Hi! I'm Ashley Ainsworth - Mental Game Coach, Competitor, and Educator
I help athletes strengthen their mental skills, build confidence, and perform at their best using skills learned from my background in competitive sports, school counseling, & sports psychology.
For more insights into my approach to mental performance coaching, you can listen to me discuss my methods and experiences in the following interview on the Educational AD Podcast.
I Help You Improve Your Mental Game
I’m Ashley —a mental performance coach, athlete, and educator dedicated to helping athletes build confidence, focus, and resilience. With Master’s degrees in Sport & Exercise Psychology and School Counseling, plus 15+ years of coaching and competitive athlete experience, I understand the mental side of performance inside and out.
As a former competitive soccer player & CrossFit athlete turned head women’s college soccer coach, I’ve lived the pressure athletes face—and I teach them how to thrive through it. My coaching blends proven sport psychology strategies with strength training and holistic development to help athletes unlock their full potential.
Whether you’re a youth athlete, college competitor, professional athlete, or an athlete striving to perform to your potential, I’ll meet you where you are—and help you get where you want to go.
Proven Sports Psychology Strategies, Personalized for Each Athlete
One-on-one mental game coaching that builds confidence, focus, and resilience through real-world mental performance tools
Accordion Content
You may be physically prepared for competition, but setbacks or perceived failures can still shake your confidence. Mental toughness is the key to turning these challenges into fuel for growth. Success is learned through failure, and building mental toughness is an essential part of unlocking your true potential.
If you want to develop lasting mental toughness habits, the right tools, sports psychology strategies, and accountability can make all the difference. This program provides the guidance and resources needed to train your mind for peak performance, break down complex goals into achievable steps, and maintain focus and resilience in any situation. Whether in competition or beyond, you’ll gain the skills to become mentally tough and achieve your goals with confidence.
Do you feel overwhelmed, nervous, or anxious before competition, especially in the days leading up to it? Does this anxiety impact your confidence, performance, and enjoyment of your sport? Many athletes struggle with sports performance anxiety, which can make the difference between feeling successful or defeated.
The good news is that anxiety can be managed using specific sports psychology strategies. By identifying its causes and learning strategies tailored to your needs, you can take control of your mindset and perform at your best. Feeling some nerves before competition is normal—it shows you care—but finding the optimal balance between nerves and excitement is key to peak performance.
This program provides proven techniques to help athletes reduce anxiety, build confidence, and develop a strong mental state. With consistent training, you’ll see significant improvements and rediscover your love for competing. Start today and unlock your potential with strategies designed to keep you calm, focused, and ready to win.
Learning to lead is a key goal for athletes, helping them become confident decision-makers, inspire teammates, and excel in pressure situations. Our athlete leadership coaching focuses on developing essential skills such as collaboration, communication, confidence-building, and problem-solving, while empowering athletes to lift others up with these same skills.
With our program teaching specific sports psychology strategies, athletes can develop leadership abilities that extend far beyond their athletic careers, equipping them to face life’s challenges. Learn how to lead with confidence, motivate teammates, and guide your team to success. If you’re ready to unlock your potential and become the authentic leader your team needs, get started today and take control of the game with our coaching.
Coping with adversity can be challenging, often leading to increased anxiety, self-doubt, and feelings of failure. However, with the right mindset, athletes can overcome any obstacle and turn challenges into opportunities for growth and success. By developing an elite athlete mentality, you can shift your perspective, embrace adversity, and view it as a stepping stone rather than a setback.
Through consistent coaching, athletes learn to share their daily struggles and receive tailored strategies to improve how they handle obstacles. With the right tools, athletes develop a structured routine to stay mentally strong, maintain a positive attitude, and turn setbacks into motivation. Our coaching provides proven methods and sports psychology strategies to help you stay motivated under pressure and use past experiences to fuel future success.
Adversity is inevitable, but with our support, you’ll gain the resilience to stay focused and positive, no matter the challenges you face. Let us help you become mentally tough and succeed when it matters most.
Emotions can either propel athletes forward or hold them back in sports, but the key is understanding that emotional control is within your power. Athletes face a wide range of emotions every day—happiness, fear, anxiety, anger, excitement, and more—which can impact performance. Without understanding and managing these emotions, athletes may struggle to grow or reach their full potential.
Emotional control begins with understanding who you are as an athlete. Through personalized coaching and sports psychology strategies, you can learn to recognize how emotions affect your performance and develop strategies to channel them effectively. With the right tools, athletes can create an elite mindset, control their emotions, and transform adversity into opportunities for growth.
