Athletes (and parents), hear me on this:

Most of the stress young athletes feel never comes from the game itself, it comes from the stories their mind creates before anything actually happens.

And that’s not preparation.
That’s fear disguised as planning.

Real preparation doesn’t come from imagining every worst-case scenario. Real preparation comes from building systems, habits, and routines that give you stability no matter what the game throws at you.

Because confidence, true confidence, only exists in the present moment. You can’t control tomorrow. You can’t fix last week. But you can dominate what’s right in front of you.

In my world as a mental performance coach, domination looks like this:

✅ A clear and inspiring vision for where you want to go
✅ A clean, resolved relationship with your past, no replaying old mistakes
✅ Full commitment to TODAY’S work, TODAY’S actions, TODAY’S opportunities

Not “when the season starts.”
Not “once I’m feeling confident.”
Not “after I fix everything that’s wrong.”

Today. This rep. This drill. This decision.

You win the big moments by stacking small wins, one after another, right now.

And let me tell you something from years of coaching:

You can sit down and map out 100 different scenarios, outcomes, and situations…
But number 101, the one you didn’t even think of, that’s the one that usually shows up.

So, what do the best athletes do?

They prepare themselves for what they WANT, not for what they fear.

They don’t train to avoid disaster; they train to chase excellence.

And that requires one thing:

A scoreboard.

Not a scoreboard that hangs in a gym.
A personal scoreboard, a tool that keeps you locked in on your own growth.

Here’s how you build it:

1️⃣ Define the results you actually want.
Not the vague stuff. Write down the specific outcomes you’re chasing.

2️⃣ Break those results into controllable actions.
Quarter by quarter. Possession by possession. Practice by practice.
Small, repeatable behaviors that move you forward.

3️⃣ After every game or training session, grade yourself out of 10.
Not emotionally. Not based on stats.
Based on whether you lived up to your standards.

Your job is simple:

Hit the scoreboard.
Beat the scoreboard.
Maintain the scoreboard.

That’s how you track real progress.
That’s how you get out of the comparison trap.
That’s how you build a steady, unshakeable confidence that doesn’t disappear when things get tough.

Everything outside of that?

Noise.

Ignore it and get back to work.

— Coach Dave

www.coachdave.me