialogue. When self-criticism becomes overwhelming, performance can suffer even when physical preparation is strong. 

Resilience

Setbacks, injuries, losses, and transitions are part of every athletic journey. Strong mental health supports an athlete's ability to adapt, learn, and move forward after challenges. 

Decision Making

Competitive environments require quick thinking and adaptability. Elevated stress levels can interfere with clear judgment and increase hesitation during key moments
​ 

Love of the Game

Sustainable performance often comes from maintaining a healthy relationship with sport. Mental health support can help athletes reconnect with purpose, passion, and enjoyment. 

​Who Benefits from Sport Performance Therapy?

Athletes at every level. We work with athletes across a wide range of sports, including soccer, basketball, softball, football, cheer, baseball, volleyball, skiing, tennis, swimming, track and field, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, and other competitive disciplines. ​The psychological demands of sport change dramatically depending on age and competitive tier.


​

​
​

​Youth Club &
​Travel Teams

​Varsity & College Recruitment

​​​Collegiate & NCAA
​

​Professional & Elite Athletes​

​Adult Recreational
​ ​

​​



​What if you had a
Sport Performance Therapist who masterfully
tailored strategies to
Your Specific Game??
​
​

Book Now

Book a Free Consult

​Meet Your Performance Therapists

Hannah Ware

Hannah understands the mental and physical demands of competition from every angle. She brings over 22 years of experience supporting athletes through both mental performance and physical conditioning. Her background pairs clinical mental health expertise with physical fitness  credentials from the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. As a former natural bodybuilding competitor, wife to a former professional athlete, and mother of three competitive athletes, she lives the high-performance lifestyle every day. Hannah is a certified Brainspotting practitioner with specialized training in Brainspotting for Sports Performance, Injury Resolution, and Brain Health Optimization. Having worked with Olympians, pro coaches and athletes, and elite club athletes, she helps you clear performance blocks and reach your highest potential.

Graham Johnson

​Graham understands the mental grit and discipline needed for high-level performance from a lifetime in competitive athletics. Coming from a lineage of competitive martial artists, he is an active competitor and a 5th-degree black belt Master in Taekwondo. For over a decade, Graham has coached and trained athletes across all ages and tiers, from recreational competitors to elite athletes. His background includes advanced martial arts training and affiliations with USA Taekwondo and the United Taekwondo League. By combining his martial arts mastery with targeted mental conditioning, Graham helps athletes clear performance pressure, sharpen their focus, and reach their full potential.

​Frequently Asked Questions About Sport Performance Therapy

How often should athletes attend Sport Performance Therapy?Frequency depends on individual goals, competitive schedules, and the concerns being addressed. Many athletes begin with weekly sessions before adjusting as progress occurs.

Can Sport Performance Therapy help with recruiting stress?
Yes. Many athletes experience significant pressure related to recruiting, scholarships, roster positions, and future opportunities. Therapy can provide strategies for managing these demands.

Is Sport Performance Therapy different from traditional therapy?
While there may be overlap, Sport Performance Therapy focuses specifically on performance-related goals, competition demands, confidence, focus, and resilience in athletic settings.

Can youth athletes benefit from Sport Performance Therapy?
Absolutely. Early development of confidence, emotional regulation, resilience, and focus can provide long-term benefits both in sport and beyond athletics.

​Do athletes need a mental health diagnosis to get started?
No. Athletes often seek support simply because they want to improve performance, manage pressure more effectively, or strengthen their mental skills.

​Why Choose Minds Moving Forward for Sport Performance Therapy?

At Minds Moving Forward, we understand that athletic performance is influenced by far more than physical ability. Confidence, emotional regulation, resilience, recovery from adversity, and nervous system regulation all contribute to how athletes perform under pressure. Our team integrates mental performance support with a broader understanding of emotional wellness, stress, anxiety, trauma, and human performance. This allows us to support the athlete as a whole person while helping them strengthen the mental skills that contribute to competitive success.
​
Whether you are working through a performance slump, preparing for a major competitive opportunity, returning from injury, or looking to strengthen your mental game, we provide individualized support tailored to your goals.

​How Does Mental Training Improve Athletic Performance?

Mental skills influence how athletes respond to adversity, maintain focus, recover from mistakes, and execute under pressure. While physical training develops athletic capacity, mental training supports how consistently those abilities can be expressed during competition.Athletes may work on:

• Visualization and imagery
• Focus and attention control
• Goal setting
• Performance routines
• Emotional regulation
• Resilience development
• Competition preparation

These skills can help athletes navigate both expected and unexpected challenges while maintaining a greater sense of control and confidence.

