How Can Sports Psychology Help Athletes?

It’s no secret that the best athletes are physically talented — they have impressive aerobic and anaerobic capacities, can shoot perfect free throws, and they can perform at the highest of intensities for hours on end.

But the very best athletes also know how to best perform mentally. They can silence the noise and play as if they are the only person in the stadium, on the pitch, or on the golf course.

Research shows that mental training in sports psychology can improve results more than physical training alone [1]. In fact, it’s changed the lives of many athletes, whether breaking through mental barriers, coming back from injury, or improving their performance.

With this in mind, in this blog post we discuss how sports psychology can help athletes.

Sports psychologists can:

  • Reduce performance anxiety and increase athlete confidence
  • Provide athletes with mental skills to deal with stressful situations
  • Help athletes return after injury 

What is sports psychology?

Sports psychology is all about the mind — it’s about developing mental fitness and resilience, and learning skills such as visualisation and effective goal setting to maximise an athlete’s performance.

In the last few years, there’s been a boom in sports psychology — every professional sports team has at least one, and some, have a whole team of psychologists on hand to provide mental skills training, support, and education to their athletes.

Athletes who train in both the physical and mental aspects of their sport are likely to achieve better results than an athlete who only trains on the field.

What do sports psychologists do?

Okay, now that you know what sports psychology is, what do sports psychologists actually do, aside from helping athletes get the most out of themselves?

Sports psychologists:

  1. Help athletes mentally prepare for competition
  2. Teach effective goal setting techniques
  3. Develop attention and focus
  4. Break through mental barriers 
  5. Improve self-confidence and reduce anxiety
  6. Help athletes return after injury

Help athletes mentally prepare for competition

Competition is tough, both mentally and physically. That shouldn’t be a surprise to athletes or coaches.

If an athlete’s mind is not in the right place, their physical performance may suffer.

Sports psychologists work with their athletes to prepare them mentally for competition.

But this isn’t something that happens overnight. 

Let’s say you have an athlete who gets tense, anxious, and feels overwhelmed when taking a set piece such as a free throw in basketball. A psychologist could work with the athlete to develop a ritual to calm their nerves and silence the noise — this might include deep breathing exercises, cues such as relaxing their shoulders, or imagery to visualise the shot before taking it.

Want to see this in action? Watch Jonny Wilkinson perform his pre-kick ritual below:

Working with a sports psychologist is often very personalised — there is no one size fits all approach. Instead, it’s about working on an individual athlete’s strengths and weaknesses.

Teach effective goal setting techniques 

All athletes have goals, whether you’re competing for an Olympic gold medal, want to break a 5k personal best, or win your basketball league tournament.

And we can all use effective goal setting techniques to improve self-confidence, performance, and the overall likelihood of success.

Sports psychologists and coaches should work with athletes to set goals using the following principles [2]:

  • Set specific goals that lead to better performance (vs. easy goals)
  • Short-term goals should move the needle towards long-term goals
  • An understanding that goals affect performance (effort, direction and attention, motivation, and strategy development)
  • Feedback regarding process is crucial when working towards goals
  • Goals must be accepted by the athlete 

Related: What Qualities Make A Great Sports Coach?

Develop attention and focus 

It’s natural for athletes to feel increased anxiety under pressure — it’s those moments before a freekick, a set piece, the closing moments of a game, or the final 100 metres of a 5,000-metre race.

A sports psychologist can help athletes regain focus and lessen their anxiety, allowing them to maximise performance.

Furthermore, some athletes might perform well, but struggle with attention and focus during training, perhaps preventing them from reaching that “next level.” 

Athletes can work alongside a sports psychologist to improve their motivation, attention and focus during those oh-so-crucial moments. 

Break through mental barriers

Athletes use mental coaching to break through barriers that may inhibit peak performance.

For example, an athlete may choke under high pressure regularly, fear task or performance failure after a specific event, or experience severe anxiety to the point where their performance is severely hindered. 

Sports psychologists employ mental skills training techniques to break through these mental barriers [1], alleviating anxiety and providing athletes with the tools to face their unique challenges head-on.

And the best part is, you don’t need to be an elite athlete to benefit from sports psychology and mental training.

