When looking for a mental coach for athletes, it’s important to know what to expect once you begin the work.
While the actual structure of their program varies from coach to coach, their guiding principles will be the same.
For example, some coaches make use of assessments in the beginning to gain greater insight into your mindset and your current challenges. While others prefer an approach without an assessment and one which relies heavily on conversation.
Another example is a coach who likes to utilize handouts, while someone else may prefer more practical exercises.
The fact is, the way any individual coach goes about working with you may vary. However, no matter what program they use, these four elements are what you can expect when working with a mental performance coach.
They Will Listen To You
One key aspect of any good mental coach for athletes is their ability to listen.
A lot of times there are underlying factors which are causing you to play poorly, feel anxious, or lose interest in the game. It is the job of a mental performance coach to listen carefully to what you say and seek to understand.
They are not simply there to tell you what to do. Yes, they will guide you and support you, but first they must understand you. And that takes being able to listen to what you’re saying on a deeper level.
They Will Help You Understand Yourself
A great way to think of a mental performance coach is someone who helps you understand yourself better.
This idea can best be explained using an example:
Let’s say you’re really struggling with performance anxiety. Every time you show up to the field or court, you are overcome with dread. In order to change that, you have to change the way you’re thinking.
A coach will help you understand what you’re saying to yourself which is driving the anxiety, and then guide you towards finding a different way of speaking in that moment.
Deeper than that, however, they will help you understand yourself to a point where you will notice when those negative and anxious thoughts are happening. That way, you can then exchange them for more confident and calming thoughts.
They Will Challenge You
No good coach will let you coast. They will work to challenge your current beliefs and push you to a point where change can occur.
When we’re talking about frames of thought, it’s not always the most comfortable process to work through them. Overcoming self-doubt, perfectionism, anxiety, or anything else is not a walk in the park.
When you work with a mental coach for athletes you can expect that they will challenge you to stay consistent with your effort even when things get uncomfortable.
They will also challenge you to face difficult discussions and frustrating situations head on, rather than allowing you to make excuses and blame external factors.
They Will Believe In You
When you’re thinking about working with a mental coach for athletes, you can expect that this individual will believe in you.
I’m not just talking about your physical talents, either. They will believe that you can change. They will believe that you can be a confident player. They will believe that you have the talents necessary to succeed.
Even if you don’t believe in yourself right now, you can guarantee that your mental performance coach will.
Final Thoughts
Before you work with a mental performance coach, it’s important to understand what to expect.
Now, the way they structure their program will be unique to each individual coach. However, these four elements will remain constant: they will listen to you, they will help you understand yourself, they will challenge you, and they will believe in you.
A mental coach is a valuable resource for athletes and something I suggest you look into. Whether you’re currently struggling or simply want to add an additional asset to your game, a mental performance coach will help.