Summary: Progress in mental training cannot be reduced to competition results alone. It can be measured through a scientific assessment carried out at the beginning of the coaching process and repeated throughout the season. By objectively evaluating concentration, stress management, confidence, mental imagery, or performance routines, it becomes possible to track progress, adjust mental training, and better understand the factors that sustainably influence sports performance.
When an athlete decides to work with a mental coach, one question almost always comes up:
“When will I start seeing results?”
This is a legitimate question. When investing time, energy, and money in a coaching process, it is natural to want to know how progress can be measured.
However, the answer is more complex than it may seem.
In physical preparation, progress is relatively easy to objectively measure: speed, heart rate, power output, recovery time, or maximum load can all be assessed. In technical development, improvements can be observed through changes in skills execution or statistics.
Mental training, however, is often perceived as more abstract. Many athletes believe they need to wait for an important victory or an outstanding competition performance to see whether mental training is working.
In reality, progress in mental training often becomes visible well before improvements in sports results. It first appears in the way athletes think, manage their emotions, make decisions, and maintain concentration when pressure increases.
This is precisely why a serious coaching process begins with a scientific assessment of mental skills.
Why measure progress in mental training?
The goal is not simply to know whether an athlete feels better.
It is about understanding which mental skills are already well developed, which ones need further improvement, and how they evolve over time.
Just as a strength and conditioning coach assesses speed or power before designing a training programme, a mental coach begins by identifying an athlete’s psychological profile.
This approach offers several benefits:
- establishing an objective starting point;
- personalising mental training;
- measuring progress throughout the season;
- adapting exercises as needs evolve;
- maintaining motivation through concrete indicators.
Mental training therefore moves beyond being based solely on personal impressions. It becomes observable and measurable.
The mental training assessment: the starting point
Every coaching process begins with a mental skills assessment.
This is not simply a conversation about difficulties experienced during competitions.
The assessment is based on several scientifically validated questionnaires and tests that are widely used in sport psychology. These tools help evaluate the main mental skills that directly influence performance.
Among the reference tools are the OMSAT (Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool) and the TOPS (Test of Performance Strategies). These questionnaires explore different dimensions of psychological functioning in order to establish an accurate profile of the athlete.
This initial assessment provides a genuine snapshot of the athlete’s psychological functioning at a specific point in time.
It highlights existing resources as well as skills that can be developed through structured mental training.
Which skills are assessed?
The assessment focuses on several essential skills related to performance.
These include:
- concentration;
- self-confidence;
- management of pressure and performance anxiety;
- goal setting;
- motivation;
- mental imagery;
- pre-competition preparation routines;
- relaxation;
- self-talk;
- control of internal and external distractions.
Each skill is assessed using standardised scales.
The results are then interpreted using scientific references in order to obtain a reliable and objective profile.
The objective is never to classify athletes as “good” or “bad”.
The aim is to understand where their main strengths lie and which areas of development will have the greatest impact on their progression.
The questionnaires also compare training and competition situations
One of the most interesting aspects of certain questionnaires, particularly the TOPS, is that they assess mental strategies in two different contexts: training and competition.
This distinction is particularly valuable.
Many athletes use their mental skills effectively during training but experience greater difficulties when the stakes become higher.
The questionnaires explore situations such as:
- Are you able to quickly regain your concentration after making a mistake during training? And during competition?
- Do you set specific goals before your training sessions as well as before your competitions?
- Do you use positive self-talk when pressure increases?
- Do you take the time to use breathing or relaxation techniques before important competitions?
- Do you remain committed to your game plan when the score becomes tight?
- Are you able to manage your emotions effectively when the stakes become higher?
Comparing responses between these two contexts often reveals highly valuable differences.
It is not uncommon for an athlete to demonstrate excellent concentration during training, but experience a significant decrease in this skill during competition.
Conversely, some athletes are able to mobilise greater psychological resources when pressure increases.
This information then makes it possible to build a much more targeted coaching process.
The objective is not only to develop a mental skill, but above all to make it sufficiently robust so that it remains available when the stakes become significant.
Why feelings alone are not enough
Many athletes evaluate their progress solely based on their own perceptions.
After a poor competition performance, they may feel that they have lost confidence or that they are no longer able to manage stress.
However, this perception can sometimes be misleading.
A poor performance may be linked to significant fatigue, a higher level of opposition, or specific circumstances that have nothing to do with mental skills themselves.
Conversely, a victory can create the impression that everything is working perfectly, even though certain psychological skills remain fragile.
This is precisely why combining an athlete’s personal experience with objective measurements is valuable.
Questionnaires do not replace the athlete’s lived experience.
They complement it.
They help distinguish between a temporary emotional state and a genuine development of mental skills.
Throughout the season, this combination of objective data and personal feedback provides a much more accurate view of progress.
Mental skills are trained like physical abilities
Contrary to some common beliefs, self-confidence, concentration, and stress management are not fixed qualities.
They are psychological skills.
Like strength, endurance, or coordination, they can be developed through regular training.
A strength and conditioning coach does not simply ask an athlete whether they feel faster.
They measure speed.
They test power.
They monitor progress over time.
Mental training follows the same principle.
Rather than relying solely on personal impressions, it seeks to measure the development of skills that play a decisive role in performance.