Improve self-confidence and reduce anxiety

Working with a psychologist can help athletes improve confidence and optimise focus for performance.

Using certain mental exercises, athletes can recall how they felt during past performances, and can even practise certain skills and techniques to work on their mental game. Often, this includes the visualisation of particular scenarios and sports outcomes.

Psychologists administer a mix of mental skills, including [3]:

  • Self-talk
  • Attentional control
  • Goal setting
  • Imagery/visualisation 
  • Activation and relaxation

If you’re a coach and you want to start using mental skill training with your athletes, you can read our how to create a mental training program for athletes guide.

Help athletes return after injury

Returning from a sports injury is no easy feat. — many athletes push too hard too early and only make it worse.

And then there are other athletes who seemingly come back from the impossible. Take Chris Froome’s horrendous crash at the dauphiné back in 2019, for example. He fractured his right femur, elbow, and several ribs after hitting a wall at over 33 mph during a training ride — he was later airlifted to hospital.

Team Ineos did not renew his professional contract, and for many cyclists (and athletes), that would be the end of their careers. But not Froome.

And that’s only one example. There are others too, including Peyton Manning, who had multiple neck surgeries; Tiger Woods suffered from a double stress fracture in his left tibia; and Tom Brady who tore both the ACL and MCL in his knee.

All of these athletes returned back to their sport after going through rehabilitation with physiologists, doctors, and psychologists.

Why is sports psychology so important?

Sports psychology can help athletes reduce performance anxiety, come back from injury, break through mental barriers, and ultimately make them a more well-rounded and better athlete.

Prime your athletes for performance with Rewire

If you’re a coach, you can use Rewire for teams to prime your athletes for performance. 

With as little as 5 minutes of daily use, on average, athletes experience 70% less stress, 30% more focus, and a 30% increase in readiness to perform.

Athletes gain access to mindset recovery protocols based on science to improve their mindset and recovery, and to prepare them for training and competition.

And as a coach, you gain a comprehensive understanding of their “readiness scores” to determine their training load.

“As a professional athlete, I’ve known firsthand the importance of training the mind and body to push the limits of performance. Rewire’s latest platform makes mental strength training more accessible to athletes everywhere with easy-to-use tools to help them reach their goals.”

— Kyle Korver, NBA All-Star & Assistant GM for the Atlanta Hawks.

Book a consultation 

LEARN MORE

References:

  1. Kumar, P. and Shirotriya, A.K., 2010. ‘Sports psychology’a crucial ingredient for athletes success: conceptual view. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 44(Suppl 1), pp.i55-i56.
  2. Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P., 1985. The application of goal setting to sports. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(3), pp.205-222.
  3. Röthlin, P., Horvath, S., Trösch, S., Holtforth, M.G. and Birrer, D., 2020. Differential and shared effects of psychological skills training and mindfulness training on performance-relevant psychological factors in sport: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychology, 8, pp.1-13.
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How to Create a Mental Training Program for Athletes

Improve your athletes’ mental game and develop a competitive edge by implementing a mental training plan.

Michael Phelps once said, “I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything.” 

This quote from the Olympic swimmer — and most celebrated Olympian of all time — is a fantastic introduction to mental training and how it can improve confidence and mental strength.

Mental training tools, such as effective goal setting, visualisation, self-talk, and progressive muscle relaxation, can be used to maximise physical and psychological performance.

Some of the very best athletes — Phelps included — used psychological skills training to improve performance. And in this blog post, we’ll explain how you can create a mental skills training program for your athletes to help them stay focused when it matters most.

Please note: I am not a sports psychologist. I am simply relaying the literature in an easy-to-understand way to help you create a mental training program for your athletes.

How do athletes train mentally?

Athletes who follow a mental training program usually focus on one skill or psychological strategy a day. 

For example, during the week, they might practise a mix of skills to improve their mental game, including self-talk, visualisation, goal setting, and activation. 

If an athlete struggles to deal with the intense pressure of competition during a particularly stressful situation (such as a freekick in football), they can visualise this and practise other mental exercises to improve confidence and performance.

While this obviously looks different for every athlete and sport, coaches should create mental training programs to address athlete weaknesses while also honing in on their strengths.

So how do you start?

