In high school at Unity Christian, Sam played baseball and wrestled for four years, while also playing football for one.  When he attended Trinity Christian College, he played baseball for four years as an outfielder, first baseman, and pitcher. During this time, he worked with the school sport psychologist on developing new mental skills and re-framing his view of sports. He found this experience to be very beneficial and grew more and more interested in how the mental game can influence an athlete's experience and performance. From there on, Sam decided to enroll at Northern Illinois University to pursue a graduate degree in sport psychology. 

Upon graduation, his first job was working as a certified personal coach at GOLFTEC in Mequon, Wisconsin. While he was never a competitive golfer growing up, GOLFTEC trained him in the fundamentals of the golf swing and motions of elite PGA tour players. Combining this with his education and experience in sport psychology, he helped golfers play better through mental skills training and mechanical instruction. 

Moving back to West-Michigan in June of 2024, Sam decided to start his own practice, and has been helping athletes of different sports, ages, and genders since. He also serves as an assistant coach/mental performance coach with Cornerstone University Softball and teaches private golf lessons at Kris Tees Golf Range. Learn more about golf lessons under our GOLF LESSONS page.

METHODOLOGY

We use both personal experience and evidence-based methods to help our clients achieve better competitive experiences and outcomes. We believe that sports should be viewed in the right context and that the athlete is a person before player. There are two main avenues that we work with: sport-specific counseling where we help athletes "shrink" their negative experiences, and mental skills training where we help athletes "stretch" their skill base.