I have played sports my entire life. I still do. I love to compete, it’s in my DNA.
I grew up as the son of a former Major League pitcher and a teacher. They taught me discipline and work ethic before I ever understood their value. That foundation carried me to the University of Florida, where I became the first team captain in program history and part of the program’s first National Championship team in 2017.
After my freshman season, I was projected by many to be the number one overall pick in the MLB Draft. The expectations rose quickly. So did the pressure. Instead of staying present, I tried to recreate the past. I pressed. I forced outcomes. I folded under the weight of external expectations and my own need for validation.
Over the next several years, I battled anxiety, depression, nagging injuries, season-ending setbacks, demotions, and rejection. I moved through five seasons in professional baseball with the Oakland Athletics organization, reaching Triple-A while, at times, barely holding myself together internally. From the outside, it looked steady. Internally, something deeper was being formed.
Sport revealed something to me. The game itself had not changed. I was the one changing it. On one hand, it was just a game, the same one I grew up loving. On the other hand, it exposed my insecurities, ego, and fear while teaching me resilience, leadership, and faith. It forced me to confront who I was when performance was no longer protecting me.
In 2024, I stepped away from professional baseball to pursue a Master’s degree in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology at Barry University and certification as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). I made that decision because I believe athletes deserve better tools and better guidance than simply chasing NIL money, contracts, rankings, highlights, followers, or validation. The world pulls us toward seeking achievement and approval. The essence of performance calls us to seek love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).
As a catcher and captain, I learned to lead from the back. To steady others under pressure. To put the team above myself. Today, my person-centered and cognitive-behavioral approach centers on helping athletes build identity beyond performance, develop awareness in the present moment, and compete with courage.
Faith. Mindfulness. Resilience.
Outside of sport, I pursue the same standard. I am committed to becoming the best version of myself in my marriage, as a father, as a practitioner, as a friend, as a leader, and as a Son of God. As you can tell from my website, I’ve found in my own journey that expressing yourself authentically is the most effective way to affirm your identity and unlock true creativity. I like to think of performance as the canvas and identity as the hand that holds the brush.
My faith in Jesus anchored me when performance could not. It reminded me that self worth should not have to be earned and should not be taken away with poor performance. Sport taught me character. Faith taught me freedom. Mindfulness taught me presence. Resilience taught me discipline.
Together, they shape how I coach.
My sport was just a game.
But it was never just a game.
JJ Schwarz, MS, CMPC
Just A Game Core Values
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Faith and the mental game are deeply connected. My faith has been foundational in how I have navigated adversity, clarified my identity beyond performance, and rediscovered joy in competition. It reshaped my relationship with failure and uncertainty, not by removing them, but by anchoring me through them.
In my consulting, I use a Faith-Integration Framework when appropriate and aligned with the athlete’s beliefs. This framework emphasizes identity before achievement, purpose over outcomes, we over me, and character over performance. It is not about preaching or imposing belief systems. It is about helping athletes ground themselves in something deeper than results, align their actions with their values, and compete with freedom rather than fear.
Leaning on faith is not limited to sport; it is a posture toward life. The disciplines that steady an athlete under pressure are the same ones that shape leaders, strengthen relationships, guide decisions, and refine character.
Identity is something that cannot be taken from you. When it is secure, performance becomes an expression of who you are, not a definition.
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Sport demands presence. Competition exposes distraction, doubt, emotional swings, and attachment to outcomes. Mindfulness trains the ability to notice those experiences without being controlled by them.
My approach integrates cognitive behavioral principles and acceptance-based strategies. Athletes learn to observe thoughts rather than fuse with them, regulate attention intentionally, and respond to pressure with clarity instead of reactivity. We train awareness, not avoidance. Acceptance, not suppression.
Visualization is a core component of this process. Athletes rehearse competition mentally, strengthen attentional control, and prepare for adversity before it happens. The goal is not to eliminate nerves or silence the mind. It is to remain present, label thoughts and completely surrender to the outcome.
Presence is a skill. It can be trained. And in sport, it is non-negotiable.
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Sport guarantees adversity. Failure, uncertainty, and setbacks are woven into competition. Resilience is not about avoiding those realities, but about meeting them head on.
In many competitive environments, mental toughness is thought of as suppressing emotion, pushing through injury, and staying silent. Suppression is not the same as strength. My definition of resilience is psychological flexibility. It is the ability to hear doubt, frustration, or fear loud and clear, without being controlled by it.
Athletes must learn to embrace discomfort, lean into challenge, and seek growth through difficulty rather than retreat from it. We train the difference between reacting and responding. Reaction is impulsive and emotionally driven. Response is deliberate and controlled,
When failure can become feedback, reflection can replace self-condemnation. Instead of attaching identity to outcomes, athletes can learn to extract lessons, recommit to the process, and continue forward with clarity.
Resilience is the steady decision to persist, adjust, and grow when circumstances are not ideal. It is not emotional suppression. It is the decision to notice the voice in your head and choose your response anyway.
My Mental Models
“The mind is powerful servant, but a dangerous master.”
These mental models are the philosophies and perspectives that fuel my creative and spiritual energy. Because sport is an energy game, I intentionally consume this type of content to stay anchored in my faith and discipline. Japanese culture, philosophy books, biblical parables, Mother Nature etc. They serve as the blueprints for a life and a business where the goal is to experience, and performance is a raw expression of the self. I encourage all of my athletes to consciously control what they consume.
“Connected to everything, attached to nothing”
“Mushin no shin”
or
“Mind of no-mind”
This is the Zen expression for a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything.
I am in awe of the beauty of Japanese culture and their profound attention to detail. To me, there is so much to learn from the way of the samurai. Specifically the pursuit of a mind that is present, yet unattached.
Accredited in North America
Accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) certification program has developed eligibility requirements to ensure professional competence and commitment to continued education.