The mental edge most athletes never train.
Athletes & sporting teams
Dr Ben Robbins is a Clinical and Performance Psychologist with nine seasons in the AFL and over a decade leading mental health and wellbeing inside professional football. He works with elite athletes, sporting teams and young athletes who want to perform at their best when it counts most.
I'm looking for
1:1 coaching for an elite or developing athlete
A mental skills program for my team or club
The young athletes online program (ages 12–18)
A school or academy sport program
9 seasons
AFL — Brisbane Lions & North Melbourne
PhD
Clinical Psychology
10+ years
AFL mental health & wellbeing lead
He doesn't just understand performance pressure. He's felt it.
Why athletes choose Ben
Most sport psychologists understand performance from the outside. Ben played nine seasons of professional AFL football — six with the Brisbane Lions and three with North Melbourne. He knows what it feels like to prepare for a final, to come back from injury, to perform in front of 80,000 people.
That lived experience is what creates immediate trust with athletes. They know Ben has been in the room where it matters. He's not theorising about pressure — he's navigated it at the highest level of Australian sport, and then spent over a decade studying and applying the science behind it.
Physical talent gets you to the level. Mental fitness is what keeps you there — and what separates the ones who perform in big moments from the ones who don't.
Ben has worked across a wide range of sports — including current and former Olympians, AFL and AFLW players, state cricket players, basketballers, golfers and soccer players.
He also has two young adult children who play sport, which provides an even deeper understanding of the young athlete experience is personal as well as professional.
Three ways to work with Ben depending on where you are.
How Ben works with athletes
Whether you're an elite athlete, a club looking to build team mental skills, or a young athlete just starting out.
COACHING
High performance coaching for elite & developing athletes
Individual coaching for athletes serious about the mental side of performance. Structured, evidence-based program for consistent performance under pressure.
Includes
—Performance anxiety and pressure management
—Focus and concentration under competition
—Resilience — returning well from setbacks and injury
—Pre-performance routines and mental preparation
—Confidence and self-belief
—Values-based goal setting
—Managing transition out of elite sport
Format: Fortnightly or monthly · Melbourne or online · 6–12 sessions · Fully confidential
Has worked with: Olympians · AFL/AFLW · State cricketers · Basketballers · Golfers · Soccer players · Local footballers
TEAM PROGRAMS
Mental skills programs for sporting teams and clubs
Group programs building shared mental fitness
across a team or squad.
Includes
—Team cohesion, trust and communication
—Pre-game and in-game mental preparation
—Dealing with pressure, scrutiny and expectations
—Managing performance slumps and adversity
—Leadership and culture for senior players
—Coach education
—Presentations and workshops
Format: Multi-session or one-off · On-site · Elite to community level
Has worked with: AFL/AFLW clubs · Coates Talent League · State league · Local clubs · Sporting academies · School sport
ONLINE PROGRAM
Young athletes mental fitness program
Online mental fitness course for young athletes aged 12–18. Psychological tools built by someone who played elite AFL and holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
Includes
—Understanding the performance mindset
—Managing nerves and performance anxiety
—Building focus and concentration skills
—Resilience — bouncing back from mistakes
—Confidence, self-talk and inner voice
—Pre-performance routines
—Mindfulness for athletes
Format: Self-paced online · Video modules · Practical exercises · Available now
Suits: Young athletes 12–18 · Parents or clubs · All sports
Athletes & teams
From Olympians to local clubs.
Ben works across the full performance spectrum — elite international athletes through to school sport squads.
Most young athletes train their bodies relentlessly. Very few train the one thing that determines how they perform when the pressure is on — their mind.
This online program gives young athletes aged 12–18 the same psychological tools used by elite AFL players, delivered in a format that's practical, accessible and built for how young people actually learn. No jargon. No theory overload. Skills they can use at training, on game day and in life.
Built by Dr Ben Robbins — someone who played nine seasons of elite AFL football and holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
The Young Athletes Mental Fitness Program.
