What do you wish you could tell your coach, but for whatever reason never did?

That is the fundamental question Dr. Sara Erdner and I explore, as well as the theme for her book: Dear Coach, What I Wish I Could Have Told You.

If there’s one thing that’s clear about sport (especially at the collegiate and youth levels) it’s that coaches don’t just impact an athletes current physical skills, they also have a massive influence on their long term psychological well being, confidence, and motivation.

In this epsiode, we talk about things like:

• is there a downside to our emphasis on being “coachable”?
• the irony of coaches wanting athletes to take feedback, but not being open to it themselves
• why teams and organizations aren’t families and why they should stop saying they are
• why we ultimately need to focus on coach mental health and mental strength if we want to instill the same in athletes
• and even some questions a high schooler or parent might ask on a recruiting visit to really get a sense of how the culture and relationship the coach is fostering

If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to listen to my conversation with Dr. Brian Zuleger on building mental strength from the inside out. As Dr. Erdner and I discuss, many coaches are outside in, meaning that when the team is performing great, the coach’s well-being, confidence, and motivation are high….but once the team performance starts to drop….then the coach’s well-being, confidence, and motivation, quickly follow.

Dr. Erder is a Certified Mental Performance Coach with a PhD in Sport Psychology and Motor Behavior. She’s worked with all levels of athletes, including being the mental performance coach for a major professional sports organization, and is currently one of my professors at Adams State University. Dr. Erdner has an incredible amount of knowledge and experience, but rather than just telling coaches what they should do better, she hopes that this conversation and her book are invitations for coaches, athletes, administrations and organizations to launch more conversations around creating needed and lasting changes so that we can create the kind of positive experiences for coaches and athletes alike that sport can and should be all about.

Find more about Dr. Erdner and her book at: https://www.dearcoachbook.com

Psychology of Sport Injury & Rehabilitation podcast

Nutcracker Syndrome podcast

Suggested reading: research on playfulness and performance:

Performance and physical activity. How playful activities implemented into training in Danish esports clubs influence players' performance experience

Playful sport design: A game changer?

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