To begin, coaches should perform a needs assessment with their athletes — this helps identify any potential psychological strengths (and weaknesses), and areas that may be detrimental to performance. 

Ask your athletes to note down both physical and psychological skills they think are needed to perform well in their sport.

An example mental training program for a cyclist

Let’s use the example of a cyclist. They might mention skills such as:

  • Climbing ability
  • Descending ability (and confidence when doing so)
  • Core strength
  • Power output 
  • Cornering
  • Teamwork
  • Getting into an aero position 
  • Good communication with the team

Once you’ve got these noted down, athletes rate (on a scale of 1 to 10) how good they think they are at each skill.

Also, ask your athletes if they have any strengths or weaknesses in their sport. For example, they may say they are good at climbing, but worse at descending.

If they rate their descending ability a 4, for example, then mental skills can be used to improve their confidence and technique on those descents. 

Visualisation can be used to practise choosing the right line, putting the weight over the bike correctly, and braking in advance of the corner. This can help build up confidence without actually being on the bike.

During this needs assessment, it’s important that it’s a collaborative effort between coach and athlete — this makes it more likely that they’ll stick to the program.

For more data, coaches can ask athletes to complete the test of performance questionnaire (TOPS). This will also reveal other psychological strengths and weaknesses in training and competition.

Now with a list of strengths and weaknesses, alongside physical and psychological skills, you can begin collaborating with your athletes to create an effective mental training program.

Decide what mental skills to include in the program

The results from the TOPS questionnaire also show what mental skills the athlete is good at and others which can be improved.

This provides a great foundation for you to combine skills that they have not yet utilised (or are not very good at), and skills that they want to improve in their sport, e.g. descending ability.

Mental skills include [2]:

  • Self-talk
  • Emotional control
  • Goal setting 
  • Imagery (also called visualisation)
  • Activation
  • Relaxation
  • Negative thinking 
  • Attentional control 

If the imagery and self-talk scores were low (i.e. not used before), then we can add these to a mental training program to focus on those weaker areas such as descending, cornering and getting into an aero position.

The athlete will now be improving mental strength and physical training, applying a new skill to their performance.

You can also use mental skills they have previous practice with (and feel confident using) to complement their training and skill learning.

Be sure to ask the athlete what they want to improve and what mental skills they think would benefit their overall performance. Remember: the process should remain collaborative. 

Self-talk 

For self-talk, ask athletes to note down any negative self-talk they experience during training, competition, or when practising a skill.

Let’s say, for example, when approaching a descent, they feel scared, out of control, and as if they’re going to run off the road.

You can implement a script to replace negative thoughts with positive self-talk. 

Below are some examples of how this cyclist would begin using positive self-talk during training, and, eventually, competition. 

Negative self-talkPositive self-talk
I feel scared when descendingI’m confident at descending 
I feel like I’m going to run off the roadI’ll choose my line and stick to it
I’m worried I’ll grab the brakes in the cornerI’ll break in a straight line before the corner

Imagery

Imagery, or visualisation is similar to self-talk. And in our example, you could ask your athlete to imagine themselves descending.

What technique are they adopting? Where do they position themselves on the road? How does it feel leading up to the corner? Do they hit the apex? What about exiting the corner — do they accelerate quickly by putting more power on the pedals?

And while you should visualise the successful performance of the skill, it may also be beneficial to imagine what could go wrong, and other ways it could go. However, to begin with, we recommend mastering successful skill performance before exploring other visualisation outcomes.

Relaxation

And finally, let’s say our cyclist feels intense pressure during competition. If this was the case, it might be useful to practise relaxation techniques. This could include focused deep breathing, positive self-talk, progressive muscle relaxation, and other techniques which are good mental training tools to have in your toolkit. 

No mental training program will be the same

When designing a mental training program for your athletes, it’s important to know that no two plans should or will be the same.

Athletes have unique strengths and weaknesses, some may have experience with mental skills training, and others might be starting from scratch.

But no matter what level an athlete is playing or competing in, mental training can help them improve physical (and mental) performance [1]. 

Coaches can use Rewire to build mental fitness 

As well as creating a mental training plan for your athletes, coaches can use Rewire for teams to further improve mental fitness and mindset recovery.