This program equips athletes with the skills to regulate their emotions, stay focused under pressure, and build confidence. By mastering emotional control, you can turn challenges into motivation and reach your highest potential. Let us help you take your game to the next level by empowering you to control your emotions and elevate your performance.
Train Your Mind Like You Train Your Body
Visualization & Guided Imagery to Prepare, Perform, & Succeed
Visualization is a powerful mental game strategy rooted in sports psychology, used by elite athletes to sharpen focus, boost confidence, and mentally rehearse success. By guiding athletes through targeted imagery exercises, we strengthen their mental game, helping them prepare for high-pressure moments, improve consistency, and bounce back faster from setbacks. When athletes see it, they start to believe it—and then they achieve it.
Turn Goals into Game Plans
Strategic Goal Setting that Drives Motivation and Results
Effective goal setting is a key mental game skill grounded in sports psychology, giving athletes direction, purpose, and a clear path forward. We go beyond vague goals by teaching how to set specific, actionable targets that build confidence and momentum. Whether it’s overcoming a slump, improving performance, or reaching the next level, goal setting strengthens the mental game and keeps athletes focused and accountable—one step at a time.
Build the Voice that Builds You Up
Positive Self-Talk to Boost Confidence and Crush Doubt
An athlete’s inner voice is a critical part of their mental game—it can be their greatest weapon or their biggest obstacle. Using principles from sports psychology and mindset training, we teach athletes how to use positive self-talk to reframe negativity, quiet self-doubt, and speak with the confidence of a top performer. This mental skill sharpens focus, strengthens emotional control, and reinforces belief under pressure—especially in high-stakes moments when it matters most.
Train with Purpose, Perform with Clarity
Intentional Training that Translates to Performance Results
Intentional training is a key part of building a strong mental game. Grounded in sports psychology and mindset training, it helps athletes focus on what matters most—mental skills, habits, and effort. Instead of going through the motions, athletes learn to approach each practice and performance with clarity, structure, and mental focus. This approach strengthens routines, accelerates growth, and leads to more consistent performance under pressure. When athletes train with intention, confidence and results follow.
Stay Calm. Stay Present. Stay in Control.
Mindfulness & Breathing Techniques to Handle Pressure and Perform Your Best
Mindfulness and breathing techniques are essential mental skills taught through sports psychology and mindset training. They help athletes strengthen their mental game by learning how to slow down, reset, and refocus—especially under pressure. These tools improve emotional control, reduce anxiety, and sharpen focus, allowing athletes to respond—not react—when it matters most. With consistent practice, athletes become more present, composed, and mentally tough in both competition and everyday life.
Lead with Confidence. Communicate with Clarity.
Building Stronger Teammates Through Leadership and Communication Skills
Great athletes don’t just perform—they lead. Leadership and communication are key mental skills developed through sports psychology and mindset training. By strengthening their mental game, athletes learn how to speak up, support teammates, and lead by example. These skills build trust, sharpen decision-making, and boost confidence on and off the field. Whether or not they wear the captain’s band, every athlete can lead with clarity, purpose, and presence.
Block Out the Noise & Lock In on what Matters
Simple Focus Strategies to Improve Performance and Eliminate Distractions
Distractions, pressure, and overthinking can disrupt even the most talented athletes—but focus is a mental skill that can be trained. Through mindset training and sports psychology strategies, athletes learn how to sharpen their mental game by staying present and focused in any situation. Whether it’s during practice, competition, or high-stress moments, focus training helps athletes tune out noise and lock in on what they can control—leading to greater clarity, consistency, and confidence when it matters most.
Build Habits and Routines that Create Results
Performance Routines to Create Consistency and Confidence Under Pressure
Performance routines are a foundational mental skill in sports psychology and mindset training. They help athletes strengthen their mental game by feeling prepared, focused, and in control before practices, competitions, or high-pressure moments. By building personalized pre-performance habits, athletes reduce anxiety, boost confidence, and create consistency in how they show up. These routines turn chaos into structure and allow athletes to perform at their best—no matter the situation.
Stay Cool in the Heat of Competition
Emotional Control Strategies to Compete with Composure and Confidence
Big moments bring big emotions—but managing them is a crucial part of the mental game. Through emotional regulation training rooted in sports psychology and mindset development, athletes build the mental skills to stay composed, bounce back quickly, and respond—not react—under pressure. Whether it’s frustration, nerves, or fear, learning to master emotions leads to better decision-making, greater resilience, and stronger performances when it matters most.
