How to improve your wellbeing as a coach

Coaches play a pivotal role in developing players and in shaping the team’s overall environment.

 

However, the pressure to succeed, work-life imbalance and unrealistic expectations can take a toll on your mental health. 

 

Recognising and addressing these challenges is crucial in allowing you to thrive in your role, get the best out of others, and, most importantly, improve your own personal wellbeing.

 

Mental health comprises an individual’s psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. It is not simply the absence of mental illness, but rather a dynamic state that fluctuates based on a number of life factors. 

 

Everyone has mental health, and where it sits on the continuum between excellent and poor can change across the lifespan.

 

Mental illness encompasses many diagnosable health conditions, which can range from mild to severe and have a debilitating effect on an individual’s thoughts, emotions and/or behaviour. Examples include clinical depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

 

A recent study explored a sample of elite soccer coaches’ mental illness and wellbeing experiences over the course of a season. It suggested that ineffective coping mechanisms and negative responses to stressors (anything in the environment which cause stress for an individual) contributed to poorer wellbeing at the start of the season.

 

Towards the end of the season, greater emotional exhaustion was observed, likely due to the accumulation of stressors throughout the year and rising pressures around meeting targets themselves, such as Champions League qualification, or avoiding relegation. 

 

However, they also found that the coaches who had developed effective strategies to cope with these pressures were less likely to experience poorer mental health.

 

Research also points to the prevalence of symptoms associated with burnout across coaches from grassroots all the way up to the elite game.

 

So what does this mean for you?

 

There are a number of actions you can take to proactively look after your own mental health as a coach within your environment.

 

Identify your personal stressors

Noticing, accepting and taking action to cope with stressors which may repeatedly crop up for you is a crucial step in stress management and supporting your mental health.

 

What are the things in both your professional and personal environments that repeatedly elevate your stress levels?

 

If you find it hard to identify these, try keeping a log for a week of every time you feel stressed, anxious, or a dip in mood. 

 

Note the time, location, and any specific triggers that might have contributed. Over time, this log can reveal patterns and insights, helping you to better understand what specific situations or interactions impact your wellbeing.

 

This can allow you to develop strategies for managing these stressors more effectively, such as anticipating certain scenarios, and creating a series of ‘what if?’ plans.

 

Acknowledge, accept and adapt your coping mechanisms

Research indicates that coping strategies such as sacrificing sleep, withdrawing from sources of social support and excessive substance use may be adopted by coaches, with some studies reporting that up to 41.8% elite-level coaches engage in risky alcohol consumption.

 

While these approaches may provide short-term stress relief, they are likely to generate additional concerns in the long-term. 

 

Identify those coping mechanisms which may be healthier and more productive, such as exercise in moderation, leaning on close friends, or even 10 minutes writing at the end of the day. 

 

If you find it difficult to completely eradicate an unhelpful coping mechanism, try to gradually substitute it with a healthier approach, to allow yourself time to adjust and build new habits. 

 

For instance, social-media ’doomscrolling’ before sleeping could be adapted to reading a book on your phone in bed, to eventually then reading a paperback book.

 

Establishing clear boundaries

Whether you are at the beginning, middle or end of the season, there is always an opportunity to re-establish boundaries within your professional and personal life.

 

Map out a schedule of an average week for you, and line it up against your log of stressors. This will help you to identify where potential boundaries may have been crossed that contributed towards reductions in mood, increased stress and reduced ability to engage in productive coping strategies. 

 

For instance, you may identify instances where personal time has been sacrificed due to colleagues overstepping. 

 

By working with colleagues and players to communicate appropriate boundaries, you can focus your energy into the areas of your role that matter most and achieve the work-life balance that is suitable for you.

 

Maximise the breadth and depth of your support network

Building, maintaining and fortifying close social connections has been proven to protect individuals against poor mental health.

 

This is not only for coaches within sporting environments, but across all walks of life. As such, it is important to nurture your family relations and friendships as well as those relationships in your professional world. 

 

Having people who can wrap around you, especially those who understand the environment which may be giving rise to certain stressors, can be really beneficial for your mental health. 

 

Ensure that you are proactively maintaining these relationships to keep them healthy, and to remind yourself of the support that those around you bring in different situations.

 

Be aware of, and engage with, available professional support

Far from being a sign of weakness, having the courage to reach out when in any time of need demonstrates strength of character, self-awareness and is an act of self-care and self-compassion.

 

Recent research, from a sample of elite-level coaches in Belgium and the Netherlands, showed symptoms of depression and anxiety were prevalent in 39% of respondents, with organisational pressures given as a significant contributing factor. 

 

If you feel that you would benefit from support – whether that is from a counsellor, performance psychologist or your medical professional – please reach out to them when you begin noticing signs of elevated stress levels.

 

This will ensure you have the right support in place before any potential further decline in mental health, and will also help to avoid burnout.