Athletes get access to evidence-based protocols from neuroscience and sports psychology, and actively practise self-talk, visualisation, guided breathing exercises, and more. 

Coaches can also track athletes’ readiness scores to tailor their physical and mental training for each athlete to maximise performance. 

“If you’re just relying on trying to sharpen your mental game while you’re out training, you might not always have the opportunity or you may wear your body down too much. With Rewire, you have a controlled environment and structure so that you can choose when you want to add mental training to your workouts and you can do it as often as you’d like.” – Laura Kline (Elite Ultra Runner & Endurance Athlete)

Find out how Rewire can improve mental fitness for your athletes.

FAQs

What is a mental skills training program?

A mental skills training program contains psychological exercises such as self-talk and visualisation to improve physical skills, whether that’s a free throw or a cycling descent.

How do you train mental training?

To start, begin practising easy-to-implement skills such as positive self-talk and visualisation. Note down areas of your sport you want to improve and use mental skills to optimise physical and mental performance.

How do athletes become better mentally?

The best athletes are highly resilient. Often, this is a result of mental training exercises such as visualisation, self-talk, and effective goal setting. You can do the same to improve your performance.

References:

  1. Holmes, P.S. and Collins, D.J., 2001. The PETTLEP approach to motor imagery: A functional equivalence model for sport psychologists. Journal of applied sport psychology, 13(1), pp.60-83.
  2. Röthlin, P., Horvath, S., Trösch, S., Holtforth, M.G. and Birrer, D., 2020. Differential and shared effects of psychological skills training and mindfulness training on performance-relevant psychological factors in sport: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychology, 8, pp.1-13.
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How to Improve Mental Health for Athletes

A guide for athletes and coaches.

Mental health is finally beginning to get the attention it deserves. And that includes the athlete population. With the introduction of sports psychologists and other team members, the industry — as a whole — is moving in the right direction.

We’ve had Gracie Gold speak out about her eating disorder, anxiety, and depression, Michael Phelps openly discuss his battle with depression, and Naomi Osaka speak about her struggles with depression after withdrawing from the 2021 French open tournament.

But there’s still more that needs to be done. And whether you’re a coach or an athlete, there are things you can do — and this article will detail them.

How mental health affects performance 

Poor mental health might lead to various performance blocks, including lapses in focus and concentration, mental blocks, poor recovery and sleep in training and competition, and a higher risk of injuries.

Athletes may also experience physical shaking, tight muscles, and feel more pressure, stress, and anxiety than usual.

Why do athletes struggle with mental health? 

From time to time, we all struggle with mental health. It’s a part of human nature. Athletes are no different — they can suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders, OCD, and many other conditions. 

Unlike others, elite athletes are also exposed to public scrutiny — they perform on the world stage, and are no doubt influenced by people’s opinions, comments, and criticism. This also has consequences, perhaps contributing to poor mental health, too.

Risk factors for mental ill health in athletes

Research indicates that athletes experience comparable rates of mental ill-health (e.g. depression, PTSD, and sleep disorders), but are also at risk of athlete-specific risk indicators for ill mental health, such as [4]:

  • Sports injury and concussion
  • Performance failure
  • Overtraining
  • Individual sports are typically higher risk than team sports
  • Negative major life events
  • Low social support
  • Impaired sleep quality

Athletes are perhaps more at risk due to the increased demands, including travel, training demands, coach-athlete relationships, and exposure to unfamiliar training environments. Moreover, elite athletes who are injured or approaching retirement may also experience performance difficulty [5].

Why is there a stigma around mental health in athletes? 

The stigma around talking about mental health — and seeking treatment — is not only prevalent in athletes, but throughout human history [1].

One study found that NCAA Division 1 athletes were more at risk of public stigma than their non-athlete peers [2]. 

But why is this the case?

Athletes want to appear mentally tough and do not want to show weakness. Often, athletes fear that seeking help will result in a loss of playing team, or may even jeopardise their career or contract.

And at the college level, the compounded stress of school and elite sports only makes things worse. Athletes are more likely to encounter burnout, and may struggle with mental health issues. Once again, not speaking up because they risk not being selected for their team or sport.

What can coaches do to help athlete mental health?

