The article substantiates the role of cognitive and motivational resources in achieving the effectiveness of sports activities. The studied literature states that cognitive functions determine the degree of mastery of professional skills, including technical and tactical actions in sports, and are of great importance in achieving success, and motivational resource plays an important role in setting goals and in the degree of involvement in sports. The purpose of the study was to study the cognitive errors of athletes, the level of attention stability and motivational resources depending on the experience of sports activity and the specifics of the sport. New data were obtained, in particular, it was revealed that more experienced athletes make fewer errors than novice athletes, at the same time, awareness does not depend on the experience and seniority of the athlete, attention indicators are higher in climbing athletes, and reach the same values in young climbers as in adults by the age of 13. Motivational resources in athletes have a sufficiently pronounced and stable character, internal and complex motivation prevails. Further research can be directed to a deeper study of the cognitive resources of extreme sports athletes.