Sports Psychology Coaching
The Sports Psychology Coaching Podcast by Eli Straw is a mental training podcast for athletes, competitors, coaches, and performers who want to improve confidence, focus, and performance under pressure. This podcast teaches practical sports psychology strategies to help athletes overcome fear of failure, performance anxiety, overthinking, and loss of confidence after mistakes so they can trust their training and compete freely.
Each episode covers key mental performance topics, including:
• Sports psychology and mental training for athletes
• How to build confidence in sports
• Overcoming performance anxiety and pressure
• Trusting your training and competing without fear
• Focus, composure, and mental toughness in competition
• Letting go of overthinking and perfectionism
• Visualization, mindfulness, and present-moment performance
• How to perform consistently in games, races, and competitions
Hosted by mental performance coach Eli Straw, this podcast provides simple, practical mental game coaching used with athletes from youth to elite levels. Learn how to stop playing scared, compete with freedom, and unlock your true performance.
If you’re an athlete, parent, or coach looking for sports psychology tips, mental toughness training, and performance mindset strategies, this podcast will help you build the mental skills needed to perform at your best when it matters most.
*This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute psychological or medical treatment. I am a mental performance coach, not a licensed psychologist. For clinical concerns, consult a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist.
Sports Psychology Coaching
How to Know If You (or Your Athlete) Need a Mental Performance Coach — or Just More Practice
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If you (or your athlete) are underperforming during games, you might be asking:
Do we need more practice? Or is this a mental game issue?
In this episode, I break down how to tell the difference between a physical skill problem and a mental performance problem. Because sometimes working harder on mechanics actually makes things worse — especially when pressure, anxiety, and overthinking are the real issues.
You’ll learn:
- How to know if performance drops are caused by pressure
- Why practice alone doesn’t always fix confidence
- The difference between skill development and mental performance training
- How anxiety can change mechanics (like with the yips)
- Why over-focusing on form can hurt performance
- The key question to ask: Does performance change when pressure increases?
If you perform well in practice but struggle in games, this episode will help you understand why.
Mental training doesn’t build skill. It builds the ability to trust your skill under pressure.
If you're an athlete trying to figure out what’s holding you back — or a parent wondering whether your child needs more reps or mental performance coaching — this episode will give you clarity.
If you're interested in learning more about my 12-week mental performance coaching program, you can find the link below.
Share this episode with another athlete or parent who may need it.
🧠 Mental Performance Coaching for Athletes: If you’re an athlete who struggles with fear, anxiety, overthinking, or confidence in games—or a parent of an athlete going through that—I work 1-on-1 with athletes to help them perform freely and confidently.
You can schedule a free introductory call using the link below, and we’ll talk through what’s going on and whether working together would be a good fit.
Schedule a free introductory call: https://www.successstartswithin.com/get-coaching/
🥇Team Mental Performance Coaching Program: https://www.successstartswithin.com/mental-coaching-for-teams/
📖 Mind Games Book: https://a.co/d/gXZfORN
📖 Athlete Mental Training Book: https://a.co/d/bfojamY
Free Training: Top 5 Mental Mistakes Athletes Make
*This podca...