​What Happens During Sport Performance Therapy?

Every athlete brings a unique set of strengths, challenges, goals, and experiences. Because of this, therapy is individualized to the needs of each athlete. The process typically begins with understanding the athlete's current concerns, performance goals, competitive environment, and previous experiences.
From there, therapy may focus on:

• Confidence development
• Performance anxiety support
• Mental skills training
• Competition preparation
• Nervous system regulation
• Emotional resilience
• Recovery from setbacks or injuries

Sessions are collaborative and designed to provide practical tools that athletes can apply directly within training and competition environments.

​Why Do Athletes Perform Differently in Practice Than in Competition?

Many athletes experience a frustrating gap between practice performance and competition performance. They may execute skills consistently during training but struggle when the pressure of competition increases.This difference is often connected to factors such as fear of failure, self-consciousness, expectations, perfectionism, or heightened nervous system activation. Instead of relying on trained habits, athletes may begin monitoring every movement, second-guessing decisions, or focusing on outcomes rather than execution.

​Sport Performance Therapy helps athletes understand what happens mentally and physically under pressure. Once athletes recognize these patterns, they can develop strategies to stay present, trust their preparation, and compete with greater freedom.

​What Causes Mental Blocks in Sports?

Mental blocks can occur suddenly or develop gradually over time. An athlete who previously performed well may begin struggling with a skill, lose confidence, or experience intense frustration during competition.Common contributors include:

• Performance anxiety
• Fear of failure
• Fear of success
• Perfectionism
• Past mistakes or difficult experiences
• Pressure from competition or expectations
• Fear following an injury

Mental blocks are rarely a reflection of weakness or lack of effort. More often, they represent a disruption in confidence, trust, or emotional regulation. Identifying the underlying factors allows athletes to address the issue directly and move forward with greater confidence.

​How Can Athletes Improve Confidence Without Relying on Motivation?

Many athletes believe confidence is something they either have or do not have. In reality, confidence is often built through experience, preparation, and trust.Motivation naturally rises and falls. Athletes who rely solely on feeling motivated may struggle when challenges arise. Strong confidence is built differently. It comes from knowing how to respond when things become difficult.
During therapy, athletes learn how to:

• Develop productive self-talk
• Create pre-performance routines
• Strengthen trust in preparation
• Respond effectively to setbacks
• Build confidence through consistent actions
• Separate identity from performance outcomes

This approach creates a more durable form of confidence that is less dependent on recent results or external validation.

​How Can Athletes Manage Performance Anxiety?

Feeling nervous before competition is normal. In many cases, some level of activation can even enhance performance. Difficulties arise when anxiety becomes overwhelming or begins interfering with execution.Athletes experiencing performance anxiety may notice:

• Racing thoughts
• Difficulty concentrating
• Physical tension
• Sleep disruption before events
• Fear of making mistakes
• Avoidance of competition opportunities

Our approach focuses on helping athletes understand their nervous system responses and develop effective strategies for managing pressure. This may include breathing techniques, grounding skills, somatic strategies, emotional regulation tools, and individualized competition routines that support performance.

​How Can Athletes Recover After Mistakes During Competition?

Every athlete makes mistakes. What often separates successful competitors is not avoiding mistakes altogether, but recovering quickly after they happen.Athletes who remain focused on a previous error frequently experience additional mistakes because their attention shifts away from the present moment. Sport Performance Therapy helps athletes develop practical reset strategies that support rapid recovery and continued engagement in competition.
These strategies may include:

• Reset routines
• Focused breathing techniques
• Attention shifting skills
• Constructive self-talk
• Emotional regulation practices
• Present-moment awareness

Learning how to recover effectively after mistakes can significantly improve consistency across competition.

​How Can Athletes Bounce Back From Injury?

Injuries affect more than physical performance. Many athletes experience frustration, uncertainty, grief, fear, or a loss of identity during recovery.Returning to competition after an injury can also create additional challenges. Even when an athlete is medically cleared, concerns about reinjury or reduced performance may remain.
Sport Performance Therapy provides support throughout the recovery process by helping athletes:

• Manage emotional reactions to injury
• Maintain confidence during rehabilitation
• Address fear of reinjury
• Strengthen resilience
• Prepare mentally for return to competition

Recovery is both physical and psychological. Addressing both aspects can support a more complete return to sport.

Are You Ready to Strengthen Your Mental Game?

Athletic success requires more than physical preparation. Developing confidence, focus, resilience, and the ability to perform under pressure can make a meaningful difference in competition.If you are ready to invest in the mental side of performance, we invite you to connect with our team.

Book a Free Consult

Book Now