Transcription
‘I am a sporting coach. Do I work one-on-one with you myself or do I refer my athletes onto you so that you can help them become mentally stronger directly without necessarily involving me?’
It probably boils down to how much time you have available as well as how much knowledge you’ve managed to accrue at becoming better at coaching the mental side.
Having said that, it’s hugely advantageous for us as sport and performance psychologists to work with sporting coaches.
The main reason for this is basically because it doesn’t matter how hard you try, teaching yourself to become a better mental coach is incredibly difficult and is a little bit like trying to teach yourself to become a dentist.
The reason why we really like to work with coaches is because of the pickle that most of them find themselves in whereby they realise the importance of the mental side but they simply can’t justify going away for six years in order to become [qualified] psychologist themselves.
And therefore the coach-sport psychologist relationship really is a special one. It allows them to continue coaching, and at the same time, to have a genuine expert in the mental aspects of sport guide them. Almost like a mentor on how to become better at improving mental toughness.
Of course, as these gains are made, they can be immediately injected into the athletes that the coach is working with.
If the above has not answered your question then fill in the form on our Contact Us page and one of our team will give you a call back on the number provided.