As mentioned earlier, it is not uncommon to hear the mental approach to performance - whether that be in a sport, exercise or music setting - as being something that you either have or you don't. Too often the mental approach is treated as an irrelevant aspect of skill development or is something that is not possible to develop or improve. We at Winning Essence strongly disagree with this view.

Everything we do at Winning Essence is founded on years of research findings into how to develop talent, enjoyment, motivation and how to promote skill acquisition using well established psychological principles. Sport and Exercise Psychologists are prevalent in most professional sporting establishments now and their expertise is becoming more widespread in exercise settings.

Mental skills are no more or less important than any of the other skill acquisition areas detailed in our skill development chart. The importance of each aspect will vary depending on the beliefs of each individual. However, mental skills can be acquired with practice in the same way as technical, physical and tactical skills. All you need is somebody with the right skills and knowledge to explore this area with. That is where we at Winning Essence can help.

If you remain unconvinced, just listen to any post-match interview with a professional athlete in any sport and the emphasis will predominantly be on how the player mentally handled the situation. That is what makes the difference in the end.