Have you ever seen your athletes get burnt-out from the very sport they used to love? Do your athletes come to you with a new injury each week? Do you see your athletes struggle with confidence as they make mistakes that are bound to happen when competing? Are your athletes overwhelmed with school, sports, and life in general? These are just a few issues I have experienced in my 20+ years as a high school volleyball coach.
What if you could empower your athletes to overcome the challenges they face? I dove into the transformative power of mindfulness when one of my athletes was grappling with burnout, his passion for volleyball waning with each passing day. As I did research for my Applied Positive Coaching class, I discovered that relatively new research was being conducted to show coaches the potential of mindfulness in helping athletes who face burnout and other challenges.
The power of mindfulness
Mindfulness has existed for centuries, but its popularity in the United States has grown in recent decades—largely due to research done by Jon Kabat-Zinn, considered the “godfather” of modern mindfulness. “Mindfulness is the awareness that arises by paying attention…in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally,” says Kabat-Zinn.
Implementing a mindfulness program with young athletes can decrease pain from injuries, reduce negative thoughts, improve sleep, increase flow state, improve compassion, and so much more.
Mindfulness is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s a versatile toolkit that athletes and coaches can tailor to their needs. This toolkit can include a range of practices, from yoga to meditation, journaling to positive self-talk, and even body scanning.
The possibilities are endless, and you have the power to choose and create your own personalized toolkit.
As a coach, it’s crucial to have a plan to help your athletes improve their overall well-being. Developing an athlete's mental skills is just as vital as sport-specific skill development, if not more. Most coaches need training to do so. I learned the importance of mindfulness through researching and reading different articles.
The more I learned about mindfulness, the more I wanted to try it with my student-athletes. Halfway through the 2024 volleyball season, I shared with my team what I was learning from my class and the positive effects of mindfulness. They seemed skeptical initially, but after a short discussion, I convinced them to try meditation.
As you can imagine, getting 12 teenage boys to sit quietly in a room with little movement but the rise and fall of their chests from breathing exercises was quite a task. Every few days, we would attempt meditation again, while the minutes of quiet seemed to get shorter and shorter. The boys had difficulty sitting still, but we always tried to find a quiet spot on game days before warm-ups started. On a positive note, the boys would remind me to do our breathing exercises if things were hectic before the game. Getting them to sit quietly remained a challenge, but they enjoyed this time gathering as a team, relaxing, and visualizing the game ahead.
Lessons learned
Let me be the first to admit that my experiment was not perfect, but it was a great starting point. Now I know the value of starting mindfulness training earlier and making it part of a consistent weekly routine. My athletes needed a foundation before jumping right into meditation. A short presentation about mindfulness and how it works would have been helpful.
Here are changes I plan to make with next year’s team.
- I want to offer an introduction to mindfulness and how to practice it. I want my athletes to know there’s not one right way; various strategies will work for different people since everyone is unique. We could start by watching a video about the benefits of mindfulness and how it helps you as an athlete. In today’s tech-driven world, I’d also encourage them to download a simple app to help them practice meditation for a few minutes each day, allowing them to get comfortable with it outside the gym.
- I’m planning to share success stories with my student-athletes before we start, to show them how it works. I remember sitting quietly in a room in high school, getting ready to head out to a soccer game, practicing visualization techniques. As an athlete, I wish I had been allowed to reflect and discuss the benefits of visualization with the coaching staff. I needed to fully understand the benefits and why we did what we did.
- I’ll need to ask our athletic leadership to research and invest in mindfulness training. It would help to have professionals come in and train coaches like me, who are just beginning to teach meditation techniques to student-athletes.
The path forward
Because all athletes are unique, I’ve learned that everyone's mindfulness toolbox will look different. I’m responsible for teaching various mindfulness techniques and why they work. As a result, my plan now includes teaching and using other types of mindfulness, in addition to meditation, such as body scanning, journaling, and reflection.
Mindfulness will not work if we take a one-and-done approach. Just like any sports skill, learning mindfulness requires practice. In my latest plan, students use weekly mindfulness techniques on specific days of the week. Each athlete and team will face a small amount of trial and error because we face unique challenges, but we’ll keep at it longer and measure the results.
Research must continue to explore the overall benefits of mindfulness training for athletes. If mindfulness can improve someone’s health and bring more joy, why wouldn’t I try to implement these practices into my coaching the best I can? Making a positive difference in my athletes' lives is, after all, my “why.” It’s what I was born to do.
