
The Sporting Mind: Overcoming Mental Barriers For Better Performance
From The Real Science of Sport Podcast by Professor Ross Tucker and Mike Finch
April 28, 2026 · 1h 30m · Season 8 · Episode 9
About this episode
Dr Josie Perry discusses the mental challenges athletes face and strategies to overcome them.
English sports psychologist Dr Josie Perry delves into the mental challenges that often hold sportspeople back from success. From the role of our own mental threats to the traits that are present in successful athletes. Perry offers a fascinating insight into the psychology of performance. The team also delve into the prevalence of ADHD in top-performing sportspeople, why mental toughness may not be a good thing, how training can help us overcome mental blocks and the role of techniques like visualisation and mantras. Perry is a chartered psychologist working with top performers in sport, on stage, and in business. Perry has a background in communications and behaviour change, having worked for many years in journalism, marketing, public relations and crisis communications across private corporations and government. She has an MSc in Communications, an MSc in Psychology and an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. She also has a PhD in Political Communications. She is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a member of the Association of Applied Sports Psychologists (AASP) . She is registered with the Health Care Professions…
People in this episode
Hosts: Professor Ross Tucker, Mike Finch
Guest: Dr Josie Perry
Topics covered
- mental barriers
- sports psychology
- ADHD in athletes
- mental toughness
- visualisation techniques
- performance enhancement
Keywords
- sports psychology
- mental performance
- ADHD
- mental toughness
- visualisation
- mantras
- performance enhancement
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: British Psychological Society, Association of Applied Sports Psychologists, Health Care Professions Council
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