Tools to Help you Stay Calm in the Eye of the Storm
Most coaches I know recognize the importance of the mental side of performance.
They teach their athletes how to manage nerves. What they need to stay focused in the moment. How to reset after big mistakes. Where their confidence comes from and how to handle pressure when the game or a season is on the line.
But there’s an uncomfortable truth we don’t talk about often enough:
Many coaches are trying to teach skills they haven’t fully practiced themselves.
Coaching is cognitively and emotionally demanding work. You’re making constant decisions, managing personalities, navigating pressure from parents and administrators, preparing sessions, adjusting tactics, and carrying the emotional weight of a group of young people. That’s not just physical energy, that’s sustained mental load.
If you expect your athletes to train their inner game, it’s worth asking:
Are you doing the same?
The Coach’s Inner Game Shapes Everything
When you are overwhelmed internally, it shows externally.
You see it when your patience in practice grows short. When you struggle to control your emotions on the sideline. You overthink every decision and carry the losses home, replaying them in your mind.
Not because you are. But because your mind is constantly working against you instead of for you.
This is where mental performance tools are just as valuable to you as they are to athletes.
Focus and Mental Clarity: Why Meditation Matters for Coaches
One of the most impactful tools I’ve adopted personally is meditation.
Not only as something spiritual, but as a way to train attention. During the season, we have one million things on the go at all times, and if you are like me, it can be hard to finish one task before you move on to put out the next fire. This is exhausting. Also, during busy seasons, our minds are busy witha running play-by-play of all we need to do.
Coaches live with constant mental chatter:
• Replaying mistakes from the last game
• Worrying about the next opponent
• Anticipating parent conversations
• Questioning lineup decisions
• Critiquing their own performance
That mental noise doesn’t stay in your head. It leaks into your tone, your body language, your patience, and your presence.
Consistent meditation practice helps coaches:
• Improve focus during chaotic moments
• Notice emotional triggers earlier
• Create space between stimulus and reaction
• Stay more present in practice and games
• Reduce rumination after tough performances
The goal isn’t to empty your mind. The goal is to notice when your attention drifts and bring it back. Focus only on your breath. When you catch it wandering, gently bring it back to the breath. The first time you try it, 3 minutes will feel like 50.
Start with three minutes and build up to 10 or 12. Immediately, the chatter quiets, you focus on one task at a time and are more present with the people in your life
That single skill can change how you coach under pressure and improve your life away from the sport. Pretty good ROI on 10-12 minutes if you ask me.
What You Look For Shapes What You Build
Coaches are trained problem-solvers. That’s part of the job. Sometimes it's also part of the problem.
But when problem-finding becomes the default lens, it slowly erodes both you and your environment. You see problems everywhere without seeing the good that is happening also.
A more intentional mindset doesn’t mean ignoring issues. It means widening your lens.
Coaches who train their mindset to focus on the positive start to see:
• Growth instead of just mistakes
• Effort instead of just outcomes
• Small progress instead of only big gaps
• Learning instead of only failure
This shift changes the emotional climate of a program:
• Film sessions become constructive instead of heavy
• Feedback becomes developmental instead of critical
• Athletes feel seen instead of judged
• Coaches feel more hopeful instead of depleted
It also changes how you relate to yourself. Instead of constantly focusing on where you fell short, you begin to recognize what’s improving, what’s working, and where your strengths truly lie.
That’s not softness. That’s sustainability.
Self-Talk: The Voice That Shapes Your Leadership
We talk a lot about athlete self-talk. But coaches are often their own harshest critics.
Internal dialogue for coaches often sounds like:
• “That was a terrible decision.”
• “You’re blowing this season.”
• “Everyone else has this figured out but you.”
• “You should be better than this.”
That internal voice doesn’t help you. It increases doubt and reactivity. It reduces your patience and amplifies the feeling of pressure
You can use a few simple tools to help you shift your negative self-talk to a more helpful dialogue
Allowing you to shift from:
• “I screwed that up.” → “What can I learn from that?”
• “We’re falling apart.” → “What’s the next best action?”
• “I’m failing them.” → “Stay present. Lead the moment.”
That matters because the way you speak to yourself under pressure becomes the emotional tone your athletes experience.
Why More Coaches Are Turning to Mental Performance for Themselves
We’re starting to see more high-level coaches quietly working with mental performance consultants, psychologists, or performance coaches not for their athletes, but for themselves.
Not for tactics. Not for drills. Not for systems.
But for:
• Emotional regulation
• Decision clarity
• Leadership presence
• Managing pressure
• Sustaining energy
• Avoiding burnout
• Reconnecting with purpose
They’ve recognized a simple truth:
If the coach’s inner game isn't stable, the culture won’t be either.
What Changes When Coaches Do This Work
Coaches who apply mental performance tools to themselves consistently report:
• Greater emotional consistency
• Clearer decision-making
• Stronger relationships with athletes
• Less emotional exhaustion
• More joy in the work
• Greater longevity in the profession
Not because coaching gets easier. But because they become more grounded.
Their presence becomes steadier, reactions become more intentional and their leadership becomes more trustworthy.
The Real Work of Transformational Coaching
We often say we want athletes to do the inner work. To reflect, grow, regulate and develop awarness
But the most powerful cultures are built by coaches who are willing to model it first.
Mental performance isn’t just a tool for your players. It’s a leadership skill for you.
And when coaches train their own inner game, everything else begins to align; culture stabilizes, trust deepens, pressure becomes manageable, coaching becomes sustainable and the work becomes meaningful again.
Not perfect. But grounded.
And that’s the version of your leadership your athletes benefit from most.
Are you or your athletes struggling to be their best?
Let's find a solution together.
I help coaches thrive.
As a Certified Mental Performance Consultant and a basketball coach with 25 years of experience, I understand the barriers to peak performance for both you and your athletes.
I would love to help you or your team build a competitive advantage. Here are a few ways I can help:
- Consult with your team or coaching staff
- Teach mental skills to your team via Zoom
- Work 1 on 1 with coaches
- Work 1 on 1 with athletes
Book a Free Discovery Call
If you’re feeling the weight of expectations, pressure, or burnout, you don’t have to figure this out alone.
A discovery call is simply a chance to talk through your season, your goals, and your process, with another coach who’s been there. No pitch. No obligation. Just a meaningful conversation.
Schedule a discovery call here.
Shoot me an email at jasonpayne@evolutionmpc.com. I love to talk coaching and see how I can help you.
Coaching is hard, let's make it easier.
Check out my website at http://jasonpayne.ca
Thanks for reading and have a great week.