Mental Performance Coach Spotlight: Danielle McDonough

Who is Danielle McDonough?

Danielle McDonough is a former Division I and professional ice hockey player turned elite mental-performance coach and founder of Peak Performance Training (OC PPT). She is also the author of bestselling book The Empowered Athlete: Self-Confidence, Self-Acceptance, and Self-Worth: An Athlete’s Guide to Excellence; as well as the Mental Skills Coach for the USA Hockey National Development Program.

With a B.A. in Sociology on a full athletic scholarship at Providence College and a Master’s in Sport & Exercise Psychology, she brings a unique blend of firsthand playing experience and academic training to her work.

We’re watching an entire generation of athletes grow up inside a system where 70% quit by age 13, mental-health struggles are rising, and suicide is now the second leading cause of death among NCAA athletes. These numbers aren’t just statistics — they’re a wake-up call.

From Playing Professionally to Mindset Coaching

Danielle’s mental performance training is grounded in her own experiences with competition, pressure, transition, and identity.

• She began skating and playing hockey as a child, and eventually earned a full-ride scholarship to play at Providence College.

• After college she played professionally in North America and Europe, giving her insight into the pressures and psychological demands of elite hockey.

• When she stepped away from professional sport, she recognized the mental challenges many athletes face (identity loss, self-doubt, burnout) and decided to turn those challenges into her life’s work: helping others build mental resilience and confidence through sport.

Danielle's playing experience and understanding of what it feels like to skate, compete, win, struggle, and transition, is what gives her coaching depth, empathy, and credibility. She doesn’t just teach mental-skills theory — she’s lived through the game and the grind.

What She Brings: The Philosophy & Tools of Peak Performance Training

Danielle’s coaching philosophy centers around the idea that sport is 10% physical and 90% mental.

Her work helps athletes develop mental skills that carry them through competition and beyond. Some of the core elements include:

• Building self-confidence, healthy self-talk, and self-worth so athletes believe in their skills under pressure.

• Teaching breathing, relaxation, and mental reset techniques to stay calm under stress and bounce back from mistakes.

• Helping athletes set process goals so that growth, not perfection, becomes the path forward.

• Supporting athletes (and their families) during recruiting, performance slumps, injuries, or big career decisions with structured mental-skills training, mentorship, and emotional support.

Mindset training gives athletes something the current sports culture often doesn’t: a sense of control, confidence, and self-trust. Talent may open doors, but it’s an athlete’s ability to manage pressure, reset after mistakes, and trust who they are — not just how they perform — that determines how far they go.

Her Impact: Why Mental Performance Coaching Matters

• Normalizing mental care in athletics: By championing mental skills as a core part of training, she helps athletes and teams take mindset as seriously as skating, strength, or tactics.

• Empowering resilience and self-belief: Her clients frequently cite gains in confidence, consistency, mental toughness, and overall enjoyment, helping them perform better and stay in the game longer.

• Supporting athletes holistically: From stress and pressure to identity and self-worth, her coaching addresses not just performance but long-term well-being and growth, even beyond the rink or field.

Coaches like Danielle don’t just build better athletes, they build stronger, more grounded people.

My mission is to help athletes build that inner foundation of resilience and belief so they can show up confidently in their sport — and more importantly, carry those skills into every part of their lives.

Meet Danielle

Danielle will be leading an in-person mental performance workshop at Girl’s Hockey Night with the Sirens, offering players the chance to build confidence, strengthen their mindset, and learn tools they can use long after they leave the rink.

If you want your athlete to grow not just as a player, but as a person, this is a workshop you don’t want to miss.