Raising Elite Competitors

Athletes: Your brain finds evidence for whatever you tell it. Take the quiz to find your competitor style, then watch your personalized playlist → https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy

The words you say to yourself during practice aren't just thoughts. They're instructions your brain follows - and "this is too hard" is sending your brain straight to the exit.

👋🏼 I'm Coach Bre, a Certified Mental Performance Coach and former 4x state championship volleyball coach with 14 years of experience. I help girl athletes ages 11-18 build unshakeable confidence and develop the mental skills that create a competitive advantage. At The Elite Competitor, we believe your mental game is what separates good athletes from great ones.

In this episode, I'm breaking down:
✅ Why "this is too hard" quietly tanks your performance
✅ The science behind why your brain builds a case against you
✅ The 3-word swap that keeps your brain working FOR you
✅ How athlete Laura used mental tools to win a championship

This is the mental rep most athletes skip. The ones who don't? They're the ones who get better faster.

🕓 Key Moments:
00:00 Intro & Community Shoutout 
01:02 The Problem: "This Is Too Hard" 
01:36 Coach Brie's Story 
02:30 The Science: Reticular Activating System 
04:12 The Swap: "I'm Figuring It Out" 
05:45 Your Challenge & Call to Action

💬 Athletes - comment below: try this at your next practice then let me know how it goes 👇

💡 MENTAL TRAINING RESOURCES FOR ATHLETES:
🔗 Free Training: trainhergame.com
🔗 The Elite Mental Game Program: elitecompetitor.com/emg
🔗 Instagram: @raising.elite.competitors
🔗 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (for athletes!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
📩 Questions? Email us: [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes.

P.S. If you're curious about the science behind this - here's what the research shows:
⚡️ Athletes who use positive self-talk improve performance by up to 23% compared to athletes using negative self-talk (Hatzigeorgiadis et al., Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2011)
⚡️ Athletes with a growth mindset are 34% more likely to persist through challenging tasks than those with a fixed mindset (Dweck, Stanford University)
⚡️ 80-85% of elite athletes use intentional self-talk as a performance strategy - yet most young athletes are never taught how (Association for Applied Sport Psychology)

The Raising Elite Competitors channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping girl athletes and their sports moms strengthen the mental game so she can perform her best when it matters most.

#girlathlete #athletemindset #mentaltraining

Six brain facts unpacked. Learn how to help her use her brain to her advantage. Free training for sports moms 👉 https://trainhergame.com/mom 

When she freezes, spirals after one mistake, or mentally checks out under pressure, most people call it a confidence problem. It's not. It's six specific, documented brain functions that nobody ever taught her how to work with.

🙋‍♀️ Hi, I'm Coach Bre, a certified Mental Performance Coach and former collegiate athlete with 14 years of coaching experience, including 4 state championships. I'm also the co-founder of The Elite Competitor and host of the Raising Elite Competitors podcast, where I help sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game so they can perform their best when it matters most. 

In this episode, I'm breaking down the real neuroscience behind what's happening in her mind during competition and exactly what you can say and do to help.
Including:
✅ Why visualization before competition is actual training time
✅ The one-word swap that Harvard research says improves performance
✅ How her mistake response in practice is wiring her response in games
✅ Why she replays the one bad play and ignores five great ones
✅ The daily habit that rewires her brain to scan for progress

You are not helpless watching her struggle. You have more influence over her mental game than most parents realize - and this video shows you exactly how to use it.

💬 Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction
01:13 Brain Fact #1: Visualization
02:42 Brain Fact #2: Anxiety vs. Excitement
04:24 Brain Fact #3: Your Brain Believes What You Repeat
05:53 Brain Fact #4: Practice Wires Your Response
07:53 Brain Fact #5: Negativity Bias
09:45 Brain Fact #6: The Brain Is Trainable
11:24 Recap & Next Steps

💬 Moms - comment below: which of these 6 brain facts surprised you most? 

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

P.S. A few stats worth knowing:  
⚡️ Athletes who told themselves "I'm excited" instead of "I'm nervous" performed measurably better under pressure - not calmer, actually better. (Harvard Business School, Alison Wood Brooks)
⚡️ Mental rehearsal activates the same neural pathways as physical practice. Two minutes of visualization before competition is not downtime. It's training. (Cleveland Clinic)
⚡️ 70% of youth athletes quit organized sports by age 13, with pressure and lack of enjoyment cited as top reasons. The mental game is not optional. (Aspen Institute Project Play, 2019)

The Raising Elite Competitors is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.    

#girlssports #mentalperformance #sportsparenting #girlathlete #youthsports

I shared this with coaches recently, and the response was so strong I had to bring it to you moms too. Start here 👉 https://trainhergame.com/mom

She's got the skills. The drive. But the moment pressure hits, it all falls apart. And "just be more confident" hasn't helped once.

👋🏼 Hi, I'm Coach Bre, a mental performance coach for girl athletes, Co-Founder of The Elite Competitor, and a head volleyball coach and 4-time state champion.

Confidence isn't a pep talk. It's a skill. And in this episode, I'm sharing the three tools I've used with my own athletes for 7 years to actually build it.

