What is mindset coaching, and why should we teach it to youth athletes instead of waiting until college?
Mindset coaching is simply helping athletes understand how their brains work so they do not default to the worst possible scenario when pressure hits.
Instead of leaving confidence up to chance, I give teen girl athletes tangible, practical tools they can use on and off the field:
1. Reframe Mantras: Simple phrases to interrupt doom-and-gloom thinking and redirect focus.
2. Mistake Rituals: A quick, physical or mental reset to move past errors (because mistakes happen, and that is okay).
3. Breathwork: Practical breathing techniques to either calm game-day nerves or bring energy up before competition.
Professional and collegiate athletes have used mental performance training for years. Developing female athletes deserve access to the exact same support. Mindset is a trainable skill, not something reserved for the pros.
What is one mental skill you wish you had learned earlier in sports?
Coach Sarah Stack
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On a mission to change the way we approach coaching tween and teen female athletes, and to normalize discussions about how nutrition and mindset work influence athletic performance and success in life beyond sports.
08/14/2026
For teen girl athletes, drinking water throughout the school day is what actually keeps their bodies cool, energized, and ready to perform by the time they hit the gym or the field. Waiting until they're sweating to start hydrating is too late.
Fuel for performance means treating water as a non-negotiable part of her daily routine, not just a sideline accessory.
Moms, a simple habit to build this week: make sure she’s packing a full water bottle in her school backpack, not just her gym bag. Small changes create long-term development. 💧
08/13/2026
To the athlete crying in the car after practice (or the mom about to share this with her):
The standard in youth sports right now tells you that if you aren't grinding 24/7, you're falling behind. That resting is weak. That every mistake is a failure.
Here's what most people miss: recovery isn't a reward for working hard. It's a mandatory part of your training.
You are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to have a bad practice.
You are allowed to not be perfect.
You are allowed to eat, sleep, recover, laugh, and have a life outside your sport, and still be deeply committed to becoming the athlete you want to be.
Confidence isn't about never making mistakes. It's a skill you build by learning how to bounce back from them.
You don't have to break yourself to become better. You need a system that actually supports you as a female athlete.
It's not always the obvious stuff. It's the daily patterns nobody's talking to her about.
Here's what most people miss with teen girl athletes:
1. Chronic under fueling. She's burning more than she's taking in and her body is paying for it in performance, mood, and recovery.
2. Hormones and her cycle going unaddressed. Her energy, strength, and focus shift throughout the month. If her training and nutrition aren't accounting for that, she's working against herself.
3. Ignoring her body's signals. Fatigue, hunger, pain. Her body is communicating but if no one's taught her to listen, she'll push through until something breaks down.
4. Untrained mindset. Self-doubt, negative self-talk, fear of failure, these aren't personality traits. They're coachable skills that most programs skip entirely.
The problem isn't her effort. It's that she's never had a system built specifically for her.
That's exactly what I work on in 1:1 mindset and nutrition coaching, helping teen girl athletes understand their bodies, fuel for performance, and build the mental skills to compete with confidence.
Which of these four is showing up most for your athlete right now?
08/06/2026
Here's what most people miss about youth sports: we've normalized playing through pain.
When a teen girl athlete says something hurts, it’s not a lack of mental toughness. It’s a signal.
Too often, girls are coached with an outdated mentality that tells them to just tough it out.
But pushing through persistent pain usually leads to one thing: burnout or injury.
Better isn't harder. Recovery is training. If we want our daughters to thrive in their sport long-term, we have to teach them to listen to discomfort early before it becomes an injury that sidelines them for the season.
07/30/2026
I get asked this question all the time:
"What exactly do you do as a coach for teen girl athletes?"
Here's what most people don't realize: female athletes aren't just smaller male athletes.
They need coaching that's designed for their physiology, their mindset, and their stage of development.
When a family comes to me, we don't jump straight into training. I start by getting to know the athlete, her goals, personality, challenges, sport, and where she needs the most support.
From there, we determine the best path forward.
That might include
-1:1 mindset coaching
-1:1 nutrition coaching
-strength and conditioning
-team training
Because every athlete is different, every coaching plan should be too. My job is to meet her where she is and give her the tools to become the athlete and the young woman she's capable of becoming.
Your daughter deserves coaching that sees her as a whole person, not just an athlete.
If you're navigating club sports, school athletics, or the demands of high-level competition with your athlete, send me a DM. I'd love to talk about how we can support her.
"Push through it."
It’s a phrase we hear constantly in youth sports. But for teen girl athletes, this outdated mindset often leads straight to burnout and injury.
Female athletes are not smaller male athletes. Their bodies are developing, their physiology is unique, and their training needs to reflect that. When we tell a young athlete to ignore her body's signals and just "push through," we aren't building mental toughness. We're teaching her to disconnect from the very cues that keep her healthy and performing at her best.
Better isn't always harder. Sometimes, better is knowing when to rest. Recovery is training.
Let's change the standard. Start teaching her to listen to her body, so she can stay in the sport she loves for the long haul.
Coach her as a girl.
07/09/2026
I spent years coaching, and I kept seeing the same pattern.
Preventable injuries.
Nagging back pain.
Rolled ankles.
Burnout.
No one had taught them how to move well, train intentionally, and build a strong foundation. That’s when I knew it was my mission to make training better for teen girl athletes.
My goal isn’t just to help girls become stronger athletes. It’s to help them build confidence, stay healthy, and develop movement patterns that serve them for years to come.
teen girl athletes, youth strength training, injury prevention, athletic development, sports performance
The standard advice for girls who aren't performing at the level they're capable of?
Train harder. Push more. Do what the boys do.
That's not a coaching strategy and too often, it's costing girls their confidence, their health, and their love of the sport.
Teen girl athletes have unique physiological, psychological, and developmental needs. Generic training programs weren't designed with those differences in mind.
When we ignore that, we create athletes who are injured, burned out, frustrated, and wondering why they're not reaching their potential.
Training girls well means:
✅ Programming designed for the female athlete
✅ Fueling to support performance and recovery
✅ Building confidence and mental resilience alongside strength
✅ Prioritizing recovery as part of the training plan
That's what we do here.
And that's what every girl athlete deserves.
👇 Comment POWER and I'll send you everything you need to know about how we help girls train smarter, perform better, and build confidence that lasts far beyond their sport.
Teen girl athlete | Girls sports performance | Female athlete training | Youth strength training | Sports nutrition | Confidence in sports | Athlete development | Coach Sarah Stack
06/23/2026
Nutrition, mindset, and recovery have always mattered.
For too long, they've been treated as extras instead of essentials.
That's why I built a program specifically for teen girl athletes—one that gives mindset, nutrition, training, and recovery the attention they deserve.
Because your daughter deserves more than generic coaching.
She deserves support that was built with her in mind.
👉 DM POWER to learn more.
teen girl athlete, sports nutrition for girls, pre game nutrition, athlete fueling, athlete gut health, sports performance, female athlete development
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New Orleans, LA