Mind Games: Boost Your Athletic Edge!

Products & Rubric

High School Grade Project 4 weeks

Mind Games: Boost Your Athletic Edge!

Joe M

Apr 8, 2026

Updated Apr 9, 2026

12.4.PF.6

12.2.PF.9

CH.PH.02.14

12.2.MH.5

CH.PH.02.12

+ 7 more

1-pager

The Challenge

Mental skills such as focus, confidence, stress regulation, and self-talk directly affect performance in sports and other high-pressure settings, yet they are often undertrained compared with physical skills. When you lack strategies to manage pressure, setbacks, and attention, performance becomes less consistent, stress increases, and both individual and team results can decline.

Challenge Question

How can we use mental training to increase athletic performance?

Standards

[Massachusetts] 12.4.PF.6 - Design strategies and tactics to elicit a higher level of performance during a variety of sports, athletic, or physical activities. [PE]
[Massachusetts] 12.2.PF.9 - Set a goal and create a practice plan to improve performance for a self-selected skill. [PE]
[Massachusetts] CH.PH.02.14 - Apply advanced movement concepts and beginning game strategies to guide and improve individual and team performance
[Massachusetts] 12.2.MH.5 - Set a goal, create a plan, monitor progress, and celebrate success for plans that maximize efficiency and minimize stress. [HPE; SE]
[Massachusetts] CH.PH.02.12 - Participate in activities that promote physical fitness, decrease sedentary lifestyle, and relieve mental and emotional tension

Competencies

Learn with Purpose - Develop a plan to pursue a goal (LI.1)
Learn with Purpose - Monitor progress and adjust (LI.2)
Learn with Purpose - Give and receive feedback (LI.3)
Learn with Purpose - Engage in discussion (LI.4)
Learn with Purpose - Reflect (LI.5)
Sustain Well-Being - Nurture my identity (SW.1)
Sustain Well-Being - Build affirming life practices (SW.2)

Learning Partners and Clients

A local high school athletic director or varsity coach can serve as the primary client by reviewing students’ 2-week mental performance plans and giving feedback on whether the routines are realistic, sport-specific, and aligned to team expectations. These partners can connect strategies from Mind Gym and the sport psychology elective to actual athletic performance, practice habits, and competitive mindset. If available, a school counselor, athletic trainer, or strength and conditioning coach can also provide input on stress management, goal setting, and healthy performance routines.

Plan

By Phase By Day Calendar

Discover

Students will launch the project, gather firsthand evidence from athletes and school sports stakeholders, and use those observations and conversations to frame a community-grounded mental performance challenge, define end users, and generate inquiry questions for deeper investigation.

Days 1 - 2

🏁 Mind Gym Kickoff & Athlete Voices

Launch 45m

📝 Challenge Definition

Deliverable 45m

Examine

Students will investigate how mental training affects athletic performance by gathering evidence from coaches and athletic leaders, evaluating source quality, analyzing root causes behind inconsistent performance and stress, and using that evidence to define a strong direction for a sport-specific mental performance solution.

Days 3 - 11

🧭 Interview Protocols for Coaches

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

🎤 Coach Interview & Field Notes

Community Experience 45m

📚 Source Evaluation Report

Deliverable 45m

🧠 Mental Skills Data Sprint

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

🕸️ Five Whys Cause Map

Project Work 45m

📝 Root Cause Analysis

Deliverable 45m

🔁 Evidence Roundtable Revisions

Deliverable 45m

🛠️ Plan Components Workshop

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

📣 Solution Proposal

Deliverable 45m

Engineer

Students will turn research and community input into a viable mental performance solution by analyzing strong exemplars, generating and comparing multiple plan concepts, testing ideas with a coach or athletic leader, and documenting a revision-ready design for a 2-week mental performance plan and team workshop.

Days 12 - 17

🧠 Mind Gym Plan Criteria

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

📘 Exemplar Exploration

Deliverable 45m

🧪 Hypothesis

Deliverable 45m

🎯 Coach Concept Feedback

Community Experience 45m

🗂️ Creation Plan

Deliverable 45m

🔄 Solution Development Report

Deliverable 45m

Students will implement a testable version of their mental performance solution with athletes or athletic stakeholders, collect evidence on how it works in practice, and use community feedback plus performance data to judge effectiveness and identify revisions before the final sharing phase.

Days 18 - 19

🗂️ Implementation and Data Collection Plan

Deliverable 45m

📊 Implementation Results

Deliverable 45m

Students will present the full story of their mental performance work to an authentic athletic audience, show how coach or athletic director feedback shaped their final plan, and document their growth, impact, and next steps for continued use of mental training in sport.

Day 20

🌟 Growth Reflection

Assessment 45m

Discover Days 1–2

Day 1

🏁 Mind Gym Kickoff & Athlete Voices

Launch 45m

Day 2

📝 Challenge Definition

Deliverable 45m

Examine Days 3–11

Day 3

🧭 Interview Protocols for Coaches

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

Day 4

🎤 Coach Interview & Field Notes

Community Experience 45m

Day 5

📚 Source Evaluation Report

Deliverable 45m

Day 6

🧠 Mental Skills Data Sprint

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

Day 7

🕸️ Five Whys Cause Map

Project Work 45m

Day 8

📝 Root Cause Analysis

Deliverable 45m

Day 9

🔁 Evidence Roundtable Revisions

Deliverable 45m

Day 10

🛠️ Plan Components Workshop

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

Day 11

📣 Solution Proposal

Deliverable 45m

Engineer Days 12–17

Day 12

🧠 Mind Gym Plan Criteria

Knowledge/Skill Building 45m

Day 13

📘 Exemplar Exploration

Deliverable 45m

Day 14

🧪 Hypothesis

Deliverable 45m

Day 15

🎯 Coach Concept Feedback

Community Experience 45m

Day 16

🗂️ Creation Plan

Deliverable 45m

Day 17

🔄 Solution Development Report

Deliverable 45m

Do Days 18–19

Day 18

🗂️ Implementation and Data Collection Plan

Deliverable 45m

Day 19

📊 Implementation Results

Deliverable 45m

Share Days 20–20

Day 20

🌟 Growth Reflection

Assessment 45m

June 2026

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

1 Day 1

Discover

🏁 Mind Gym Kickoff & Athlete Voices

2 Day 2

📝 Challenge Definition

3 Day 3

Examine

🧭 Interview Protocols for Coaches

4 Day 4

🎤 Coach Interview & Field Notes

5 Day 5

📚 Source Evaluation Report

8 Day 6

🧠 Mental Skills Data Sprint

9 Day 7

🕸️ Five Whys Cause Map

10 Day 8

📝 Root Cause Analysis

11 Day 9

🔁 Evidence Roundtable Revisions

12 Day 10

🛠️ Plan Components Workshop

15 Day 11

📣 Solution Proposal

16 Day 12

Engineer

🧠 Mind Gym Plan Criteria

17 Day 13

📘 Exemplar Exploration

18 Day 14

🧪 Hypothesis

19 Day 15

🎯 Coach Concept Feedback

22 Day 16

🗂️ Creation Plan

23 Day 17

🔄 Solution Development Report

24 Day 18

🗂️ Implementation and Data Collection Plan

25 Day 19

📊 Implementation Results

26 Day 20

🌟 Growth Reflection

Mind Games: Boost Your Athletic Edge!

The Challenge

Challenge Question

Standards

Competencies

Learning Partners and Clients

Edit Phase

Edit Phase

Edit Phase

Edit Phase

Edit Phase

June 2026