Mental Coaching: Master of the Mind Game

Mental coaching is a professional service aimed at increasing a player's psychological strength. Sports psychology is becoming increasingly important in football. Every EPL team employs at least one sports psychologist. They focus on restoring players' confidence, improving the ability to perform under pressure, and shaping goal-oriented thinking.

Mental coaching techniques are diverse: visualization (imagining the game beforehand), affirmations (repeating positive statements), goal setting (the SMART method), and stress management. Kylian Mbappé has openly stated that he works with a sports psychologist. Gareth Southgate gave special attention to psychological preparation during penalty shoot-out practices for the England national team — and it yielded results.

Sports psychology is not yet sufficiently developed in Uzbekistan's football. Many coaches understand "mental strength" only as temperament, but this is a scientific field. Shaping the mental health and self-confidence of young footballers is an important task for academies. Engaging professional sports psychologists will improve the quality of Uzbek football.