Patrick Cohn

Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D., earned his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Virginia in 1991, specializing in sports psychology, and founded Peak Performance Sports in 1994. Dr. Cohn is an author, professional speaker and one of the nation’s leading mental game coaches. His coaching programs for young athletes instill confidence, composure and effective mental strategies that enable athletes and teams to reach their performance goals.

Nurturing Kids’ Mental Game Strengths To Boost Performance

Youth Sports Psychology

Helping Sports Kids’ Boost Performance Your sports kids likely have mental game strengths–whether or not they’ve had any mental game training. It’s a good idea to identify and nurture these strengths. This will help your sports kids understand the value of having a strong mental game. Understanding the keys to … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How to Motivate Talented Young Athletes Who are Early Bloomers

Youth Sports Psychology

Sports Kids Who Are Their Own Worst Enemy Young athletes who develop early or who possess raw talent often are their own worst enemies. Why? Things come too easy to them. They’re so used to picking things up quickly that they often aren’t open to working hard to learn. “You … Read Sport Psychology Tip

3 Top Challenges for Sports Kids – And one Solution

Youth Sports Psychology

Enjoying Youth Sports Sports parents have lots of theories about why their kids aren’t performing well or enjoying youth sports. They say things like, “He’s really talented, but he stops trying after he makes mistakes. He needs to feel more secure.” Or: “Whenever the coach gives my daughter any kind … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Can Young Athletes Improve Faster with Playful Practice?

How Choking Hurts Athletes’ Performance 

Being Playful in Youth Sports Being playful in sports–finding ways to laugh and joke around during practice–isn’t just for fun. It actually helps kids improve faster in sports. That’s the word from Gary Avischious, founder and head coach of coachingschool.org. Avischious learned about the science of play at the National … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Helping Young Athletes Embrace Mental Training

Youth Sports Psychology

Mental Training Benefits For Kids Here’s one former sports kid who has lots of good things to say about the benefits of mental training: “Dr. Patrick Cohn, I am so happy to see you exposing the true potential and impact of mental training with children.  As a gymnast, I used … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Are Your Athletes Searching For Answers

Youth Sports Psychology

Sports Kids Who Fail to Perform in Competition Many parents and coaches contact us every day at Peak Performance Sports asking why their kids look like stars in practice, but fail to perform well in competition. Actually, failing to perform well in competition is the number one reason athletes seek me … Read Sport Psychology Tip