Sports coaches play a pivotal role in athlete mental health — they can:

  • Increase education and awareness of mental health
  • Reduce the stigma and promote early help-seeking
  • Focus on overall athlete development (not just physical)

Let’s break these down in more detail.

Increase education and awareness of mental health issues

Coaches can increase education and awareness of mental health by hosting workshops, speaking engagements, and working with sports psychologists.

It’s not just athletes who should know how to recognise the signs of early-onset mental health issues. 

Programs and further information should be offered to the athlete’s family and friends to help recognize potential symptoms and risks, and encourage the athlete to seek help before a particular struggle were to spiral out of control. 

Reduce the stigma and promote early help-seeking 

Many people don’t talk about their mental health. However, athletes, as previously discussed, may be at a greater risk of not speaking out.

So to combat this, coaches and other sports organisations that work closely with the athletes should focus on reducing the stigma through education and awareness. Furthermore, there should be a support system in place for early help-seeking — that includes multiple ways to ask for help [4].

While not in a professional sense, at grassroots level, this could be as simple as athletes maintaining a good relationship with their coaches and knowing they can ask for help, whether in-person after training, or via text, provided this is appropriate (as a very basic example).

Focus on overall athlete development (not just physical)

For years, the focus on the athletes has been physical. And that made sense! 

But these days, coaches and other staff should focus on overall athlete development from a more holistic perspective. That includes sports psychology, mental skills training, education around mental health, and so on.

Check in with your athletes, perhaps add a non-invasive screening method, and focus on more than just the physiology and physical skills training.

How can athletes manage their mental health? 

Although coaches and coaching staff play a pivotal role in the mental health of athletes, ultimately, it comes down to the athlete to implement changes, practice self-care, and better manage their mental health.

So if you’re an athlete, what can you do?

  • Surround yourself with a good support network
  • Set effective (but achievable) goals
  • Talk to someone if needed
  • Reduce overall stress (and talk to someone if the stress gets too much)

Surround yourself with a good support network

Depression and other mental health issues might be a higher risk for athletes who partake in individual sports instead of team sports [6].

If that’s you, it’s even more important to surround yourself with a good support network — these people will become your teammates.

That could be a good coach, a friend, family members, and so on. You want people that you can talk to when needed — and they will listen — and you want people who provide more positive outcomes than negative ones in your life.

Set effective (but achievable) goals

Most athletes know the importance of goal setting, so we won’t dive into the specifics in this blog post. However, it’s essential to use effective goal setting principles for the best results.

Where mental health is concerned, goals should be challenging but achievable. 

Yes, your goals should be difficult, but they shouldn’t be so challenging that you can’t achieve them, only to be upset when you don’t achieve what you set out to achieve.

You can use tried and tested goal setting methods to do so, i.e. short and long-term goals, specific goals, and a feedback system that helps you understand your progress [3].

Related: 6 Tips For Achieving Your Fitness Goals 

Talk to someone if needed

Athletes should always have someone to talk to if needed, even if it’s to discuss something as simple as a training session that didn’t go quite to plan, or to run through their goals for the remainder of the year.

Equally though, coaches (and other staff) should be available to talk to. An open line of communication is essential to protect mental health — and reach out for help if needed.

Reduce overall stress

Athletes experience stress — whether that’s during training, competition, or the day-to-day.

In particular, though, many people forget the additional stressors student-athletes face. A Division 1 athlete, for example, often trains very similar hours to a professional athlete, but also attends classes, and seminars, and has other educational demands.

It’s not just the attendance that’s required, it’s the additional work writing papers, researching, and other tasks — it’s like having two full-time jobs.

If possible, student-athletes should speak to their teachers when needed to explain the situation if they’re struggling to balance the two. And if possible, coaches and teachers should be aware of their demands and provide leniency where possible.

Student athlete mental wellness should be a top priority. 

Reducing stress will lessen the risk of burnout and injury, and should provide better balance in the day-to-day. 

The Mindset Recovery collection on the Rewire app includes sessions dedicated specially to help athletes reduce stress, try our free 4 minute guided stress relief session

FAQs

What is the most common mental health issue for athletes?

Anxiety is thought to be one of the most common mental health issues in athletes. Depression, disordered eating, stress, sleeping disorders, and overtraining are also common.

How do athletes take care of their mental health?

