The purpose of this experiment was to examine the impact of a theoretically-based mental skills training (MST) session on youth athletes' ability to handle performance stress. Before stress exposure, athletes participated in a session that included either a lecture on sport psychology history (control) or a MST session that promoted a mastery focus and caring climate (experimental group). The results suggest a single, 20-minute theoretically-based MST session can help young athletes better handle performance stress.