Mental Skills Training in Esports

This chapter examines the crucial role of mental skills training in optimizing esports performance and player well-being, exploring essential psychological skills whilst offering evidence-based strategies for players and teams. We investigate how competitive gaming presents unique psychological challenges, including the need to maintain concentration during extended matches, manage intense emotional volatility, execute complex tactics under mental and physical fatigue, and cope with the phenomenon of “tilt”, a state of emotional frustration that undermines decision-making and performance. The chapter demonstrates how traditional sport psychology principles, including self-regulation theory, goal-setting frameworks, mindset theory, and flow concepts, can be effectively adapted to address the distinctive demands of competitive gaming. We present the Bonilla et al. (2022) esports-specific psychological skills model, which identifies eight key components including attentional control, activation control, emotional control, thought control, goal control, communication, team cohesion, and behavioural control. The chapter provides practical implementation frameworks for developing these skills, emphasizing the integration of psychological skills training with technical-tactical development and healthy lifestyle habits. We establish mental skills training as a fundamental component of elite esports performance, arguing that psychological competencies are not a luxury but a necessity for sustainable success in competitive gaming environments.