FREE About 6 minutes · Ages 8–18

What's your athlete's Mirror Score?

72Green Zone Example score 33 quick questions. Athletes 13+ can take it themselves. ResetSelf-talkFocusConfidencePressurePreparationOwnershipTeammate A 0–100 score across 8 mental skills The one skill to train next, with a drill What they do in hard moments, never how they feel
Who's filling this out?

Parent, start here

Sport

The full breakdown goes to your email. I also send a short email most weeks about the mental side of youth sports; unsubscribe in one click.

The research behind it
  • The 8 skills follow the most widely used athlete mental-skills questionnaire, the ACSI-28 (Smith, Schutz, Smoll & Ptacek, 1995): bouncing back from mistakes, focus, confidence, playing under pressure, freedom from worry, goal setting and mental preparation, and taking coaching. Like it, each skill gets 4 questions.
  • Self-talk: training what athletes say to themselves improves performance (meta-analysis of 32 studies; Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2011).
  • Pre-game routines improve performance, including under pressure (meta-analysis; Rupprecht, Tran & Gröpel, 2021).
  • Picturing success (imagery) improves performance (meta-analysis; Simonsmeier et al., 2021).
  • Confidence is asked about specific plays, because belief in a specific skill tracks performance best (Moritz et al., 2000).
  • Ownership: athletes who judge themselves on effort and improvement tend to enjoy the game more and worry less (achievement goal research).
  • Built for kids: four answers, all in words, about real game moments: what survey research with children recommends (Borgers, de Leeuw & Hox).
  • Honest answers: shuffled order, a consistency check, and one check question that flags answers that sound too perfect.
  • What isn't proven yet: these exact questions haven't been tested in a study. It's a coaching snapshot, not a validated test or a diagnosis.

A coaching snapshot, not a test or a diagnosis. Mental performance training, not counseling. If your athlete is carrying something heavier than a game, call or text 988.

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Text this to your athlete.

When they finish, they'll see their score and you'll get the full breakdown by email. The link works once, for 14 days.

Something to send with it:

Hey, can you take this for me? It's 33 quick questions about how you handle the hard moments in games. No wrong answers, just be honest. You'll see your score at the end.

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Athlete, this part is yours

33 quick questions.

Pick what you actually do, not what sounds best. An honest score is the only one you can improve.

Stuck between two answers? Pick the lower one. Everybody rates themselves a little high, and a real starting point is what shows your progress later.

No rush. Take a breath before each one.

You'll see your score at the end. Your mom or dad gets the full breakdown.

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Scoring

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