EP #97: The Mental Game: How Sports Psychology Enhances Performance Beyond Fixing Problems

What makes Trent Claypool with Summit Sport Psychology LLC a good neighbor?  

Peak athletic performance isn't just about physical training—it's equally about what happens in your mind. Trent Claypool, founder of Summit Sport Psychology LLC, joins us to reveal how mental performance training can transform not just athletic achievement but entire lives.

Claypool brings a powerful dual perspective as both a clinical psychologist with 15 years of experience and a sports psychology specialist who has worked with elite athletes for the past decade. His journey began with helping athletes address mental health challenges like anxiety and depression, then evolved into optimizing performance through specialized mental techniques. As he explains, "Sports psychology is about enhancing performance, not just fixing issues."

One of the most eye-opening moments comes when Trent dismantles common misconceptions about mental training. The mind isn't static; it's remarkably adaptable through neuroplasticity. Mental strength isn't something you're simply born with—it can be developed through consistent practice, just like physical strength. This revelation transforms how we think about performance psychology, making it accessible to anyone committed to improvement.

Trent's personal story adds profound depth to his professional expertise. At 15, he experienced devastating loss when his best friend died by suicide, followed by the Columbine tragedy. Rather than being defined by trauma, Trent channeled these experiences into post-traumatic growth, developing resilience that now informs his approach with athletes facing their own challenges. His unique combination of clinical expertise with performance psychology creates a comprehensive approach that addresses both immediate performance goals and deeper psychological well-being.

Ready to discover how mental training could transform your performance? Visit summitsportpsychology.com to schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Trent and take the first step toward unlocking your full potential.

To learn more about Summit Sport Psychology LLC go to: 

https://summitsportpsychology.com/

Summit Sport Psychology LLC

719-428-1200

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Tony Hills.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a greatsports psychologist?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing our good neighbor,
trent Claypool, with SummitSport Psychology LLC.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Trent, how's it going , yeah, doing really well.
Thank you for asking.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Awesome.
Hey, we're excited to have youon the show.
We're learning to learn aboutyour business, so tell us about
your business.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, so I run and operate a business called Summit
Sport Psychology and really ourfocus is on clinical psychology
and mental performance training.
So I have a background as aclinical psychologist for about
the last 15 years and for thelast 10 years I've been working
specifically with athletes,initially starting off and
helping athletes get theirmental health needs met.

(00:56):
So if an athlete had a mentalhealth condition like anxiety,
depression, PTSD, trauma,reaction, injury on the field,
something like that, I wouldhelp them.
But then I've also morphed thatinto doing more of the
traditional sports psychologyand performance enhancement,
where we not only look athelping people recover from, you

(01:17):
know, say, a mental healthcondition, but we actually ask
the question of like, how do wehelp this person perform
optimally, live the best lifethat they can live and perform
at a high level consistently?
And what's the mental game looklike to do that?

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, that's awesome.
How did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah.
So I had known early in highschool that from some of my own
experiences that being atherapist or a psychologist was
interesting to me, and so I wentto the undergrad at the
University of Wyoming and thenwent to graduate school here
locally in Colorado Springs atthe Colorado School of

(01:58):
Professional Psychology, and Ithought initially I wanted to be
a family therapist because Ilike the idea of working with
families.
But as I went through andmatriculated through grad school
I started to have an interestin working with kids and
adolescents and young adultspsychologist and then also

(02:26):
working on some really coolprojects to promote cultures of
sexual respect and sexualviolence on college campuses.
And all of that started mergingwith doing some liaison work
with the Department of Athleticsat UCCS, including eight
straight years as being the teamsports psychologist for the
women's cross-country team who,if you don't know, is kind of
perennially ranked at least inthe top five or six in the

(02:47):
country.
Sometimes they're even up onthe podium.
And yeah, they've integratedmental training and sports
psychology as one of their coreprinciples and I've been been
fortunate enough to be theperson that gets to go with them
on that journey, and so gettingto do that work really helped
me.
See, you know this vision oflaunching my private practice,
which I've done since 2000, Ithink 2020.

(03:09):
So for the past five years I'vebeen doing this thing on my own
.
Probably about 30% of myclients are just like
traditional therapy clients, butthe other 70% is that sport and
performance psychology.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Okay, what are some myths or misconceptions in your
industry?

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, I think the biggest one is that sports
psychology is only for athleteswho have problems, and one of
the things I really wanted thelisteners to hear today is that
sports psychology is aboutenhancing performance, not just
fixing issues.
So in the same way that if youwant to run faster or lift
heavier, you have to put inthose physical reps in the gym,

(03:48):
I kind of see sports psychologyas this wonderful place where
you can come put in the mentalreps and learn the mental tools
on how to train the mind.
And that's the one of the otherbig myths I wanted to highlight
is that the mind is not thisstatic, fixed thing.
We've learned through researchand neuroplasticity that the
brain is really really flexibleand if we can direct its focus

(04:11):
and attention.
A couple of other things.
Some people see mental strengthas this you either have it or
you don't.
And we also learned that youcan grow your mental strength
and that sports psychology is alittle bit different than just
talking to a therapist.
A therapist is going to bereally wonderful to address

(04:31):
those mental health conditions,but if you're really wanting to
look at how do I live myabsolute best life, working with
a sport and performancepsychologist is really unique
because we have special trainingand how to help people find the
right mindset, the rightemotional state, how to activate
their nervous system in theright way for high performance

(04:52):
moments.
And you know, being a highperforming athlete at one time
in my career, it's something I'mintimately familiar with.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Okay, who are your target customers and how do you
attract them?

