Mali Mental Performance

Mali Mental Performance Evidence-based sport psychology for tennis players and athletes.

Comment “INTAKE” and I’ll send you a way to book a free 20-min performance intake with either me or one of my staff. Or ...
01/09/2026

Comment “INTAKE” and I’ll send you a way to book a free 20-min performance intake with either me or one of my staff. Or just tap the link in my bio.

Before your match, you watch Rafael Nadal chase down balls, fight for every point, and rip fist-pumps.You spend a few mi...
25/08/2026

Before your match, you watch Rafael Nadal chase down balls, fight for every point, and rip fist-pumps.

You spend a few minutes on YouTube watching your other favorite athletes compete and battle hard and *fight*.

Montages. Epic music. C’mons.

For a few minutes, you feel ready to run through a wall.

“I can do it. I can play well. I can win!”

Then… the match begins.

You miss two early returns.
Your arm tightens.
The inspiration fades away from your body and mind

That video you watched is already a distant memory.

Gone. P**f.

And you’re nervous. And choking.

And you’re thinking, “What’s going on?!”

You wasted your pre-match preparation.

You watched dumb motivational videos, thinking that they’d transfer to actual changes in how you performed.

They didn’t.

And they don’t.

Don’t get me wrong.

Inspiration is useful.

But inspiration is a feeling—not a skill.

A video cannot build your between-point routine for you.

It cannot tell you what to do when your thoughts start going wild in your head.

It cannot rehearse your:

Breathing skills.
Imagery use.
Attentional control.

And it cannot replace practicing these psychological skills.

This is where a lot of online sport psychology content falls short.

It tells you clichés:

“Be confident.”
“Stay positive.”
“Compete hard.”

Without showing you what to do.

You’re left to figure out the details yourself.

Or you’re left whispering stupid platitudes like, “Be positive.”

It doesn’t work like that...

That’s why I created the “Play like you practice blueprint.”

Inside, I teach the core concepts:

Performance anxiety management
Imagery
Routines

And then give you checksheets and guided recordings so you can actually train them and use them...

In an easy-to-understand mini-lesson.

The goal is to help you compete with:

Less unnecessary tension.
Better focus
A level closer to what you know from practice.

You will still have difficult days.

But you won’t have to rely on random inspirational quotes, videos, and feelings—which come and go—to compete at a great level.

Comment “blueprint” and I’ll DM it to you. Or just visit our website:

https://malimentalperformance.com/education/play-like-you-practice-blueprint

25/08/2026

Clients come in with this idea that, "there must be something wrong with me and I'm mentally weak." I strongly disagree. It's more about the story you've learnt to tell yourself based upon your lack of psychological skills. If you consistently are unable to succeed because of choking or lack of performance, then it's understandable you might develop the idea that, "I'm messed up." But in reality... it's just about learning how to navigate the challenges of compete—things a mental performance/sport psychology consultant helps with!

Dumb motivational videos may make you feel a certain way but they don’t build the skills required to perform well.Commen...
23/08/2026

Dumb motivational videos may make you feel a certain way but they don’t build the skills required to perform well.

Comment “blueprint” and I’ll dm you the short system to build mental skills that will help you perform your best in matches and tournaments.

“My mind was bouncing off the walls.”Comment “play” and I’ll send you a place to enter your email so you can get the fre...
29/07/2026

“My mind was bouncing off the walls.”

Comment “play” and I’ll send you a place to enter your email so you can get the free email course.

Struggling to deal with negative thoughts when competing? Comment “negative” on this post and I’ll DM you the article wh...
25/07/2026

Struggling to deal with negative thoughts when competing? Comment “negative” on this post and I’ll DM you the article where I explain why it happens and 1 method to overcome it.

Tired of playing scared tennis in matches? Comment “nervous” on this post and I’ll DM you the article where I break down...
16/07/2026

Tired of playing scared tennis in matches? Comment “nervous” on this post and I’ll DM you the article where I break down why this happens and what you can do about it.

06/07/2026

[Comment "play" and I'll DM you a way to join]

Yes, playing more matches can help because an athlete can become emotionally habituated to the environment! But... often that's not enough. That's why so many clients I work with have heard this cliché advice but still struggle.

It's because they've not been taught and don't know how to use psychological skills to mange their mind, body, and their attention. That's what a mental performance/applied sport psychology professional does.

05/07/2026

The players I work with who are playing at a high collegiate or professional level are usually those who are incredibly harsh on themselves. That’s where self-compassion can be so different for them...

I know Jodie and Justin disagree and say different things work for them later on in the video. I’ll probably make a reaction reel to those eventually. They are 100% right! Different things work for different people. For , it seems he really connects with self-compassion.

It’s made up of 3 major components (based on Kristin Neff’s work):

Mindfulness
Common humanity
Self-kindness vs self-judgement

Try it out… and let me know your thoughts.

Address

Botany, NSW
2019

Telephone

+61424198558

Website

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