This approach makes it possible to transform sometimes unclear sensations into concrete indicators that can guide the work throughout the season.
The re-test: measuring the evolution of mental skills
The initial assessment provides the starting point. However, to truly measure progress in mental training, a second step is essential: the re-test.
After several weeks or months of coaching, the same assessment tools can be used in order to compare the results with those obtained at the beginning of the process.
This comparison makes it possible to observe the evolution of the different mental skills that have been developed.
For example, an athlete may observe improvements in:
- their ability to maintain attention despite pressure;
- their management of negative thoughts before competition;
- their use of mental preparation routines;
- their ability to quickly return to the task after making a mistake;
- their level of confidence in important situations.
The value of the re-test lies in moving beyond a purely subjective view of progress.
An athlete may sometimes feel that they are “not improving” because their competition results do not yet match their expectations. However, the data may show significant development in their mental skills.
This information is essential because mental development often precedes visible improvements in sports performance.
Mental progression does not always follow a straight line
As with any form of learning, progress in mental training is not always linear.
An athlete may experience periods of strong confidence, then go through a phase of doubt or questioning.
This does not necessarily mean that they are regressing.
On the contrary, some challenging phases appear when athletes are progressing towards a higher level of demands.
A young athlete moving from a regional level to a national or international environment may temporarily feel that they are less able to manage pressure.
In reality, they are simply discovering new challenges:
- greater external expectations;
- stronger competition;
- higher stakes;
- increased media or institutional exposure.
The role of a mental assessment is precisely to provide perspective during these fluctuations.
It helps distinguish between a genuine decline in skills and a normal adaptation process to a new performance environment.
A concrete example: when mental progression comes before sports results
Let’s take the example of a 17-year-old football player developing within a high-performance environment.
During the initial assessment, his profile shows good concentration during training. He is able to remain engaged during exercises and follow tactical instructions.
However, the results reveal greater difficulties in competition situations: after a technical mistake or a missed opportunity, his attention becomes focused on the previous action. He then gradually loses his influence on the game.
Mental training will therefore focus on several areas:
- developing a recovery routine after mistakes;
- improving self-talk;
- strengthening the ability to quickly return to the present moment;
- learning to control attention during important moments.
After several months of work, the second assessment may show significant improvements in these skills.
The player will not necessarily become immediately more effective in every match statistic.
However, he will now have better resources to respond to the demands of competition.
This progression is essential because it creates the conditions required to sustainably express his sporting potential.
Why repeat a mental assessment during a season?
An athlete’s needs are constantly evolving.
A 15-year-old athlete learning to manage their first major competitions will not have the same needs a few years later when entering a professional environment.
Objectives change.
Responsibilities increase.
Sources of pressure evolve.
This is why a mental assessment should not be considered as a one-time evaluation carried out only once.
It is a monitoring tool that allows the coaching process to be continuously adapted.
At the beginning of a season, the focus may be on building routines and developing self-awareness.
During competition periods, greater emphasis may be placed on managing pressure, emotional recovery after mistakes, or maintaining a high level of concentration.
After an injury, a difficult period, or a change in sporting environment, a new assessment can also help identify the athlete’s specific needs at that moment.
Effective mental training is therefore a dynamic process.
It evolves alongside the athlete.
Measuring progress to strengthen motivation
Another important benefit of monitoring progress is its impact on motivation.
In high-performance sport, results are not always immediately visible.
An athlete may work for several months before achieving a significant improvement in competition performance.
This period can create frustration or a feeling of stagnation.
Regular assessments then help highlight intermediate progress.
An athlete may recognise that they recover more quickly after mistakes, manage their emotions more effectively, or approach competitions with greater confidence.
These developments represent genuine progress, even if they have not yet immediately resulted in a podium finish, selection, or victory.
Learning to identify progress strengthens sustainable motivation based on personal development and the pursuit of excellence rather than solely on immediate results.
Understanding yourself to perform better
Beyond scores and assessments, the true objective of a mental training assessment is to develop self-awareness.
Every athlete has a different way of functioning.
Some perform exceptionally well under pressure.
Others need to develop greater emotional stability.
Some recover quickly after a mistake.
Others remain focused on a negative action for a long time.
Understanding how you personally function allows you to adapt your mental strategies to the demands of your sport.
A swimmer does not prepare mentally in exactly the same way as a football player.
An individual athlete does not face the same constraints as an athlete competing in a team sport.
Mental training therefore becomes a genuine learning process in self-regulation: identifying your internal state, understanding what influences your performance, and using the right strategies at the right time.
Take your personalised mental training assessment
Measuring progress in mental training is therefore not only about waiting for the next sports result.
Progress begins with the initial assessment.
Through scientifically validated tests, it is possible to identify strengths, areas for development, and the mental skills that can be strengthened in order to better meet performance demands.
Regular monitoring then makes it possible to measure evolution, adjust objectives, and build mental training adapted to each stage of an athlete’s career.
In my work as a sports mental coach in Geneva and Lausanne, I use assessment tools derived from sport psychology to establish a personalised profile of each athlete’s mental skills.
This approach makes it possible to move beyond general impressions and build a coaching process based on concrete data, while respecting each athlete’s individual experience.