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah.
So I would say the targetcustomers in my business tend to
be people who relate to sportsand or athletics as a way to get
the most out of their life.
So most people who come to mehave found me from some sort of
presentation or workshop I'vegiven to teams or in the

(05:24):
community.
And then I've also invested ina presence, starting to build a
bit up on Instagram and mywebsite.
And then there's onlinemarketplaces like Psychology
Today or ZocDoc, where peoplefind me sometimes too, but, yeah
, people who want to ask thisquestion of like, what does my
absolute best life look like andhow do I get there.

(05:45):
That tends to be the people whoare really attracted to working
with me.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Okay, outside of work , what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yeah, so I'm really fortunate to have a really
wonderful family.
My wife and I have been marriedseveral years, lot of time
doing like little family thingstogether.
We love to go up to the hotsprings and mountains, princeton

(06:20):
and spend a day or spend thenight there, and then we also
like to travel.
If I'm looking at likeindividual things I like to do,
I'm a huge fan of weight andendurance training.
I've done Ironman's 100kendurance races in the mountains
.
Yeah, so I if I this questionof like how much can I suffer

(06:40):
and for how long has always beenreally interesting to me.
Like like that pain cave is aplace that I wanted to to get to
know intimately.
And then, yeah, and outside ofthat, like my wife is constantly
reminding me that life doesn'thave to be this intense journey
all the time so reading, andthen I'm she's a fiber artist.
She does this really coolcrochet stuff.

(07:00):
So I've actually been trying tolearn some stitching and
crochet stuff from her just togive my brain some new
challenges.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Okay, awesome let's switch gears can you describe a
hardship, a life challenge youovercame, how it made you
stronger and what comes to mind.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, yeah.
So a number of things came tomind here, but I think the one
I'd like to talk about was whenI was 15, my best friend had
committed suicide and then, yeah, I'm sorry, yeah.
And then about two weeks afterthat, the school shooting at
Columbine happened.
And I grew up in Wyoming and sothere's like 500,000 people in

(07:38):
the entire state.
But one of the things peopledon't know about people in
Wyoming is that we kind of thinkof Colorado as ours too, like
all of the sports teams and likethat's just where if you want
to go do something, you alwaystraveled south, and so things
that happened in Colorado andDenver specifically kind of felt
like they happened to us, likethat was a part of our local
community in some way, eventhough I know it's different,

(07:59):
but like we really felt thatpersonally.
So at 15, you know, having lostmy friend and then having the
school shooting happen, theworld was a pretty dark place to
me.
I was facing like a lot ofexistential crises and realities
, wondering what the point ofthis was, and my parents were
smart enough to realize thatlike some therapy would be

(08:21):
helpful for me, and so Iinvested a lot of energy just
into my personal growth, tryingto understand how this happens.
Also, really trying to justprocess through the pain and
grief that I was feeling andthat my friends and I were going
through and I think, having thecourage to lean into the

(08:41):
discomfort of what was going tobe required of me, to come out
the other side of this as ahealthy person and to not have
some of these codependentbehaviors where I try to rescue
everyone around me or just don'tget through the grief, and then
just having the courage toengage in really hard
conversations kind of set me upfor life to have what we call
like a post-traumatic growthresponse.

(09:03):
You know, I'd never romanticizewhat I went through but I've
been able to take that tragedyand recognize that some really
important skills on how to getthrough hardship were born in
those moments and I've made acommitment to keep those really
active things that I do so thatI just always have that

(09:23):
accessible, but also so that mykids learn those from me, things
like that.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Okay, trent, please tell us one thing they should
remember about Summit SportsPsychology LLC.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yeah, I think one of the things that makes me really
unique compared to, even say, atraditional sports psychologist
or a mental performance coach isthat not only do I know all the
traditional sports psychologythings but I'm also a really
highly trained clinicalpsychologist.
So there's almost nothing thatwalks in the door that I
wouldn't have some level ofpreparation for, including

(09:58):
training and really, you know,deep work oriented therapies
like EMDR, eye movement,desensitization and reprocessing
ego state therapies likeinternal family systems, which
are kind of key therapies tohelp people work through trauma
all the way to doing heart ratevariability training and

(10:19):
brainwave training throughthrough types of bio and neuro
feedback, and then on top ofthat, the extra training I have
in issues around likegender-based violence and things
like that.
It gives me a unique way tounderstand some of the
difficulties that athletes canbe coming in with, because they
sometimes think they just haveto talk about sports.

(10:39):
But when we talk about highperformance we do need to make
sure there's no other stressorsimposing on them.
So just being reallywell-trained to have that big
picture on top of the sportspsychology makes me a unique
place to get into.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
Okay, how can our listeners learn more about
Summit Sports Psychology LLC?

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Yeah, probably the best place would be my website,
which issummitsportspsychologycom, or
you can just Google SummitSports Psychology and it'll come
up.
My Instagram handle is atsummitsportpsychology.
And then the other thing Iwanted people to know is that
they can schedule a free15-minute consult on my website.

(11:20):
I think it's just called BookDiscovery Call site.
I think it's just called bookdiscovery call.
But basically, if somebody isinterested to see if this would
work, I give them a free 15minutes to chat with me, see
what the process would be like,ask any questions they have, so
that we can follow up and see ifthis is a good fit, but also
answer some of those questions.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Okay, great Well, Trent, I really appreciate you
being on the show.
We wish you and your businessmuch success moving forward.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Great, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpcoloradospringscom.
That's gnpcoloradospringscom,or call 719-679-4720.