Most athletes want to compete well and be mentally strong, but don't know how to achieve it. We know.We also know how big of a role strengthening the mind muscle plays in your success both in sports and in everyday life. Many athletes think that mental ability is born, you either have it or you don't. In reality, anyone can become strong, if they are willing to work hard enough.
Mental capacity plays a huge role in achieving peak performance, and many athletes think that this quality is either there or not. Fortunately, this is not true. Mental toughness is a skill like any other and can be developed.
In the podcast "Only girls in sports" by Radio 2 and ERR's sports department, Kerdu Lenear, the founder of Mindset Fitness, talks about training the mind muscle and mental strength and shares practical tips. Explaining how mindset training differs from sports psychology and emphasizing the necessity of training the mindset muscle and its benefits for athletes. There is also talk about the influence of self-resistance and fears in the career of athletes, which Kerdu studied in depth in his master's thesis.
"Mamba Mindset" is a term coined by the legendary American basketball player Kobe Bryant, which sums up his mindset and approach to life and sports.
Kobe believed that getting to the top required dedication and determination and relentless work. He was very competitive and saw every challenge as an opportunity to get even better. His way of thinking has often been associated with a "win at all costs" mentality, but Kobe has emphasized that it was always about more than winning. The goal was to give absolutely everything and be the best possible version of yourself!
Mindset Fitness Founder/
certified neuroencoding specialist
Basketball wasn’t just my passion—it was my identity. It opened doors and took me from Estonia to the U.S., where I played Division 1 at Auburn University and later professionally in Europe. For 10 years, I proudly wore the Estonian national team jersey. I trained relentlessly, played through pain, and sacrificed so much to be my best. But no one ever taught me the most important skill—how to train my mind.
Like many athletes, I believed that working harder was the answer. But the more I pushed, the more fear, self-doubt, and hesitation held me back. I was limiting myself without even realizing it. When my playing career ended, I faced a question I wasn’t prepared for—who am I without basketball?
Determined to find answers, I began studying how mindset truly works. I discovered that mental strength can be trained just like physical strength, and that realization changed everything. I learned to break through my own limitations and prove to myself what I was truly capable of. I realized I was more than just an athlete—I was someone who could learn, grow, and redefine success. That’s when my journey as a mindset coach and entrepreneur began.
I earned an MBA from TalTech, where I researched self-handicapping—how fear holds back not only athletes but also business leaders and entrepreneurs. I became a Certified Neuroencoding Specialist under Joseph McClendon III and started sharing these tools with others. My entrepreneurial path also led me to become President of BNI North Star Tallinn (Business Networking International), where I lead one of Estonia’s business networking groups.
But I didn’t just want to gain knowledge—I wanted to share it. That’s why I founded Mindset Fitness—to teach athletes how to train their mindset while they’re still competing, rather than waiting until their career is over.
Today, I work with athletes worldwide, helping them strengthen their mindset, break through fear, build confidence, and believe in themselves.
As a mother of two young athletes, I see firsthand how critical it is to train the mind—not just for sports, but for life in general.
One of my biggest inspirations came from an unforgettable encounter with Kobe Bryant at an Adidas streetball tournament in Paris. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what Mamba Mentality meant. But years later, as I studied his mindset, it became a foundation for my work.
So if you’re an athlete looking to train your mind, navigate transition, or break free from what’s holding you back, know this—your game is just beginning.
Mindset can be trained, and the same skills that made you a great athlete can make you unstoppable in whatever comes next.
Faster. Further. Together.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Kerdu played basketball and graduated from Auburn University in the USA, which belongs to the very strong SEC conference of the first division. While there, she had the opportunity to play against basketball legend Pat Summit and the Tennessee Volunteers.
ADDIDAS 3X3
Kerdu managed to meet and play basketball with his idol Kobe Bryant at the Adidas Streetball Championship in Paris.
Est vs USA Fiba 3×3 World Championships
Kerdu represented the Estonian national team at the Fiba 3x3 World Cup in Athens and played against WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith and the USA team in the quarterfinals.
Coaches often talk about the importance of mental strength and concentration in stressful situations, but how to achieve this? This is where MINDSET training for athletes comes into play. We support you in achieving your goals and help you use your potential to the maximum. Under our guidance, you will overcome obstacles, learn to maintain focus and achieve better results both in sports and in other areas of life. Don't limit yourself to a good performance only in training - take the strength of your mind muscle to a new level and show your full potential in competitions as well.
You will get practical tools that will help you better manage your thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve the best possible performance.
You will learn how to set goals and achieve them. We will use simple methods such as visualization, taking responsibility and a clear action plan to help you realize your dreams. You will also hear how to stay motivated to consistently move towards your goals.
With the right mindset and mental muscle training, you can achieve the best version of yourself in sports and life, and be an inspiration to others.
With the right tools and mindset training, you'll learn to overcome self-handicapping and fears, unlocking your full potential for better performance. We'll also guide you in discovering your identity beyond being an athlete, ensuring a smooth and confident transition to life after sports.
WANT TO TRAIN INDIVIDUALLY?
1-1 coaching takes place online, offering tailored guidance to boost confidence, overcome self-doubt and fears, manage emotions, and achieve lasting results more quickly and effectively. The program provides consistent support and practical tools to elevate your performance and personal growth to the next level.
LENGHT: 3- 6 MONTHS
WANT TO INVITE US TO YOUR TEAM OR CAMP?
We will be happy to train your team's mental muscle, either in a club or in a camp. The trainings are targeted according to the age group and teach young athletes, their parents and coaches practical techniques for managing thoughts and emotions, calming down and focusing, and improving performance.
