There is a gap between what athletes are told about mental performance and what the research actually supports.
Athletes are told to “stay positive.” To “block out the noise.” To “just relax.” These instructions sound reasonable, but they are based on a flawed assumption — that the path to performance runs through controlling your internal experience.
The research tells a different story. The athletes who perform most consistently under pressure are not the ones who have eliminated anxiety, doubt, or distraction. They are the ones who have learned to act effectively alongside those experiences. That distinction — performing with difficult thoughts rather than waiting until they disappear — is the foundation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and the framework that underpins the Mental Performance Model (MPM).
The athletes who perform most consistently under pressure are not the ones who have eliminated anxiety, doubt, or distraction.
The Problem with “Think Positive”
Positive thinking as a performance strategy has an inherent limitation: it treats unwanted thoughts and feelings as obstacles to be removed. But research on thought suppression consistently shows that trying to eliminate a thought increases its frequency and emotional intensity.
Tell yourself “don’t think about missing” and your brain helpfully provides a vivid image of missing. The instruction itself contains the content you are trying to avoid.
ACT does not attempt to override your thoughts. Instead, it teaches a set of skills that change your relationship with those thoughts. The key concept is psychological flexibility — the ability to be present with whatever is happening internally while choosing behaviour that aligns with your values (Hayes et al., 2006).
What ACT-Based Training Actually Looks Like
ACT-based mental performance training teaches six core processes, all integrated through the ACT Matrix:
Present moment awareness. Not “clear your mind.” Rather, redirect attention to the task at hand — the physical sensations of the activity, the tactical demands of the moment, the next action in your routine. You practice noticing when your mind has drifted to outcomes (winning, losing, stats) and returning your attention to the process.
Cognitive defusion. The ability to step back from a thought and see it as a thought, rather than a command. “I’m going to lose” becomes “I notice I’m having the thought that I’m going to lose.” The thought is still there. But it no longer dictates your next action.
Acceptance. Making room for uncomfortable feelings without trying to control or eliminate them. Pre-competition anxiety is not a sign that something is wrong. It is a normal physiological response. The skill is allowing it to be there while you execute your preparation.
Values-aligned action. Getting clear on what kind of athlete you want to be — in training, in competition, and when things go wrong. Then building specific behaviours around those values, so you have a concrete alternative to avoidance when pressure hits.
Self-as-context. Developing the capacity to observe your own experience without being defined by it. You are not “an anxious athlete.” You are an athlete who sometimes experiences anxiety. The distinction matters, because it creates space for choice.
Committed action. Translating values into consistent, repeatable behaviour patterns. Not grand gestures, but the daily actions that compound over time — showing up to training with intention, maintaining your routine under pressure, communicating with teammates when you would rather go quiet.
Research on internet-delivered ACT with competitive athletes has demonstrated feasibility and positive participant experiences, with athletes reporting that the skills transferred directly into their performance environments (Reinebo et al., 2024).
Why This Approach Suits Athletes
Athletes already understand the concept of training a skill through structured repetition. ACT-based mental performance training works on the same principle. You are not trying to feel different. You are training a set of cognitive and behavioural skills, the same way you train a physical skill — through deliberate practice, progressive difficulty, and real-world application.
Athletes already understand the concept of training a skill through structured repetition.
The MPM online courses are structured as four-to-five-minute microlessons with built-in practice activities. Each lesson teaches one concept and provides one application. The skills build sequentially across thirty lessons.
This is not therapy. It is psychoeducation and skill acquisition, designed for athletes and performers who want a structured approach to the mental side of their performance.
Free Technique: Present Moment Awareness in Training
Here is one exercise you can try in your next training session.
Pick one five-minute block during training. In that block, every time your mind wanders to outcomes — winning, losing, stats, what someone else is doing — gently return your attention to the physical sensations of the activity. Feet on the ground. Hands on the ball. Breath rhythm. The texture of the surface beneath you.
Count how many times you redirect your attention. That number is not a measure of failure. It is a measure of reps. Each redirect is a repetition of the skill of present moment awareness. The athlete who redirected twelve times in five minutes just completed twelve reps of the most fundamental mental performance skill there is.
Over time, the redirections come faster. The gaps between wandering and noticing shrink. You spend more time in the task and less time in your head. That is the training effect.
From Techniques to a Structured Program
Isolated techniques are useful, but they are not sufficient. The MPM provides the structure that turns individual skills into an integrated mental performance framework. Three pillars — Mental Fitness, Social Fitness, and Neuro Fitness — each addressing a different dimension of performance, designed to work together.
If you want evidence-informed mental performance training delivered in a format that fits around your existing schedule, the MPM is worth a look.
Explore courses at rawedge.au/courses
References
- Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1-25. PMID: 16300724. Full research references at rawedge.au/research
- Reinebo, G., Bjorverud, L. G., Parling, T., Andersson, G., Jansson-Frojmark, M., & Lundgren, T. (2024). Development and experiences of an internet-based acceptance and commitment training (I-ACT) intervention in ice hockey players. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, 1297631. Full research references at rawedge.au/research
Aaron Williams is an AHPRA-registered psychologist (PSY0002297677) and the founder of RAW Edge Performance. He works with athletes and performers across sport, performing arts, and high-performance environments.