A 6-Week Small-Group Program for High School Athletes (Grades 9-12)

Mental performance training is part of performance training. In addition to physical and technical skills, attention, self-talk, emotional regulation under pressure, and the ability to reset after a mistake are also skills, and these skills can be trained.

This 6-week program is a structured introduction to mental performance training (MPT): tools athletes at every level can benefit from in and beyond sport.

What athletes will build

Each week focuses on one skill, building toward an integrated system by the final session.

Session 1: Controllables + Attentional Focus

Mental performance training is a pillar of athletic development, alongside physical training and sport-specific skill. In this session, athletes are introduced to one of its most foundational concepts: the difference between what you can and cannot control. Athletes who learn to focus on their controllables tend to experience less frustration, stronger ownership of their performance, and a faster recovery when things go wrong. Athletes will leave with the awareness to direct their attention to the right things at the right time, and a simple, practical tool to bring it back when it drifts.

Session 2: Self-Talk

The way an athlete talks to themselves, before a competition or big moment, after a mistake or setback, in learning and training, is one of the most influential and most overlooked parts of performance. In this session, athletes learn what self-talk is, how it connects to feelings, behavior, and performance, and how to recognize when their internal dialogue is working against them. Athletes will leave with personal self-talk cues they can use immediately, and a tool for reframing the thoughts that tend to get in the way.

Session 3: Energy Regulation + Breathing

Every athlete knows what it feels like to be too wound up or too flat to perform at their best. In this session, athletes learn to recognize their body's activation signals, understand how their energy level influences performance, and develop practical tools to regulate it in the moment. Athletes will leave with a breathing technique they can use to manage tension and restore focus, and an understanding that the goal is not to eliminate nerves: it is to work with them.

Session 4: Imagery and Mental Rehearsal

Mental rehearsal is an underused performance tool available to athletes. Athletes can use imagery to build confidence, prepare mentally for competition, and reinforce skills. The session opens with a short experiential exercise that lets athletes feel what imagery does, before learning why it works and how to make it effective. Athletes will leave with a personal scenario and the tools to begin practicing on their own.

Session 5: Performance Routines

Performance routines help athletes build mental and physical game plans to perform at their best more consistently. A good routine creates familiarity and comfort, makes useful behaviors part of the performance process, and builds a sense of control and confidence. In this session, the focus is on one of the most practical tools in mental performance training: the reset routine. Athletes will learn and personalize a simple, repeatable process for recovering quickly from mistakes or distractions and getting their attention back where it belongs.

Session 6: Performance Planning + Goal Setting

Having a clear goal focuses your attention, sustains your effort, and builds confidence as you make progress. Yet goal setting is one of the most talked about and least well-taught skills in sport, and most athletes are focused on the wrong type of goals. In this session, athletes learn to set goals that are specific, controllable, and connected to what they actually do in training and competition, not just where they want to end up. Athletes will leave with a written performance plan they can carry into their next practice immediately.

format

Held at the Raising Strength office: 2210 Encinitas Blvd, Suite K2, Encinitas CA 92024

• 6 sessions, 1 hour each, once per week

• Boys cohort and Girls cohort

• Small group: 4-8 athletes

• Open to grades 9-12, any sport

what’s included

• 6 weekly sessions

• Session handouts, kept in a folder athletes will bring back each week

• A Raising Strength t-shirt

bring your own group

Have 4-8 athletes, a team, a training group, a friend group, who want to go through the program together outside the scheduled cohort times? Contact me at alli@raisingstrength.net to discuss forming your own group and timing. Same program, same price.

about

Dr. Alli Carpenter is the founder of Raising Strength®, a mental performance coach working with high school athletes on the psychological skills that support performance and well-being in and beyond sport.