Confidence isn't Given - It's Trained
Proven Strategies to Help Athletes Believe in Themselves and Perform Boldly
Confidence is the foundation of a strong mental game and consistent performance. Using sports psychology principles and targeted mindset training, we help athletes build confidence from the inside out—through goal setting, mental skills development, and focusing on effort over outcome. With personalized coaching, athletes learn to trust their training, bounce back from setbacks, and compete with belief—even under pressure. When confidence grows, performance follows.
Get Stronger When It Gets Tougher
Build the Resilience to Bounce Back and the Grit to Keep Going
Mental toughness is a cornerstone of the mental game—built through sports psychology, mindset training, and real-world challenges. It’s not just about pushing through; it’s about adapting, refocusing, and showing up with purpose after every setback. Through resilience training and mental skills development, athletes learn how to stay composed under pressure, recover quickly from mistakes, and keep competing when things don’t go their way. These mindset tools turn adversity into fuel—and tough moments into turning points.
Reflect. Learn. Grow.
Journaling & Self-Reflection to Build Awareness and Accelerate Progress
Journaling and reflection are powerful mental skills used in mindset training and sports psychology to strengthen an athlete’s mental game. They create space to process experiences, track growth, and learn from both wins and setbacks. These tools build self-awareness, clarify goals, and reinforce the mindset shifts made during coaching. With consistent reflection, athletes gain clarity, take ownership of their progress, and approach competition with greater focus and intention.
Speak Up. Stand Strong. Trust Yourself.
Building Self-Advocacy and Inner Confidence to Lead from Within
Athletes perform their best when their mental game includes self-belief and the ability to advocate for themselves. Through sports psychology and mindset training, athletes develop the mental skills to communicate clearly, set boundaries, and make confident decisions both on and off the field. Advocacy and self-trust training strengthen leadership, build independence, and create lasting confidence rooted in self-awareness—not just results.
FAQ's About Mindset Training for Athletes
Accordion Content
Sports psychology is the study of how mental and emotional factors influence athletic performance. At Able Athletics Mindset, we apply sports psychology strategies to help athletes strengthen their mental game, build confidence, and develop resilience. This includes techniques like visualization, goal setting, and emotional regulation to enhance focus and performance.
The mental game refers to the psychological aspects of athletic performance, such as focus, confidence, and emotional control. Mastering the mental game is crucial because it enables athletes to perform consistently under pressure, recover from setbacks, and maintain motivation.
While physical training develops the body, mindset training focuses on cultivating mental skills like concentration, confidence, and resilience. At Able Athletics Mindset, we integrate mindset training into our coaching to ensure athletes are mentally prepared to face challenges and perform at their best.
Aspire Mindset provides remote mental performance coaching tailored to athletes across various sports. Services include one-on-one coaching sessions focusing on mental skills development, such as goal setting, stress management, and leadership training. Our programs are designed to help athletes overcome mental barriers and achieve peak performance
Ashley Ainsworth is a mental performance coach with a Master’s degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology and School Counseling. With over 15 years of experience as a coach and competitive athlete, including roles as a head women’s college soccer coach, Ashley specializes in helping athletes build confidence, focus, and resilience through personalized coaching programs.
We work with athletes of all ages and from various sports backgrounds. Whether you’re a youth athlete, college competitor, or professional, our coaching programs are tailored to meet your specific needs and goals.
Athletes can develop a range of mental skills, including:
Visualization
Goal Setting
Positive Self-Talk
Emotional Regulation
Focus and Concentration
Leadership and Communication
These skills are integral to enhancing performance and achieving consistency in competition.
Effective goal setting provides athletes with direction and motivation. By setting specific, actionable targets, athletes can focus their efforts, track progress, and build confidence, leading to improved performance and resilience.
Yes, our coaching includes strategies to manage stress and anxiety, such as mindfulness techniques and breathing exercises. These methods help athletes stay composed under pressure, maintain focus, and perform at their best during high-stress situations.
Athletes can expect to see improvements in confidence, focus, and overall performance. Our coaching aims to equip athletes with the mental tools needed to handle pressure, recover from setbacks, and consistently perform at their highest level.
While individual progress varies, many athletes begin to notice positive changes within a few weeks of consistent mindset training and application of mental skills strategies.
Absolutely. We tailor our coaching programs to address each athlete’s unique challenges and goals, ensuring that the strategies and techniques provided are relevant and effective for their specific situation.
To begin, you can schedule a free consultation call through our website: Schedule a Free Call. During this call, we’ll discuss your goals, challenges, and how our coaching can support your athletic journey.
Yes, all our coaching sessions are conducted remotely, allowing athletes from across the United States to access our services conveniently and effectively.