Mindset Matters: The Key to Student Athlete Success

For student-athletes, understanding and developing the right mindset can be crucial for success both in sports and academics.

Defining Mindset

A mindset is a set of beliefs that guide our perceptions, and subsequently, our actions. 

These beliefs are internalized from several sources, like: 

• Peers
• Media
• Parents
• School and Youth Club Coaches 
• Teammates

And these internalized beliefs have a huge impact on our behavior, even down to the level of our digestion.

In one famous study, for example, researchers told participants that they were eating a healthy shake or a dessert shake. In reality, the shakes were identical. In digestion, they were anything but. 

People who were told that the shakes were dessert metabolized significantly fewer calories than those who were told it was healthy. 

Same ingredients, different outcomes, because of different beliefs. 

You can learn more about the science of mindset here.

Mindsets are built through feedback and language. It’s about what’s communicated by parents, coaches, and peers. 

How to build a growth mindset

When I played soccer growing up (pretty competitively), my dad used to offer me money if I scored a goal. 

At the time, it was awesome - my friends would rally around me and set me up to score, and we’d split the winnings (sorry you’re just learning this now, Dad). 

The problem was it incentivized the outcome. 

I didn’t learn anything about how to score, just that scoring was the most important thing. And if I didn’t score, I’d be bummed that I didn’t contribute in a way my dad thought worthy of reward. 

I know he meant well - but he, unintentionally, steered me toward a mindset of outcome over process, fixed mindset over growth mindset. 

Instead, it would’ve been ideal for him to reward me for my hard work, the decisions I made in-game, and how I treated my teammates. For student-athletes, this means focusing not just on game-day performance, but also on daily improvements in practice and academic efforts.

That would have led to a more consistent valuing of hard work and good decisions, rather than just scoring goals. (What he did get right, however, was helping build my confidence that I could score.)

Characteristics of a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that outcomes are determined by hard work, effort, and persistence. 

We want these sources of influence to be talking about each of the following drivers of performance, often.

The basics of building a growth mindset involve focusing feedback on:

• Hard work
• Effort
• Persistence 
• Learning opportunities

Any messages about the value of these 4 components will promote a growth mindset. 

For example, you can congratulate someone after a successful performance by saying, “You worked hard to reach your goal.” Or you can foster learning after failure by asking, “What could you learn from this and do differently next time?” before helping them move on.

Balancing Growth and Fixed Mindsets

Importantly, this doesn’t mean you can’t also talk to your performer about their natural talents. 

That’s what we’ve gotten wrong about growth mindset in the past - that it’s an either/or with a fixed mindset, and that growth is good and fixed is bad. To the contrary, science suggests we want both/and: a growth mindset (the belief that effort matters for outcomes) and a fixed mindset (the belief that talent matters too).

Combining these two mindsets can help your responses look like [Athlete B] rather than [Athlete A]. You need to understand and believe in the value of hard work - and you need to appreciate how your talents can help you bounce back.

This balanced approach is particularly important for student-athletes, who need to believe in both their innate abilities and the power of hard work to succeed in sports and academics.

Dr. Alex Auerbach is a sport psychologist, mental performance coach, and co-founder of Mettle, a program that brings peak performance practices to youth athletes. Formerly the Director of Player Wellness and Development for the Toronto Raptors, Alex works with elite athletes across major sports leagues and the Olympics, specializing in high performance, leadership, and mindset training. Alex lives in Tucson, Arizona and consults with athletes and teams throughout the world.