Does My Athlete Need a Mental Performance Coach (If They Already Have a Parent and a Coach? Two sets of parents. Two different sessions. Same day. Neither one knew what the other had said. One mom told me, almost word for word: “You’re another touch point for them. You’re someone that’s in their corner, and […]
Does My Athlete Need a Mental Performance Coach? Here Are 3 Questions To Ask Read More »
Why intentional coaching matters. “YouTube keeps coaches in business.” A young high school golf coach shared this with me earlier this week as we discussed her team’s mental performance. I was kinda confused at first. I didn’t get it. Then she explained. Any young athlete can go on YouTube to figure out how to fix
3 Questions That Reveal Why Intentional Coaching Matters Read More »
Readiness to Change: A Mental Performance Coach’s Lesson “I should really stop gambling.” I never actually thought that sentence. Not until a panic attack scared the you-know-what out of me and forced my hand. That’s how readiness to change works. It rarely shows up on schedule. I always think about the process of change —
Readiness to Change: A Mental Performance Coach’s Lesson Read More »
3 things sports parents can do to improve their mental game “You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep others warm.” I saw that quote a few weeks ago and couldn’t stop thinking about it. (Thank you, Anonymous, for the gem.) It landed hard because I’m a parent of two young athletes,
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A story of self-belief… or lack thereof I often work with clients that struggle with self-belief, but I recently found myself saying something to a client that I never expected to say. “I don’t feel very good at my job right now.” Not because the athlete wasn’t listening. Not because he didn’t care. Not because
Boosting Young Athletes’ Self-Belief: A Coach’s Insight Read More »
In the world of competitive sports, young athletes often face immense pressure to perform. This pressure comes from many places, including personal expectations, parental hopes, and the desire to impress coaches and scouts. Notably, the psychological aspect of sports is just as crucial as physical training. When young athletes stop trusting their ability, it can
When Young Athletes Stop Trusting Themselves: A Story Read More »
From the outside, it looked like burnout. Low energy. Frustration. A game he used to love… starting to feel heavy. But that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was how he was thinking. I was working with a college-bound high school athlete who had started to spiral. Not because he wasn’t talented. Not because
Psychological Flexibility: The Skill Most Athletes Don’t Know They Need Read More »
From the outside, it looked like he was freezing up. Taking strikes. Falling behind. Pressing late in the count. But that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem started before he ever stepped in the box. He was paying attention to the wrong thing. Let’s rewind. I sent a check-in email to a client whose
Why Athletes Get Stuck: It’s Not What You Might Think Read More »
Last week, one of the young athletes I work with said something that stuck with me. Not about his swing. Not about a tournament. About his dad. He said: “Sometimes my dad doesn’t even say anything. He just gives me the eyes.” If you’ve spent time around youth sports, you know the look. The one
The Eyes: The Silent Pressure Every Young Athlete Feels Read More »
A first-year college baseball player said something to me this week that stopped me. “I’m actually having more fun now… and I’m not even playing.” That wasn’t the case a month ago when we first started working together. A few weeks earlier, baseball had started to feel heavy. So heavy that it led to a
Why is Having Fun a Secret Weapon for Athletes? Read More »
