The mind plays a curious role in sport. Whether it be Zinedine Zidane’s 2006 World Cup Final headbutt, David Nalbandian kicking a barrier into a line judge’s leg at Queens, or even Jonathan Trott leaving the 2013 Ashes Tour in Australia due to stress and anxiety, no one likes seeing a sportsman’s mental state get the better of them.

On Monday February 16th, Steven Peters gave a talk at the Cambridge Union about the role played by the mind in a sporting sphere. Peters hails from a medical background, formerly working as a psychiatrist at Rampton Hospital, before a chance recommendation from an ex-student led to his involvement with the British cycling team in 2001.

But since then he has gone on to work with some of the greatest sportsmen of the modern era: Sir Chris Hoy, Steven Gerrard, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jonny Wilkinson to name but a few. Many have labelled him a "sporting guru" – a claim he modestly disputes, confessing that he had no sporting interest or knowledge prior to 2001. Yet his influence upon the minds of so many sportsmen and women has made him somewhat of a sensation, and British Cycling Coach Dave Brailsford went as far as to term Peter "the best appointment I’ve ever made".

Following his huge success with British Cycling, Peters went on to work with the English football and rugby national teams, five-time snooker World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, Liverpool football club, and UK Athletics.

Peters’ approach, detailed in his book The Chimp Paradox, works by analysing the actions of the human mind, specifically those we can account for which stem from a section of the brain which Peters terms "the chimp". This section of the brain, he argues, works independently from the human, and it is our duty to attempt to nurture and manage the actions of our "chimp". This may involve "exercising" our chimp by releasing our pent-up emotions, or by calming it down through fact, reason and logic. Once we have begun to understand our chimp – coming to terms with and managing the stresses and anxieties that plague our day-to-day lives – then this will gradually become woven into the fabric of our "computer", the section of our mind that functions on autopilot, slowing down the chimp’s influence.

His theory is described without the aid of complicated medical jargon, and has thus struck a chord with sports teams, offering a practical solution to a very real problem.

Peters argues that the stresses and strains of professional sport shouldn’t haunt the minds of participants, encouraging them to develop "coping strategies" designed to handle given situations at given times. And he insists that individuals can reach the peak of their potential through controlling their minds, going about training, matches and competitions in a committed and organised manner, potentially turning a good athlete into an exceptional one.

Peters’s model not only resonates in sporting situations, but in the everyday sphere as well. He argues that if we can understand who we are and how our minds work, then we are able to achieve the highest quality of life. So at a time when Cambridge is gripped by an End Week 5 Blues Campaign, Peters's message should have something for everyone, sports fan or not.