You Train Your Body. Are You Training Your Mind?

Think about how many hours you spend working on the physical parts of soccer. You go to team training. You get extra touches. You hit the wall to improve your passing. You work on your weak foot. You lift, run, recover, and repeat the same movements over and over because you understand that getting better requires reps.

But how much time do you spend training your mind?

Confidence, resilience, accountability, handling mistakes, responding to adversity, and staying focused on yourself instead of comparing—these things have a huge impact on the player you become. Yet so many players expect themselves to simply be good at them. Then a difficult moment comes and they wonder why their mentality isn't where they want it to be.

We don't think the mental side of your game should be left to chance. Your mind can be trained just like a muscle.

Your Mind Needs Reps Too

If your weak foot isn't good enough, you probably know what to do. You get a ball, find a wall, and start getting reps. You don't expect to hit 100 passes one afternoon and suddenly have an incredible weak foot. You come back and do it again. And again. Over time, something that once felt uncomfortable starts to become more natural.

We believe your mentality works in a similar way.

If you struggle to recover after mistakes, you can practice how you respond to them. If you constantly compare yourself to other players, you can learn to recognize when you're doing it and redirect your attention toward yourself. If your first instinct when something goes wrong is to complain or blame someone else, you can practice taking accountability and asking what you can do differently.

Those are mental reps. And just like your technical work, you're probably not going to be perfect at them immediately. The point is becoming cognizant of how you think and respond, then intentionally practicing a better way.

The more you train your mind, the more you can start to make it work for you instead of against you.

Don't Wait Until Something Goes Wrong

Players often start thinking about their mentality when they're already struggling. Their confidence is low. They're not playing well. They've lost their starting spot. They made a mistake that cost their team. Suddenly, they need to figure out how to be mentally tough.

But think about how differently we approach the physical side of soccer. You wouldn't wait until the biggest game of your season to start working on your first touch. You train it beforehand so that when the game demands it, you've already put in the reps.

Mentality should be treated the same way.

You can work on confidence while you're playing well. You can practice taking accountability before you're faced with a major setback. You can become more aware of your self-talk before you're in a high-pressure moment. You can learn how to respond to mistakes during an ordinary Tuesday practice so that when you make one in an important game, you already have a response you've practiced.

The work you do beforehand gives you something to lean on when things get difficult.

What Does Mindset Training Actually Look Like?

Mindset training doesn't mean sitting in a room telling yourself to "be more confident." It has to be intentional.

Inside Gabarra Elite Development, we give our players off-field assignments specifically designed around the mentality of great players. We work on things like confidence, positive self-talk, leadership, responding to mistakes, understanding your role on a team, handling adversity, and taking accountability. We also have conversations about what players are experiencing in real time and help them recognize how their mentality might be affecting the way they're showing up.

But the work doesn't stop when the assignment or conversation is over. The real practice happens when you become intentional about applying it.

Maybe you've recognized that after one mistake, your body language drops and you start playing scared. Now you can practice a different response. Maybe you've realized you spend too much time comparing your playing time or performance to a teammate's. Now you can catch yourself doing it and bring your attention back to what you control. Maybe you've noticed that your first reaction after a difficult game is to blame the referee, your coach, or your teammates. Now you can challenge yourself to take accountability for your part first.

The more aware you become of these patterns, the more opportunities you have to change them.

Confidence Can Be Practiced

Confidence is one of the biggest struggles we see with young players, and it's also a great example of why mindset work matters.

You aren't going to feel incredibly confident every day of your soccer career. There will be games when you feel great and games when you don't. There will be mistakes, criticism, competition, bad performances, and moments when you question yourself.

Instead of hoping confidence shows up when you need it, you can build habits that help you manage those moments. You can become aware of how you talk to yourself. You can keep track of things you're doing well instead of only remembering your mistakes. You can practice strong body language after something goes wrong. You can remind yourself of the work you've done and the promises you've kept to yourself.

Eventually, those responses start becoming more natural because you've practiced them.

That's the goal of mindset training. It's not about never having a negative thought, losing confidence, complaining, or struggling again. It's about becoming better at recognizing what's happening and knowing how to respond.

The Mentality of a Great Player Is Developed

When we talk about player development, it's easy to focus entirely on what happens with a ball at your feet. Of course you need to become technically better. You need to become stronger, faster, smarter, and more capable of performing at higher levels.

But becoming a great player requires more than developing the physical parts of your game. You also have to work on the mentality.

Can you take accountability when things aren't going your way? Can you respond to a mistake without letting it become three more? Can you continue believing in yourself when your confidence gets challenged? Can you stop comparing your journey to someone else's? Can you recognize when your own thoughts and behaviors are getting in your way?

You don't have to already be great at those things. That's the point.

You can train them.

Start paying attention to the way you think and respond this week. Pick one area of your mentality that you know needs work and start getting reps. Be intentional about it at practice, in games, and away from the field. Then keep practicing.

Your technical game isn't built in one training session. Neither is your mindset.

Want to Develop More Than Just Your Game?

Inside Gabarra Elite Development, we believe developing a player means working on more than their technical and physical ability. Through personalized off-field assignments, weekly mentorship, conversations, and accountability, we help our players intentionally develop the mentality they'll need as they pursue higher levels of the game.

If you're serious about playing college soccer and want mentors in your corner helping you develop both the player and the mentality required to get there, apply to work with us inside Gabarra Elite Development.