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I’m Rebecca Smith, your podcast host, and High Performance Coach. I’m Director of Complete Performance Coaching and founder of The #PerformHappy Community.Maybe you’re a gymnast with a fear of going backwards. A swimmer who can’t seem to go any faster. Or a parent who is clueless about how to help your child succeed. You might be stepping up to tougher competition and looking to raise your game. Whether you're struggling with a mental block, or you just had the best season of your life, this podcast is for you.Kids need resources to deal with the pressure of competition, but they don’t necessarily want it to be their coach or parents.I teach parents, coaches, and adolescent/teen athletes of all abilities how to achieve their personal best. These are the tips and mental toughness strategies that my clients tell me help them most.I also provide insights for parents and coaches who want to support their kids and their teams.Performing well is a blend of hard work, skill and mental toughness. I’ll teach you how to use all 3 to be the best athlete you can, and have FUN competing in your sport. Mental skills translate to all areas of your life. When kids learn skills to cope with stress & emotion in a sport context, they become better prepared to thrive in school and beyond.Join me each week as I help people reach peak performance and maximum enjoyment.
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Ever noticed your brilliant, sensitive gymnast getting stuck in their own head? You’re not alone. As a sports psychology expert, I’ve seen countless smart kids struggle with mental blocks, and today I want to share some hope and practical advice. What Makes Smart Kids Different in Sports Intelligent athletes often have some common traits: They’re incredibly talented.They move quickly through skill levels.They love their sport deeply.They’re sensitive and cautious.They set incredibly high stan...
There is nothing more painful than hearing words that cut into your confidence. Maybe someone told you that you will never get that skill, or that you are not good enough, or that you are holding the team back. Even if you try to ignore it, those comments can sit in your mind and make you question yourself again and again. In this week’s episode of the PerformHappy Podcast, I want to help you and your gymnast handle those moments. Bullies can show up as teammates, as coaches, or even as the l...
There is nothing more frustrating than watching your athlete finally get a skill… only to lose it the very next day. One step forward, two steps back. Skills appear, then disappear, leaving athletes, parents, and coaches in a cycle of confusion and discouragement. In this week’s episode of the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m diving into what I call “Yo-Yo Confidence” — that frustrating cycle of gaining and losing skills — and the hidden habits that actually make mental blocks worse. As a gymnast, I...
There is nothing more frustrating than setting a goal, working hard for it, and then feeling like you are getting nowhere. You show up, put in the effort, and instead of building confidence, you leave practice more discouraged than when you started. In this week’s episode of the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m breaking down why so many athletes get stuck in this cycle and how to set goals that actually move you forward. Instead of focusing on what is “wrong” or what you “can’t do,” I’ll show you ho...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I had the privilege of chatting with international elite gymnast Céleste Mordenti, the first gymnast from Luxembourg to ever win a FIG World Cup medal. Céleste’s journey hasn’t been an easy one. As a young gymnast, she rose quickly through the ranks, representing Luxembourg at European and World Championships. But behind the medals and the spotlight, she battled the same struggles so many gymnasts face — fear, mental blocks, and the pressure to be perfec...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m talking with Utah gymnast Avery Neff — a rising star whose journey proves that resilience, mindset, and belief in yourself can take you further than raw talent ever could. Avery wasn’t always the clean, confident athlete you see competing on the NCAA stage today. She started as a “floppy” gymnast, throwing skills with no fear but little form. With the help of her coaches, her relentless drive to prove herself, and a mindset shaped by her fearless fam...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m talking to parents who are navigating one of the hardest parts of raising athletes: watching your kids struggle with disappointment, pressure, and even toxic coaching environments. As parents, our instinct is to protect our kids from heartbreak and setbacks. But what if the very challenges we want to shield them from are the ones that help them build resilience for life? Using clinical psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy’s “bench” analogy, I share how let...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m talking to athletes and parents who are in the thick of it — setback after setback, injury after injury, and feeling like the dream is slipping away. If that’s you, I want you to meet Arya and her mom, Sara. Arya spent years navigating injuries, mental blocks, and environments that didn’t bring out her best. She battled fear of re-injury, lost skills, and even walked into the gym in tears some days. Through it all, she held onto her dream of competin...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m talking to athletes who are stuck. You know you’re capable of doing the skill—you’ve done it before—but for some reason, it’s just not happening right now. Maybe you’re dealing with the pressure of move-ups, recovering from a past fall, or your brain is simply hitting the brakes. You’re not alone, and there is a way through it that doesn’t involve just pushing harder or trying to force your way over the mental block. In fact, trying to "just do it" i...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m sharing one of my favorite topics: the “camp magic” that gives athletes those powerful bursts of confidence, and what you can do when that confidence disappears back at the gym. Whether it’s a breakthrough skill at camp or a fearless moment at competition, those experiences can feel like superpowers. But why don’t they last? I’ll explain what’s actually going on in the brain when athletes are in fresh, positive environments, and how you can capture t...
