Why Mental Training is the Missing Piece in Sports
- Carolin Ehrensberger
- Sep 28
- 3 min read
You know the feeling: hours of training, months of preparation, endless repetitions. You build endurance, strength, and technique. Your body feels ready.
And yet — whether in the middle of training or on the big day of competition — your mind finds a way to show up. Doubt, fear, loss of focus… for some, even anxiety takes over. Suddenly, it’s no longer your body holding you back — it’s your mind.
In every sport — whether you’re a triathlete, footballer, HYROX competitor, weightlifter, or golfer — your mind can either boost your performance or hold you back. It doesn’t just shape how you perform; it also affects how much you enjoy the process.
Why Mental Training Matters
Sports psychology research shows:
Self-talk directly affects endurance and perceived exertion.
Visualization activates the same brain regions as physical practice, boosting performance.
Resilience routines help athletes recover from setbacks faster and avoid spirals of frustration.
Elite athletes don’t leave this to chance. They train their minds as deliberately as they train their bodies. That’s why they can stay calm when it matters most — and why many talented athletes underperform without this missing piece.
A Lived Example
At Coach-Wave, we’ve seen this firsthand. Our founder, Alex Ehrensberger, played American Football at the University of Notre Dame — in front of 100,000 fans and millions on TV.
As Alex puts it:
“In those moments, the difference between thriving and breaking down is never physical – it’s always mental.”
That’s the insight Coach-Wave is built on. Together with our team of sport psychologists, we help athletes strengthen their mental game with proven, science-based methods.
Because mental performance isn’t luck. It’s a system. And it can be trained.
Building the Athlete Within
So what does that training look like?
Imagine:
Thriving under pressure instead of tensing up.
Resetting quickly when things go wrong.
Using your inner voice as a source of power, not doubt.
Feeling clarity and motivation not just on race day, but every time you train.
That’s exactly what our 4-week Mental Masterclass is designed to deliver: an online group program built by expert sport psychologists to help athletes develop lasting mental routines.
Each week tackles one core question — not in theory, but in practice:
Who Are You When It Matters?
Every athlete hits moments where pressure is highest: the start line, the final rep, the decisive play. In those moments, clarity about your “why” becomes your anchor. In this week, we help you define what drives you and how to use it to fuel performance when it counts.
How Do You Talk to Yourself?
Your inner voice can either push you forward or hold you back. We work on making that dialogue constructive, practical, and strong — so instead of hearing “you can’t,” you’ll train yourself to hear “keep going.”
What Happens When Things Don’t Go as Planned?
Adversity is inevitable. A slip, a mistake, a setback — they happen in every sport. This week is about developing reset strategies and mental routines that allow you to stay calm, recover quickly, and get back to peak performance.
How Do You Create Lasting Effects You Can Rely On?
Mental training only works if it sticks. In the final week, we show you how to build habits and systems that carry over into training, recovery, and everyday life. It’s about creating a mental foundation you can trust, not just for one race, but for the long run.
Your Time to Step Up
Every athlete eventually realizes: physical training alone isn’t enough. The ones who rise — and enjoy the process along the way — are those who invest in their mental game.
So ask yourself: what’s holding you back right now? Is it nerves, doubt, focus, motivation?
That’s where mental training makes the difference. Your body and mind, working together, can unlock a level of performance you haven’t reached yet.
If you’re ready to build that strength, join our next Mental Masterclass and see what happens when your mental game becomes your biggest advantage.
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