Available now — enroll today
What's covered — program modules
01 The performance mindset
What elite sport teaches us about the mind — and how to train it deliberately
02 Managing nerves and pressure
The science of performance anxiety and the tools to turn it from threat to fuel
03 Focus & concentration
Attention control skills — staying present on the field when everything is pulling you away
04 Resilience & bouncing back
How to respond to mistakes, setbacks and bad games in a way that makes you stronger
05 Confidence & self-talk
Understanding the inner voice — and learning to make it work for you, not against you
06 Pre-performance routines
Building consistent mental preparation rituals that prime performance on game day
07 Mindfulness for athletes
Practical mindfulness tools that work for athletes — no retreats, no sitting still for an hour
Ages 12–18 All sports, all levels
Self-paced Online, on demand
Video modules With practical exercises
Available now Enrol today
WHO THE PROGRAM IS FOR
Built for young athletes, clubs, parents and schools.
The Young Athletes Mental Fitness Program can be purchased individually or in bulk.
Young athletes (ages 12–18)
Any sport, any level. School sport, representative football, club netball or development basketball the mental tools are universal.
Schools & PE departments
An add-on for school sport, health and PE classes, or student wellbeing initiatives.
Parents of young athletes
Any sport, any level. School sport, representative football, club netball or development basketball the mental tools are universal.
Athletes managing performance anxiety
Specifically useful for young athletes who freeze under pressure or find the mental side of sport harder than the physical.
Clubs &sporting academies
Bulk enrolment for squads, academies or development programs. Complements your physical and skills coaching.
Athletes building foundations early
The best time to build mental fitness is before pressure becomes a problem. This gives 12–18 year olds the psychological foundations most athletes don't get until much later.
WHY THIS PROGRAM IS DIFFERENT
There are a lot of mental performance resources out there. Here’s why this one is worth your time.
01
Built by someone who played
at the top
Leadership development, team wellbeing, performance under pressure, and psychologically safe cultures.
02
Clinically rigorous, not motivational fluff
Mental fitness programs for transport, logistics, construction, mining and utilities practical tools built for your world.
03
Practical tools, not concepts to think about
Every module ends with something an athlete can use at the next training session or on game day.
04
Skills that transfer beyond
sport
The focus, resilience, self-regulation and mindfulness skills here are the same ones young people need at school, in relationships and in life
AFL & elite sport
Over a decade at the highest level of Australian football.
Ben played nine seasons of professional AFL — six with the Brisbane Lions and three with North Melbourne. He then transitioned into psychology, building the first structured player leadership role at North Melbourne.
For over a decade since, he has been at the centre of AFL mental health and wellbeing — leading programs at St Kilda for more than four years, and now heading psychology and wellbeing at Essendon.
He has worked directly with hundreds of professional athletes, coaches and high performance staff.
North Melbourne Football Club
Player Leadership Consultant (Jan 2015 – Sep 2019) — first structured psychology role at club level after finishing as a player
St Kilda Football Club
Head of Mental Health & Wellbeing (Nov 2019 – Feb 2024) — over four years leading mental health strategy and wellbeing programs
Essendon Football Club
Head of Psychology & Wellbeing (2023 – 2026) — leading psychology and wellbeing at one of the AFL's most prominent clubs
Participant feedback
What people say after working with Ben.
Feedback from program participants and professional peers. In line with AHPRA guidelines, individual client testimonials are not displayed.
Ben has a great ability to make complicated concepts understandable and relatable. He introduced a number of strategies to our team that made us better equipped to perform to our potential under pressure.
Brad Scott
AFL COACH
I would like to thank Dr Ben Robbins for his captivating presentation on mental health and mindfulness. His insights on being present and attentive to reach one's full potential were thought-provoking. Our students left with a renewed curiosity and a desire to learn more.
Kristian Leeson- Assistant Head of Sport
SCOTCH COLLEGE PERTH- SENIOR FOOTBALL SQUAD
Dr Robbins' presentation served as a reminder that mental health is equally important as physical health. We appreciate your ongoing commitment to supporting the education and development of young minds.
Scotch College Perth
POST- SESSION FEEDBACK_ SENIOR FOOTBALL SQUAD