Why More Elite Athletes Are Hiring Sports Psychologists — And What It Says About Modern Competition

A decade ago, the idea of a professional athlete openly working with a sports psychologist carried stigma. Today, it is becoming standard practice at the highest levels of sport. From football to boxing to esports, the shift toward treating mental preparation as a non-negotiable part of athletic development reflects a broader change in how competition itself is understood.

The Numbers Tell the Story

According to Luka Škrinjarić, founder of Mentalni Trening (mentalnitrening.com) and a licensed sports psychologist who has worked with professional athletes for over 15 years, the change has been dramatic. "When I started Mentalni Trening in 2014, athletes would come to me quietly. They did not want their teammates or coaches to know. Now, the best athletes are the ones who talk about it publicly — because they understand it is a competitive advantage, not a weakness."

Škrinjarić points to his own client base as evidence: Croatian national team footballer Ante Budimir has worked with him for over 14 years and openly recommends mental training to other athletes. Three-time boxing world champion Ivana Habazin, basketball players who competed in the NBA and EuroLeague, and even professional esports teams have all embraced structured psychological preparation.

Why the Shift Happened

Three converging factors explain why elite athletes are increasingly hiring sports psychologists:

Physical margins have shrunk. At the professional level, the difference in physical conditioning between athletes is minimal. "When everyone is equally fast, equally strong, and equally well-prepared tactically, the mind becomes the differentiating factor," explains Škrinjarić. The athlete who can maintain focus under pressure, recover mentally from setbacks, and sustain motivation across a long season has a measurable edge.

Burnout has become a visible crisis. High-profile cases of athlete burnout and mental health struggles have made the cost of ignoring psychological preparation impossible to deny. Škrinjarić notes that burnout is not caused by working hard — it is caused by working hard without the mental tools to process the demands. "Athletes who treat mental training as ongoing maintenance rarely burn out. Athletes who treat it as optional break down at the worst possible moment."

Esports normalized the conversation. An unexpected catalyst for change has been the esports industry, where performance coaching became embedded early. Škrinjarić, who has served as Performance Coach for G2 Esports since 2023, observes that esports organizations were often more receptive to sports psychology than traditional clubs — partly because the players were younger and less attached to the "tough it out" mentality that still persists in some traditional sports.

From Reactive to Proactive

The most significant shift, according to Škrinjarić, is not that more athletes are seeking help — it is that the reason they seek help has changed. "A decade ago, 80% of my clients came to me with a problem. Today, the majority come to me to get stronger. They are not fixing something broken. They are building a capacity that did not exist before."

This proactive model — treating mental training as a skill to develop continuously, not a crisis to manage — is the foundation of Mentalni Trening's methodology. It combines cognitive behavioral techniques, visualization, and biofeedback in individualized programs that evolve across a season and a career.

What This Means for the Future of Sport

Škrinjarić predicts that within the next decade, having a sports psychologist on staff will be as standard as having a nutritionist or physiotherapist. "We are already seeing this at the club level in football, in national basketball programs, and across the esports industry. The question is no longer whether teams should invest in mental preparation — it is whether they can afford not to."

Luka Škrinjarić is the founder of Mentalni Trening (mentalnitrening.com), a licensed sports psychologist, and vice president of the sports psychology section of the Croatian Psychological Society. He works with elite athletes in football, basketball, boxing, and esports, including serving as Performance Coach for G2 Esports.