Measuring the Mental Skills Training Maturity of a Sports Team

Dave Kearney
2 min readSep 3, 2021

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One the questions we often see is how does a high performing team or organization rate the effectiveness of their mental training program? Here’s our quick chart to help you place where you are compared to other organizations:

Level -1: Destructive

Coach and athlete attitudes towards mental skills training and sport psychology are outdated and negatively impact athlete success and wellbeing.

Level 1: Not Present

No mental training program in place. The team or organization does not have a structured plan in place to support mental training for athletes. Success is left to chance and circumstance in these teams.

Level 2: Minimal Support

Occasional (e.g. 1–3 times a year) visits by a sport psychologist. The team/organization recognises the value of mental skills in helping athletes develop, but has not or cannot assign the resources to provide more frequent help.

Level 3: Deficit Model

The team/organization provides individual and team support but only in situations where the team is already struggling. Sport psychology is viewed as a cure rather than a performance enhancement opportunity.

Level 4: Skills Model

Mental skills training is viewed as necessary in providing a competitive edge. Repeatable, structured mental training is in place for all athletes.

Level 5: Integrated

Sport psychology best practice is deeply embedded at all levels of the organization. Athletes and coaches work continuously to improve and develop team and individual mental skills.

Where are you at?

What level is your team/organization at? Where would you like to be? What can you do to level up? https://www.champsmind.com delivers a self-administered level 4 solution for teams who want to reach this level without having an in house sport psychologist. For more information:

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Dave Kearney
Dave Kearney

Written by Dave Kearney

Making mental skills training based on sport psychology best practice a normal thing for all athletes

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