1This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m sharing the simplest way to build confidence, even if you feel like you don’t have a single extra minute. So many athletes and sport parents tell me the same thing: “I want to feel more confident, but I’m just too busy to add one more thing to my day.” Trust me, I get it. Between school, sports, work, and everything else, life is full. But what if I told you that just 10 minutes a day could actually rewire your brain for more confidence, happiness, a...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m talking directly to sport parents (but athletes, don’t tune out just yet!). I had two parents in our community share the same concern: “I don’t want to say the wrong thing.” They love their kids, they want to help, but they’re afraid they might accidentally be making things worse. So in this episode, I’m sharing what I’ve learned about how to actually support your athlete, without adding pressure, without creating shutdowns, and without walking on eg...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, Coach Rebecca dives into a powerful Q&A session centered around one of the most difficult crossroads in an athlete’s journey—deciding whether to keep going or walk away from their sport. Whether you’re deep in upgrade season, dreading practice, or feeling the spark fade, this episode offers clarity and compassion for athletes (and their parents) navigating burnout, fear, and identity. Coach Rebecca shares personal stories from her own gymnastics care...
Has your athlete suddenly developed a fear of a skill they’ve done a hundred times before? You know they can do it physically, but something’s holding them back… and no matter what you try, nothing seems to help. In this week’s PerformHappy podcast episode, I’m diving into three hidden warning signs that you, as a well-meaning parent, might accidentally be keeping your athlete stuck in fear. Maybe you’ve tried everything: encouragement, time off, stepping back, even considering a new sport, b...
In this week’s PerformHappy Podcast, I’m joined by sport parent and PerformHappy alum, Susan Bardack, for a real, honest conversation about the rollercoaster of raising an athlete. Susan shares her daughter Ashland’s journey from gymnastics to D1 college diving, including how they navigated tough mental blocks and the moment everything shifted—when Susan stopped pushing and started trusting. We talk about the lessons parents often learn the hard way, the impact of pressure (even when it's wel...
There’s a specific kind of heartbreak that hits when your child doesn’t get moved up to the next level, especially when all their friends do. You see it in their face. You feel it in the silence on the car ride home. And as a parent, you just want to fix it. You want to make it better; give them hope and tell them to keep pushing. But deep down, you might already know… this just isn’t going to go the way they hoped. In this week’s episode of the PerformHappy Podcast, I’m diving into this all-...
If your athlete is stuck in a mental block, you’re not alone. That’s exactly what I’m diving into on this week’s PerformHappy Podcast — because fear is something so many athletes struggle with, and honestly, it was my biggest struggle too. You know the feeling — your athlete says they’re not scared, but they just can’t go. Or maybe they are scared and don’t know how to stop feeling that way. Either way, it can be incredibly frustrating for everyone involved. In this episode, I’m breaking down...
It’s frustrating. You’re doing everything “right.” You’ve got the mindset tools, the journaling prompts, the visualizations… but it’s still not clicking. In this week’s PerformHappy Podcast, I’m diving into a truth most people don’t talk about: sometimes mental training doesn’t work. Yep, I said it. There are athletes who put in the effort and still feel stuck. In this episode, I unpack the common reasons why—even with all the best tools—some kids don’t see results. And (spoiler alert), it’s ...
This week on the PerformHappy Podcast, I got to switch things up—I was the one answering the questions! I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lacey Rochelle from Shine Health Coaching to dive deep into the science behind fear and how it shows up in performance. We unpacked quick, practical tips for staying present when the pressure’s on, and talked about what it really takes to move from stuck to confident. Whether you're an athlete, a parent, or a coach, you’ll hear how the right kind of s...
Do you know an athlete who’s super bendy, always impressing with their flexibility, but constantly dealing with little injuries or pain that won’t go away? In this week’s PerformHappy Podcast, I sat down with chiropractor and hypermobility expert Dr. Taylor Goldberg to unpack exactly what’s going on behind the scenes for these “Gumby-like” athletes. Dr. Goldberg shares her own journey as a high-level cheerleader—how being extra flexible wasn’t always the gift it seemed—and what she wishes she...
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