LENGHT: STARTING 30 MIN
DO YOU WANT TO TRAIN INDEPENDENTLY OR WITH THE WHOLE TEAM?
Take part in a 5-step program where, through upbeat videos and exercises, you will learn to manage emotions, overcome fears, increase self-confidence, focus and reduce competitive anxiety.
You train independently online at your own pace. Team training takes place both online and physically once a month.
LENGTH: 5 weeks - 5 months
Kerdu not only inspires you or your team to train your mindset, but also teaches you how to do it through fun and practical exercises.
former Estonian discus thrower, Olympic and world champion
"The 10-day program was interesting and skill-building. Consistently confronting myself with discomfort taught me to ignore distractions in stressful situations. Practicing a new technique helped me significantly strengthen one of my previous weaknesses. Using the learned technique helped me deepen my confidence in unpleasant situations. Now I can more consciously ignore distractions and focus on the end result. I recommend it to anyone who encounters challenging situations and goals on a daily basis that require constant focus and self-push."
endine Eesti meeste korvpallikoondise peastreener
"Basketball is a very tactical and extremely fast game. A coach needs to make many decisions during the game. The STOP technique helps to focus on the right things during the game. It helped me change how I react in high-pressure moments. I stayed calm and composed in situations where I would have acted nervously before. I recommend it to every coach!"
professional basketball player
"I’ve always been a closed-off person with emotions, often suppressing them. The STOP technique has been a game-changer, helping me quickly shift out of bad emotions and leave past mistakes behind. Recently, after a rough first half in a game, I wasn’t feeling confident. Normally, that would’ve affected the entire game, but at halftime, I used the STOP technique, reset my mindset, and came back stronger—scoring my career-high in the German league. I’ll keep using this technique in games, practices, and beyond."
professional vollayball player
"It’s a great daily mindset workout. The STOP technique gives me an additional anchor to hold onto whenever things start to spiral out of control."
professional basketball player (BC Kalev/Cramo)
"Through Mindset Fitness, I learned tools that has helped me during free throws to let my muscle memory take over. In just two games, I’ve made 15/13 free throws! I also began taking time for myself in the mornings to focus calmly instead of rushing through chaotic starts. STOP technique has helped me let go of negative emotions more easily and stay focused both on and off the court."
professionaalne korvpallur/Haapsalu Herilaste president
"Mindset Fitness treening on väga kasulik noortele, aidates arendada mõtlemisoskust juba varajases eas. Treening õpetab juhtima ja kontrollima oma mõtteid ja emotsioone. Eriliselt meeldejääv oli heleda ja tumeda koera jutustus, mis võib aidata muuta mõtteviisi."
professional soccer player (FC Flora)
“There are so many cool tools to use. I would especially point out visualization, inner speech and meditation. For example, before the last game I visualized different ways to score a goal and I scored in the first minute. This is definitely one thing that has started working immediately. I use the internal speech in every training and game. Even though I had heard about many of these things before, the program helped to re-establish them. There were definitely things I didn't know. It's powerful put together and very useful for anyone! You don't have to be a top athlete, the younger you start, the better."
professional basketball player
"Mindset Fitness helps me move forward faster and more efficiently, without getting stuck in negative thoughts. It gives me the opportunity to calm down, notice my progress, and focus on what's important. Because of that I feel calmer, more confident in difficult situations, and I'm better able to implement the necessary decisions."
TalTech/RIM coach
Mindset Fitness training helped young athletes learn how to manage their thoughts, which improved their performance. It was especially important for young athletes to learn how to cope in various stressful situations, using breathing techniques and thinking about the right things at the right time. They also learned how to prepare for training, set goals and find a suitable routine before competitions. The skills learned during practice helped significantly improve the team's free throw percentage, which was 52% at mid-season and rose to 78% by the end of the season, showing a 26% increase. This was achieved not by training free throws, but by developing the thinking muscle of the players and how to cope in stressful situations. Coping with your thoughts is an under-trained skill among young athletes. If you pay attention to it a few times a month, young athletes can improve their performance both individually and as a team, become more confident and enjoy their activities more. The interest of the coaches themselves is important in order to provide young athletes with the necessary instruction outside of the sport.
mother of a young basketball player
"As a former top athlete, Kerdu knows very well what mental preparation tricks young athletes might need on their way to the top. The Mindset Fitness course is structured in a way that young people can easily understand, the explanations are mixed with humor and videos and examples from real life are used for illustration. My 13-year-old basketball player listened to everything casually and with great interest, taking several pages of additional notes on his own initiative. He would treat his schoolwork with the same enthusiasm! A very necessary program that will definitely bring benefits, no matter what field you work in."
basketball player
"It was easy to understand because the explanations were good and simple. Talking in your form made it feel like talking face to face. The videos were fun and the exercises were interesting. Also got useful exercises. For example, "pizza breathing", which I have started to use both when shooting free throws and before testing, and it has helped me calm down."
curling
"Champion's mindset helped me the most to understand the importance of focus and that it can be improved with meditation. Taught the importance of body language and confidence training through visualization. I was already aware and convinced that it was necessary. The program gave me more tools to train it. It seems that in a short time I have been able to improve my ability to focus a bit, especially in the pre-game preparation. I recommend it to all high-achieving athletes!"
This 30-minute free call is for you if you're ready to take your game to the next level or seeking clarity on how to transition beyond your sports career. Book a call, and let’s connect!
We bring you optimistic, practical and less than an hour programs on mindset topics. We talk to well-known Estonian athletes about training their mental muscles as well as how to support your young athlete as a parent. There are also short Mindset Fitness workouts and programs with other well-known and less well-known inspiring people to feed your way of thinking with positive and developing information. The presenter is Mindset Fitness manager Kerdu Lenear.