Athletes should surround themselves with a good support network, set realistic goals, and reduce overall stress. They can also work with a psychologist or a mental health professional to take better care of their mental health.

Including Rewire Fitness sessions into an athlete’s routine is another way to improve mental health. With just 5-10 minutes of every day use, the average rewire user reports a 70% reduction in stress, 30% increase in focus, and a 30% increase in readiness to perform. Try the app for free today

Coaching athletes and looking to help them take care of their mental health? Find out how Rewire can help your team’s wellbeing by booking a consultation with us today

References:

  1. Bauman, N.J., 2016. The stigma of mental health in athletes: are mental toughness and mental health seen as contradictory in elite sport?. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(3), pp.135-136. 
  2. Kaier, E., Cromer, L.D., Johnson, M.D., Strunk, K. and Davis, J.L., 2015. Perceptions of mental illness stigma: Comparisons of athletes to nonathlete peers. Journal of College Student Development, 56(7), pp.735-739. 
  3. Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P., 1985. The application of goal setting to sports. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7(3), pp.205-222.
  4. Purcell, R., Gwyther, K. and Rice, S.M., 2019. Mental health in elite athletes: increased awareness requires an early intervention framework to respond to athlete needs. Sports medicine-open, 5(1), p.46.
  5. Rice, S.M., Purcell, R., De Silva, S., Mawren, D., McGorry, P.D. and Parker, A.G., 2016. The mental health of elite athletes: A narrative systematic review. Sports medicine, 46, pp.1333-1353.
  6. Schaal, K., Tafflet, M., Nassif, H., Thibault, V., Pichard, C., Alcotte, M., Guillet, T., El Helou, N., Berthelot, G., Simon, S. and Toussaint, J.F., 2011. Psychological balance in high level athletes: gender-based differences and sport-specific patterns. PloS one, 6(5), p.e19007.
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What Makes a Good Youth Sports Coach

We’ve all heard stories about youth sports coaches, both good and bad. There’s the coach who makes training exciting and a fun place to be, and then there’s the coach who yells at the kids, almost as if they enrolled into boot camp. 

If you’re a youth sports coach, there are certain qualities that parents look for and that kids need in a coach and mentor. 

This blog post will highlight what makes a good youth sports coach — it’s both a guide for coaches (what to do and what not to do), and for parents to help them find the right coach for their kids.

What are the qualities of a good coach in youth sports?

Good sports coaches often share similar qualities — they leave behind patterns.

Youth coaches typically have many of the following coaching behaviours: 

  1. They make training fun 
  2. Winning is not the priority 
  3. They teach good sportsmanship
  4. The coach does not play favourites
  5. They are patient
  6. Good youth sport coaches have a positive can-do attitude
  7. Let all kids get involved
  8. Teaches basic skills 
  9. Knows how to effectively communicate with the kids 
  10. Provides equal playing time and opportunities 

They make training fun 

Good sports coaches know how to make training fun (and why it’s important). 

We’ve all seen or heard the screaming coach — it’s not a good look, and it’s the wrong approach to coaching (especially when coaching young kids).

Training should be fun and may include friendly competition.

For example, there’s the classic warm up of stuck in the mud, tag, and other fun games.

If you’re in the pool, you might play a game such as attack of the killer bees (tag with pool noodles). Although, no contact with the face or head is allowed.

Or maybe if you’re playing football, you’ll finish the session with a quick round of crossbar challenge, involving all players and keeping things fun and competitive.

Winning is not the priority 

Winning should not be a priority of a youth coach.

Yes, it may feel good. And the team may enjoy it. But the priority should be to have fun.

Young athletes who enjoy training are more likely to stick with it, whether that’s for months or years.

Furthermore, not winning actually teaches many life lessons and skills, especially if you experience these from a young age. 

They teach good sportsmanship

Good sportsmanship should be taught from an early age. It not only teaches respect in the world of sport, but in life.

At the end of a session, youth coaches might ask their athletes to high-five each other.

At the end of a game, players should handshake their opponents.

Good youth sports coaches recognise the opportunity to teach proper sportsmanship and respect, and include these behaviours where possible and appropriate.

The coach does not play favourites 

The same can be said for any coach, whether in youth sports, high school, or at the elite level.

