The Hidden Performance Edge: Energy Management for Coaches

My energy has followed a predictable pattern through most of my coaching career.

Early in the season, I am energetic, filled with excitement and optimism about the season ahead. Practices are well planned, my to-do list is manageable, and I hit the gym, eat well and sleep well most nights. The first chunk of the season runs to Christmas break and is busy. By the end of our final tourney, I am counting down the days to the break. My energy is still in a good place, but there are signs of slippage. I start to skip workouts in favour of a nap, having an extra coffee here and there. Grabbing food on the go occasionally. The to-do list feels longer. My stress is manageable but present.

Through January, things always slip a little further. This is always where my practice planning starts to decline.

February is always the breaking point. The excitement of a novel season has worn off. The exhaustion of the day-to-day grind has set in. The gym has become the place we practice, not where I exercise. I am relying on food that is easy to make or available at a drive-thru. Not all of it is bad, but not what I would eat if I had more time. I am surviving on coffee, which affects my sleep. I spend more time on film instead of connecting with people who fill my bucket. My practice plans, which at the start of the season were meticulously prepared each week and tweaked daily to reflect the practice the day before, have changed. They are now hastily put together before I head to the gym.

March hits, and it gets worse, but I know the end is in sight, so I buckle down and get through the month. More coffee, more film, both of which mean I am give up something somewhere else. It is now starting to take a toll on my in-game performance. I am reacting emotionally instead of logically. My patience with my athletes, assistants and others in my life has decreased.

The stakes of the season are at their highest; my team needs me at my best, but that version of me is gone for the season. The season alwyas ends with me burning out and grateful it was over (not to say I didn’t enjoy it). Depending on how taxing the season was, recovery took weeks to months. Gradually, hit the gym again, focus on healthy eating and get the sleep my body craved. Maybe you can relate to elements of this story.

It is certainly not a recipe for success, and I am glad I got smart enough to make some changes over the last few seasons.

Burnout is rarely a tactical failure. It is almost always an energy failure.

Most coaches do not burn out because they forgot how to run a practice or diagram a set. They burn out because the demands of the role quietly outpace their capacity to recover. Chronic stress narrows perspective, shortens patience, and impairs cognitive flexibility, the very qualities great coaching depends on. What once felt purposeful begins to feel draining.

Coaches who tie their identity entirely to outcomes are especially vulnerable. When every win validates you, and every loss drains you, the emotional swings become exhausting. Over time, even highly committed coaches begin to feel depleted, not because they care too little, but because they have cared without recovery for too long.

Sustainable performance requires intentional energy management. At a minimum, this includes simple but powerful recovery rituals. Post-game decompression walks create psychological distance from the emotional spike of competition. Setting clear boundaries on communication hours protects cognitive bandwidth and prevents the feeling of being perpetually “on.” Reflection without rumination allows coaches to learn from the day without replaying it endlessly in their minds. And scheduled off-days — truly off — restore the nervous system in ways that grinding through fatigue never will.

But recovery is not just about what you stop doing. It is also about how well you fuel the system that is doing the work.

Sleep is the foundation. Research across performance domains consistently shows that sleep deprivation impairs attention, emotional control, reaction time, and decision quality, all core coaching skills. Yet many coaches treat sleep as negotiable during the season. The reality is simple: a tired brain is a reactive brain. Getting 7 to 9 hours of consistent sleep is not indulgent; it is professional maintenance. Even modest improvements in sleep consistency can significantly improve mood stability and cognitive clarity on the sideline.

Nutrition plays a similarly underestimated role. Long practice days, travel schedules, and late games often push coaches toward convenience eating, high-sugar, low-quality fuel that produces energy spikes followed by crashes. Stable energy requires consistent hydration, balanced meals, and intentional fueling around long coaching days. You do not need perfection here, but you do need awareness. What you eat at 3:00 p.m. often shows up in your patience level at 7:30 p.m.

Physical exercise is another powerful but underused lever. Many coaches remain physically active when they are young and gradually abandon structured movement as their coaching responsibilities grow. This is costly. Regular exercise improves your stress tolerance, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility. It also provides something many of you quietly lose: personal space away from the constant demands of leading others. Even three to four short sessions per week can meaningfully improve your resilience across a long season.

When these elements work together, recovery rituals, quality sleep, consistent nutrition, and regular movement, coaches create a stable energy base. From that base, emotional control improves. Your focus sharpens. Your patience expands while your decision-making becomes clearer under pressure.

Performance, then, is not just about knowledge or experience. It is a function of capacity.

Performance = Skill × Energy × Recovery.

When you ignore recovery, your skill deteriorates. Protect energy, and good coaches become far more consistent versions of themselves, not just in January, but when the dog days of the season hit, and the stakes are at their highest.

There is a persistent myth in coaching culture that the best coaches simply outwork everyone else. When you crush more film, spend more hours in the gym, and put in more late nights, you're supposed to see the payoff in wins and championships. The grind gets romanticized. Exhaustion becomes a badge of honour. But the reality is far less heroic and far more costly. The very edge coaches are trying to gain through grinding is often the first thing they lose.

The highest-performing coaches understand something countercultural: capacity beats grind. They still work incredibly hard, but they work in rhythms, not marathons. They protect sleep before big stretches. They build in recovery after emotional peaks. They understand that sustainable excellence requires oscillation between stress and renewal. Grinding without recovery may produce short bursts of output, but over the course of a long season, it almost always leads to diminished presence, poorer decisions, and eventual burnout.

The goal is not to do less meaningful work; it’s ensuring your best self is available when the season hangs in the balance.

Regardless of what point you are in your season, take up the challenge to add in one element of recovery to your week. Tell your assistants or someone who can hold you accountable.

You deserve to be at your best!

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🎧 The Ultimate List of Coaching Podcasts

It's back!

For years I kept a list of my favourite coaching podcasts. Somewhere along the line I stopped updating it. But I took some time and added to it. Over 160 hours of top notch professional development for free.

One of the simplest ways to sharpen your thinking, expand your perspective, and stay connected to the best ideas in leadership and performance is through podcasts. They give you access to world-class coaches, sport scientists, and leadership minds, often during time you were already going to spend driving, walking, or working out.

Over the years, podcasts have become part of my own development rhythm. Some challenge my assumptions. Some give practical tools I can use the next day. And some simply remind me that the best coaches are lifelong learners.

That’s why I’ve put together The Ultimate List of Coaching Podcasts it's a curated collection designed to help you:

✅ Build stronger culture
✅ Improve how you teach and communicate
✅ Deepen your mental performance toolbox
✅ Stay current with modern player development
✅ Grow your leadership from the inside out

Whether you’re a veteran coach or just getting started, there is something in here that will stretch your thinking.

👉 Dive into the list and pick one new voice to learn from this week.

Because the best coaches don't stay static…

They keep evolving.

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.