a unique approach

Christian Straka’s mission is to bring the transformative power of mindfulness into the heart of elite tennis training. With a background as both a professional player and coach, he has developed a precision-based, evidence-driven approach to mindset training that helps athletes perform at their highest level—especially when it matters most.

He has worked with some of the best in the world, including former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, former top-ten player Andrea Petkovic, and 22-time Grand Slam champion Mike Bryan. His coaching has helped athletes achieve career milestones while building long-term mental skills in focus, emotional regulation, and resilience.

He is the founder of MindSize Sports, a platform that delivers mindfulness-based performance training for athletes across disciplines. Christian is also a member of UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, and the American Mindfulness Research Association. His work is grounded in one clear principle: developing mindfulness skills enables athletes to access their optimal performance state more frequently—and maintain it for longer.

This approach is informed by nearly 15 years of daily mindfulness practice, ongoing study, and twice-yearly silent retreats.

Christian Straka combines a professional tennis background with nearly 15 years of mindfulness study and practice to deliver high-impact mindset training for athletes. A former competitor on the international circuit and coach to top-ranked professionals, he works at the intersection of performance and attention, applying evidence-based techniques to optimize focus, recovery, and adaptability under pressure.

His coaching centers on three core mental skills—concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity—delivered through structured programs tailored to the demands of elite sport. Christian created and teaches the University of Southern California’s first-ever Introduction to Mindfulness with Athletic Emphasis course—a pioneering curriculum designed specifically for student-athletes.

Christian’s work is further shaped by his intensive daily practice, twice-yearly silent retreats, and ongoing immersion in mindfulness, neuroscience, and performance psychology literature—drawing from both classical texts and contemporary research to continually refine his approach.

As part of his goal to help as many people as possible reach their full potential, Christian is exploring all possible avenues to continue on this journey. Each person has a set of skills they can train in a systematic way and see improvement. Since financial freedom should not be a reason for any individual to be excluded from learning and training these skills, he created the MindSize program for athletes available to anyone who reaches out to the company explaining their situation and why they would be interested in accessing the program.

In 2018, Christian embarked on a seven-day No-Single-Use-Plastic-Challenge with his wife, thanks to the inspiration of Parley, adidas and many other individuals. They inevitably realized that their failure to not use any single-use plastics, as well as the courage to honestly share their mistakes and everything they learned about plastic and their behavior, was as important of a story to share as the act of not using plastic itself.

The #nosingleuseplasticchallenge is now a global movement supported by adidas, in which Christian and his friend Garret Gooch are challenging athletes and coaches from adidas around the world monthly. Over the course of the challenge, participants discuss difficulties and insights, focusing on what we can learn while continuing to put our best foot forward and collaboratively work toward making our world a more sustainable place.

Coaching:
FC Bayern Munich, German Fedcup Team, Mike Bryan, Andrea Petkovic, Viktoria Azarenka, Tatjana Maria, Olga Govortsova

Corporate:
Netflix, Adidas, Amazon, Facebook, Insight Timer, Ultrahuman, Allianz, Mattel

Lecture:
USC, UCLA

Articles:
GQ Magazin