A good coach should never have favourites. 

Yes, they might have one or two star athletes (this is normal), but during training, they should provide their attention to all athletes. Not one, two, or a select group.

Prioritising certain children and athletes over others should be an instant red flag.

Related: What qualities make a great sports coach? 

They are patient 

At the end of the day, kids are kids.

They’ll talk over one another, they might not listen the first time, and you’ll have to repeat things over and over.

A good sports coach at the youth level needs to be very patient. 

That means not shouting when they don’t listen, and being willing to go the extra mile to explain concepts to kids who might be struggling to grasp them on the first try. It’s part of the learning process and part of developing new skills. 

This patience and dedication go a long way — you’ll see first-hand how much of a profound effect you can have on young athletes.

Good youth sports coaches have a positive can-do attitude 

At some point or another, we’ve all had (or seen) a coach who had a positive attitude — they were enthusiastic and pushed us to achieve more than we thought was possible.

A youth sports coach with a positive attitude is highly underrated. They motivate kids to attend practice, push themselves, and face many challenges.

They are also typically great at providing positive reinforcement and building self confidence in kids.

Related: What is the Most Effective Way to Provide Feedback to an Athlete?

Training instantly becomes more fun and enjoyable, and kids are equally as excited to attend the training session.

Compare this to a coach who shouts and screams at their athletes, and you’ll see first-hand how powerful that can-do attitude is. 

Enthusiasm is infectious — look for this quality in a youth sports coach. 

Let all kids get involved

A great coach lets all kids get involved, not just one individual player.

Excluding any kid or athlete is a sign of a bad coach.

Youth coaching (and any coaching) is about inclusivity. 

Excluding any kid is not only harmful in the moment (they may feel left out, upset, etc.), but you might stop them from playing sports later in life.

Sports exclusion is one of the worst things you can do — it’s not a good coaching behaviour. Avoid this at all costs, especially in youth.

Related: 5 Qualities of a Bad Coach (And How to Avoid Them).

Teaches basic skills 

A good youth sports coach focuses on the development of young kids (that includes teaching basic skills).

Often, these skills will be naturally built into training sessions and school PE classes.

For example, life skills such as teamwork, good communication, sportsmanship, and even fundamental physical skills (balance, jumping, running, hopping, etc.) are commonly taught.

These are easy to implement (but very important), and kids usually don’t even realise what lessons and skills they’re being taught until later in life.

Knows how to effectively communicate with the kids

While all coaches need to be effective communicators (it’s an integral part of coaching), it’s especially important when coaching young athletes and kids.

Young people have shorter spans of attention. They are more likely to become distracted. And you might need to explain a concept multiple times (visual and auditory) for them to get it.

Good coaches know this and are extremely patient with the kids. They have great communication skills and use these in (and out of) practice to get the most out of young athletes. 

Provides equal playing time and opportunities 

And finally, youth sports coaches should provide equal playing time and opportunities for all their athletes.

During training, that means everybody gets time on the ball, has equal opportunities to shoot hoops, and nobody is excluded in a game of tag.

Good youth coaches know how to involve all kids in a fun and engaging way — training becomes exciting, and kids look forward to their next session.

Which, as you can imagine, has many positive rebound effects.

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Insights from the World of F1 Performance Coaching with Pete McKnight, Human Performance Expert and Coach (Formula 1)

In this podcast, we speak with Pete McKnight, Performance Director at Hintsa Performance and a member of the Rewire Fitness advisory board.

With over two decades of experience in the field, Pete has coached and managed the performance of some of the world’s top F1 drivers. 

Summary:

  • Pete’s comprehensive approach to coaching elite sport and managing athletes
  • A typical day in the life working with F1 teams
  • The unique challenges and opportunities involved in coaching F1 drivers
  • How to use science and research to inform the coaching process
  • The recruitment process for F1 coaches 
  • Characteristics which differentiate top athletes
  • Pete’s thoughts on the F1 coaching practice compared to other populations (military, corporate professionals…)
  • How to unlock performance outside of physiology
  • and much more… 

Interested in enhancing your athletes’ well-being and performance? Visit Rewire for Teams or book a free consultation to learn how we can help your athletes gain a competitive edge.

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