Start With a Clearer View of Your Mental Performance
Athletes are often told to be more confident, stay focused, forget the last play, or relax under pressure.
Those instructions may be well-intended. They are not always specific enough to change what happens next. The Mental Performance Index gives you a starting point for a better conversation about how you experience performance.
What the assessment is for
A Starting Point, Not a Label
The Mental Performance Index is designed to help identify patterns worth discussing.
It may help an athlete and coach begin with questions such as:
- What happens when the athlete feels the result matters most?
- What does the athlete try to protect?
- What is the earliest sign of drift?
- How does the athlete respond after a mistake?
- How clearly can the athlete connect goals to behavior?
- How does the athlete evaluate a poor, solid, or strong performance?
- What support may be useful next?
The assessment does not replace direct conversation. It gives that conversation more structure.
What It Is Not
The Mental Performance Index is not:
- A mental-health diagnosis.
- A medical assessment.
- A pass-or-fail score.
- A prediction of playing time, statistics, recruitment, scholarships, wins, or career success.
- A public ranking of athletes.
- Permission to share private coaching information.
What Happens Next
Individual Athlete Path
- Take the general Mental Performance Index.
- Review the result experience provided through the approved platform.
- Get annual access to The Game Within.
- Apply for monthly or biweekly coaching when direct support is the right fit.
- Use approved follow-up measures to review change over time.
Team and Program Path
Teams use a separate, approved assessment link created for the specific program.
The team process may include individual athlete accounts, a dedicated paywall, a program dashboard, recurring team sessions, and optional private coaching.
Privacy and Minors
For athletes under 18, the parent or legal guardian process must be completed before paid coaching begins.
Before any team engagement begins, participants and families must be told:
- What assessment information is collected.
- What the athlete sees.
- What Shawn sees.
- What the team dashboard shows.
- Who can access individual or team-level information.
- What stays private.
- How information may be used during team coaching.
- How accounts and records are handled when the program ends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the assessment tell me whether I am mentally tough?
No. It provides a starting point for discussion and practice. It should not be used as a permanent label.
Can I take it without joining coaching?
Yes. The general link can be used as the first step before deciding what support is appropriate.
Can a team use the same public link?
A team should use a team-specific link so enrollment, reporting, dashboard access, and consent are handled correctly.
Will my results be public?
They should not be public. The final result and data workflow must be confirmed before launch, and the privacy terms must explain who receives what information.
How often should I retake it?
Only at approved intervals tied to a clear review purpose. Repeated testing should compare like periods and should not become constant score chasing.
What is a mental performance assessment for athletes?
Who should take the Mental Performance Index?
The Mental Performance Index is designed for athletes who want a clearer understanding of how they respond to pressure, mistakes, expectations, and changing performance.
It may be especially useful for athletes who:
- Overthink during practices or competition
- Struggle to reset after a mistake
- Experience inconsistent performance under pressure
- Have difficulty connecting goals to daily behaviors
- Feel their performance determines their personal value
- Want a mental performance baseline before beginning coaching
- Are performing well but want a more intentional way to review and improve their mental game
Athletes may take the assessment individually or through an approved team mental performance program. For athletes under 18, a parent or legal guardian must complete the required enrollment and consent process before paid coaching begins.
What areas of mental performance does the assessment explore?
The Mental Performance Index explores patterns connected to how an athlete experiences and responds to performance.
The assessment is designed to support discussion around areas such as:
- Pressure and self-protection: What feels at risk when the outcome matters?
- Fear and expectations: How does fear of failure, disappointment, or judgment affect the athlete?
- Drift patterns: What triggers, thoughts, emotions, or behaviors pull the athlete away from their best?
- Response to mistakes: How quickly and effectively can the athlete reset after an error or setback?
- Purpose and behavior: Can the athlete connect long-term goals and personal purpose to daily choices?
- Performance evaluation: Can the athlete distinguish between a poor, solid, and strong performance without treating every result as either success or failure?
- Support and practice needs: What mental performance habits or coaching priorities may be useful next?
The assessment does not reduce an athlete to one score. It creates a more useful starting point for personal practice, mental performance coaching, or a team development plan.
What happens after completing the assessment?
After completing the Mental Performance Index, the athlete uses the approved results experience as a starting point, not as a final judgment or grade.
The next step depends on the athlete’s goals and level of support:
- Independent athlete path: The athlete may continue into The Game Within, BETTER’s annual mental performance course and athlete community.
- Monthly coaching path: The athlete may apply for one private mental performance coaching session per month with Shawn Collins.
- Biweekly coaching path: Athletes who need more frequent support may apply for coaching every other week.
- Team or program path: Athletes participating through a team may follow a team-specific process that includes individual accounts, recurring sessions, approved assessment reviews, and a controlled program dashboard.
When coaching is selected, the assessment helps establish the first coaching priorities. Shawn and the athlete can identify specific patterns to work on, connect the course material to real practices and competitions, and determine how progress will be reviewed.
Follow-up assessments may be used at approved intervals to compare patterns over time. The purpose is not constant score checking. It is to determine whether the athlete is becoming more aware, more intentional, and more consistent in how they respond when performance pressure is real.
Take the Assessment, Then Choose the Right Next Step
The goal is not to earn a perfect score. The goal is to see your current patterns more clearly and practice one responsible response at a time.