Helping Athletes, Leaders, Teams, and Coaches Prepare, Overcome, Recover, and Thrive
Mental Performance
The Challenge
Even the great ones with great skill spent countless hours training and preparing not only their bodies, but their minds as well
Everyone wants to excel. The desire for good things to happen for us on or off the field is not what is lacking. The reality is that there are very few unicorns that can just wake up and excel. Even the great ones with great skill like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Bryce Harper, Cynthia Cooper, Tiger Woods, Mia Hamm, or Lionel Messi spent countless hours training and preparing not only their bodies, but their minds as well. The challenge is finding the right trainer to train your mental and emotional muscles for the journey of excellence.
What’s Missing?
The Solution
Find the Right Guide
The simple fact is that your school or club sport coach is exactly the right guide to help you develop your physical tools, techniques, and tactics of the sport, but more than likely they do not have the time to invest in the individual’s mental journey or development. Just like a guard in basketball may find a shooting coach to work on shooting technique, a pitcher in baseball may hire a pitching coach, and a quarterback in football may hire a specific quarterback coach in the off-season, finding the right mental coach is critical for an athlete of any skill to fully develop
Helping Athletes, Leaders, Teams, and Coaches Prepare, Overcome, Recover, and Thrive
The Right Coach
Coach David Shields
My name is Coach David Shields, and I am a certified mental performance mastery coach committed to helping others perform at their very best. I have coached high school and college athletes for over thirty years, both here in the United States and internationally. I launched Shielded Mental Performance because I see a gap in the athletic journey that I believe can be filled by dedicated efforts to help athletes build resiliency, confidence, mental toughness, emotional well-being, and intentionality.
Testimonials
Real Performance Real Results
“Even a limited exposure to Dave Shields’ training helped our team grasp the connection between mental performance and peak physical performance. I believe Dave’s engaging communication and easy to grasp mental tools are critical in handling today’s increasing stress in sports and common issues of mental health. I recommend him to your school or organization!”
Coach Shields has played a significant role in my growth as leader and young man far beyond the confines of the basketball court. His compassionate approach and unique ability to cultivate a meaningful personal connection sets him apart as a leader. Through my conversations with him, I’ve learned a great deal about the importance of holistic confidence, conscious action, and taking care of my mental being. The lessons that I’ve learned from him, especially those on the topic of emotional well-being and intentionality, have provided me with the tools to successfully make the transition from a high school student-athlete to a college student with multiple leadership positions on and off campus. Coach Shields’ positive affirmations will always be in my ear as I continue to attack each and every day so that I can become the best version of myself!
~ A.M. – UC Davis Student-Leader
Emotional Muscles
It is critical to train the athlete’s mental and emotional muscles for the journey of performance. Learning to deal with anger, frustration, loss, over-confidence, apathy, emotional fatigue, and disappointment in the right way can lead you to a sustainable level of excellence
Coach David Shields can work with individuals and teams through group lectures, workshops, conversations, and as an in season resource to build healthy habits which help the athlete approach mental performance issues
The Right Coaching
Invest in the right mental performance coach to help your athlete’s mental journey to fully develop his or her athletic skills
The Process
Shielded Mental Performance
I am available to work with individuals and teams through group lectures, workshops, conversations, and as an in-season resource to build healthy habits which help the athlete approach issues like:
- Moving from self-doubt to confidence
- Moving from fear of failure to courageous living
- Learning how to make the most of every practice session before practice even starts
- Goal setting and tracking progress
- Overcoming relational conflicts with coaches and teammates
- Developing healthy leadership techniques
- Overcoming injuries, or other sudden hurdles
- Breaking out of bad habits/ Developing healthy habits