You'll learn:
→ Why "shake it off" makes mistakes worse, not better
→ How body language directly affects how confident your daughter feels
→ The 5-minute daily routine that rewires her brain before practice

These are the same tools behind four consecutive state championships. They work. And you can start supporting her with them today.

⏱️ Key Moments
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Why "Be Confident" Doesn't Work
01:52 Tool #1: The Snapback Routine
03:49 Tool #2: Body Language
05:08 Tool #3: Daily Mindset Routine
05:22 The 3-2-1 Brave Method
07:17 Visualization & Neuroscience
07:30 Wrap Up & Next Steps 

📩 Want to connect? Email us at [email protected]

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

P.S. A few stats worth knowing:
⚡️ Fewer than 10% of high school athletes receive any formal mental skills training, yet research shows it significantly improves confidence and resilience. (Association for Applied Sport Psychology)
⚡️ Mental imagery activates the same neural pathways as physical practice - meaning visualization is literally practice for the brain. (Driskell, Copper & Moran, Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology)
⚡️ Athletes who regulate emotions quickly after errors consistently outperform those who ruminate, regardless of raw skill level. (Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, University of Chicago) 

The Raising Elite Competitors YouTube channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most. 

 #mentalperformance #girlathlete #sportsparenting

She had a full ride. And still walked away. If your daughter is questioning whether to keep going, this conversation is worth every minute.

Lyrik Fryer is the co-founder of Work Play Branding, a multimillion dollar media company whose clients have appeared in Target, Times Square, and Oprah's Favorite Things.  Before all of that, she was a Division I soccer player at Florida International University, navigating perfectionism, recruitment pressure, and two ACL tears before making one of the hardest decisions of her athletic career.

👋🏼 I'm Coach Bre, a mental performance coach for girl athletes, Co-Founder of The Elite Competitor, and a head volleyball coach and 4-time state champion. In this episode, Lyrik gets honest about what it felt like to play under pressure, what her mom did that gave her the security to trust herself, and what she wishes someone had said to her at 14.

Here's what you'll hear:
✅ Why athletes feel the weight of parent expectations even when nothing is said
✅ What her mom did that gave her the confidence to walk away on her own terms
✅ How two ACL tears shifted her identity before she ever made the call to leave
✅ What great coaches get right that most coaches completely miss
✅ The one thing she'd tell every athlete stuck inside the pressure bubble

Key takeaways for sports moms:
→ Your unconditional support is one of the biggest competitive advantages your daughter has
→Athletes often just need permission, not more pressure, to make the right decision
→ Perspective is the mental tool most athletes never get in high school
→ Great coaches make every player feel seen, not just the starters

⏱️ Key Moments
00:00 Introducing Lyrik
02:02 Growing Up in Soccer
03:38 The Pressure to Perform
07:06 Battling Perfectionism
12:03 Two ACL Tears
14:59 Deciding to Walk Away
23:44 What Moms and Coaches Should Know
30:02 What Sports Really Taught Her
33:06 Advice to Her 14-Year-Old Self
37:25 Final Thoughts & Where to Find Lyrik

📩 Want to connect? Email us at [email protected]

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg 

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes

Nerves used to shut her down. Now she's taking first place. Grab the same training Baylor's mom did to help her → https://trainhergame.com/mom

Meet Baylor, our February Athlete of the Month inside the Elite Mental Game. She's 11 years old, figure skates and does rodeo, and she sat down with Coach Saylor to share exactly what shifted for her mentally and what her mom changed that made the biggest difference.

In this episode, you'll hear:
➡️ How Baylor went from blacking out with nerves to competing with confidence
➡️ The simple two-second reset she now uses before and during competitions
➡️ What her mom stopped doing after losses that changed everything
➡️ Why asking for help mid-competition is a sign of strength, not weakness
➡️ How she's applying the same mental tools to two completely different sports

This one is for the athlete AND the mom watching from the bleachers. 💛

The tools Baylor uses aren't complicated. They're the same ones we teach inside the Elite Mental Game, and watching an 11-year-old use them this effectively is a good reminder that it's never too early to build these skills.

💬 Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction
00:21 Meet Baylor
01:03 Baylor's Background & Sports
02:02 Passion for Figure Skating & Rodeo
03:02 Joining the Elite Mental Game
04:06 Mindset Tools: Affirmations & Snapback Routine
08:04 Competition Wins & Bouncing Back
13:40 Family Support & Future Goals

Athlete of the month episodes are hosted by REC Coach Saylor, a mental performance coach for girl athletes. I empower girl athletes with tools to build confidence and manage pressure so they can compete freely and passionately. New AOTM episodes every month! 

📌 Free Tools & Next Steps
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg 

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 
P.S. - Stats worth knowing:
💛 Athletes who use structured pre-performance routines - including breathwork, cue words, and physical anchors - show significantly higher performance consistency under pressure compared to those without routines (Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Cotterill, 2010)
💛 Research from the University of Washington shows athletes whose parents focus on effort and controllable behaviors, rather than outcomes, report higher self-esteem, lower anxiety, and greater sport enjoyment (Smith & Smoll, University of Washington)
💛 Athletes who begin mental performance training before age 14 are significantly more likely to continue sport participation and report higher confidence levels in high school competition (Gould & Maynard, Journal of Sports Sciences, 2009)