Sport psychology · Cornwall and online
Reimagine your performance limits
I help athletes, teams and coaches build the mental skills to perform under pressure, bounce back from setbacks and enjoy their sport again.
Who I help
Support for everyone around the performance
Athletes
1:1 support
For athletes aged 14 and over, from academy and county level upwards, in any sport. We work on what's getting in the way and build skills you can use straight away.
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Teams & academies
Squad programmes
Workshops and season-long support that build a shared language for pressure, standards and culture across the whole group.
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Coaches & parents
Workshops
Practical sessions on how to support young athletes' confidence, motivation and wellbeing, without adding to the pressure.
Find out more →In their words
What athletes say
“Mike worked with me to make noticeable changes to my mental preparation and performance in rugby. We built a plan tailored to me, focused on managing nerves, and he gave me practical techniques like breathing and self-talk that I could use before matches. His experience in high-level sport made our conversations feel relatable and realistic, and I always felt confident and happy to share.”
Academy rugby player
“Before I started working with Mike, I was struggling with how I thought in pressure situations. He’s helped change my thought process in those moments, so I’m more confident in the way I play. For anyone thinking about sport psychology support, it’s a great idea. It helps in every sporting situation, and with how you manage yourself when something goes wrong.”
Golfer
Sound familiar?
Talent isn't the problem. Something else is getting in the way.
Most athletes I work with aren't short of ability. They're dealing with the mental side of sport that nobody trained them for. The good news is these are skills, and skills can be learned.
See everything I help with →- You train brilliantly, then freeze on the big day
- One mistake turns into a bad half
- Your confidence rides on your last result
- Nerves and anxiety take over before competing
- You've lost some of the love for your sport
- Your comeback from injury feels harder mentally than physically
- You're struggling to balance sport with school, college or work
- Being dropped or overlooked has knocked your confidence
My approach
Built on what matters to you
Every athlete is different, so there's no script. But my work usually brings together four things, all grounded in sport and exercise psychology research.
01 · Values
Know what drives you
We start with what matters to you: the kind of athlete and person you want to be. Values give you something solid to hold onto when results go up and down.
02 · Skills
The 5 C's
Commitment, communication, concentration, control and confidence. We measure where you are, then build the skills that make the biggest difference, from managing anxiety and arousal to staying focused under pressure. See what I help with.
03 · Pressure
Red to green
Everyone goes "red" under pressure. You'll learn to spot your warning signs and use a quick reset routine to get back in control.
04 · Reflection
Learn from every performance
Simple before-and-after routines help you learn from good days and bad, so progress keeps building between sessions.
The science, simply
The approaches behind my work
My work draws on four well-researched approaches. No jargon, just practical tools you can use in training, competition and everyday life.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
How you think affects how you feel, and how you feel affects how you play. CBT helps you spot the unhelpful thoughts that creep in under pressure and swap them for ones that help you perform.
In practice: turning “I always miss these” into “Pick my spot, trust my technique.”
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Nerves and doubts are normal; even the best athletes feel them. Instead of fighting them, ACT helps you notice those feelings, let them be there, and still do what matters to you when it counts.
In practice: feeling nervous before kick-off, and playing your game anyway.
Psychological Skills Training
The mental equivalent of training in the gym. These are practical skills you learn, practise and use until they become second nature, so they hold up under pressure.
- Breathing control
- Imagery
- Goal setting
- Self-talk
- Pre-performance routines
- Sleep hygiene
In practice: a slow breath and a picture of your best performance before you step up.
Mindfulness
Training your attention to stay in the present moment, rather than replaying the last mistake or worrying about the result. It helps you notice what's happening in your body and mind without getting carried away by it.
- Mindful breathing
- Body scan
- Present-moment focus
In practice: bringing your focus back to the next play, not the scoreboard.
The 5 C's profile
See your mental game take shape
You score yourself on each of the 5 C's and your scores draw your profile. Every few weeks we score again, so you can see exactly where you've grown.
Example profile. Try the sliders to see how the shape changes.
- 1Commitment8.5Motivation, drive and keeping the love for your sport.
- 2Communication6.2Team roles, speaking up, and working well with coaches and parents.
- 3Concentration7.4Focus under pressure, choking, the yips and moving on from mistakes.
- 4Control4.1Managing nerves, anxiety and arousal so you stay composed when it gets loud.
- 5Confidence5.8Self-belief that holds up after mistakes, setbacks and injury.
Your smallest point becomes our next focus. The profile makes progress visible for athletes, parents and coaches alike.
An injury ended my playing career. It started this one.
I was a footballer until injury ended my playing ambitions. It was during that time that my academy director introduced me to imagery work, and I saw first-hand what the mental side of sport could do.
Since then I've spent 25 years teaching sport psychology and working with athletes and teams, and I'm now in the final year of my professional accreditation.
Read my storySupport between sessions
Your journal and check‑in app
The work doesn't stop when a session ends. Clients get access to my performance journal and check-in app, designed to keep the skills going day to day.
- A two-minute daily check-in on sleep, energy, mood and stress
- Before- and after-competition routines
- A guided "Reset now" breathing tool for pressure moments
- Your values and your 5 C's profile, updated each block and shared only if you choose
Your entries stay on your own phone. You choose what to share.
