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Physical Education

The Mental Game

Overview

Students explore the mental side of sport through discussion, a pressure activity, and reflection on their own mental skills.

Learning Objective
Students understand how concentration, confidence, and managing pressure affect sports performance.

Resources needed

  • Open space
  • Simple physical task — e.g. target throw or balance

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Discuss: have you ever performed worse when people were watching? Why?
  2. 2 Introduce the concept: pressure affects performance — even for professionals.
  3. 3 Activity: perform a simple task (balance on one leg, throw at a target) alone — then with the whole class watching and counting aloud.
  4. 4 Compare results: did performance change under pressure?
  5. 5 Discuss: what mental skills help athletes perform under pressure? (breathing, focus word, routine).
  6. 6 Teach a pre-performance routine: take a breath, say a focus word, begin.
  7. 7 Repeat the pressure activity using the routine — does it help?

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Discuss a famous sporting pressure moment and analyse the athlete's response.
  • Students write their own personal focus word and explain why they chose it.
  • Role play: one student is a nervous athlete, another is a sports psychologist — what advice is given?
More information

Teach: pressure, concentration, routine, focus, confidence, anxiety. The pre-performance routine concept translates well across cultures — many have equivalent practices.

Students who find group pressure genuinely distressing should be allowed to observe and discuss rather than perform in front of others.

Can students explain why pressure affects performance? Did the routine change their experience of the second pressure activity?

No equipment needed for the discussion. The simple physical task uses whatever is available — a stone to balance on the back of the hand works perfectly.

Students think mental strength means not feeling nervous. Teach that nervousness is normal and even helpful — the skill is using it rather than fighting it.

Sport psychology is increasingly recognised as a core component of athletic performance. Teaching it to students builds emotional regulation skills that extend far beyond sport.

Activity details
Secondary Medium 25 minutes no prep Whole Class, Small Group Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Sport Psychology Concentration Pressure