Private 1:1 mindset and performance coaching

THE TALENTWITHIN.

For professional athletes, academy players and sports scholars ready to go further, on and off the field.

Football and rugby athletes walking towards a stadium at sunset

More Confidence

More Consistency

More Resilience

More Direction

Who I work with

Talent gets you noticed.
Mindset takes you further.

Coaching for the moments that matter: earning a contract, stepping up a level, making the most of every opportunity and finding direction beyond sport.

Emerging talent

For sports scholars and academy players working towards contracts, selection and first-team opportunities.

Stepping up

For players moving into first-team or senior environments, including those on loan, who need to settle quickly and make every opportunity count.

Performing at the top

For professional athletes handling selection, setbacks, pressure and the demands of performing consistently.

Life beyond sport

For athletes facing release, retirement or injury, navigating identity, new opportunities and their next chapter.

Home

James walking and talking with a young athlete in a garden

The approach

More beneath the surface.

What people see in competition is only part of the picture. Beneath the surface, habits, mindset, identity and life away from sport shape the athlete who turns up on the day. Often it’s the work away from the game that makes the difference on the pitch, track or court.

My 1:1 coaching is built on The Within Performance Iceberg™, my own coaching model. It complements the work of your club and coaches, giving you dedicated time to focus on what lies beneath: your habits, confidence and resilience, and a sense of who you are beyond the result.

Coaching is private, confidential and independent of your club or school. What you share has no bearing on selection, so you can speak openly about what’s really going on.

The Within Performance Iceberg: the visible performance above the surface, with habits, mindset and identity beneath it. Habits include nutrition, exercise, sleep and space. Mindset includes confidence, resilience and responding to pressure. Identity includes purpose, happiness and life beyond sport. The water represents external conditions we cannot fully control. — The 10/90 split is a metaphor, not a scientific measure. The point is simple: what you can’t see shapes what you can.

How we work together

Your coaching is shaped around you: your sport, your season and what matters most to you right now. Together, we build the foundations that last, at a pace that fits your training and your life.

Ready to dive deeper?

Book an introductory call

A relaxed 20-minute conversation, at no cost, to see if coaching is right for you. Parents and guardians welcome.

James listening to a young athlete during a seated coaching conversation

Home

Meet your coach

Science. Experience. Perspective.

I’m James Mortimore, a mindset and performance coach with a background in sports science and two decades developing athletes and young people.

I hold an MSc in Sports Sciences and an EMCC Level 5 Coaching qualification, and I’ve spent 20 years in independent education, teaching, coaching and leading school sport. I’ve taught and coached young athletes alongside their academy journeys, including players who have gone on to sign professional contracts.

I’ve seen first-hand what separates athletes who reach their potential from those who don’t, and it’s rarely talent alone. My coaching brings together the science of performance and the psychology of development, helping athletes build the mindset, habits and resilience to perform under pressure and keep progressing.

What I care about most is helping young athletes see that they are more than their sport. A full life outside sport doesn’t distract from performance; it supports it. Athletes who know who they are beyond the game handle pressure, setbacks and selection with far more confidence.