4 strategies to manage stress, reduce burnout risk and promote coach wellbeing
“It’s a lonely job and I’m used to its solitary nature. Coaching any international team is difficult. You’re supposed to know everything and offer constant belief and hope to a huge number of mostly complex individuals. At the same time, everyone thinks they can do the job better than you. You’re never short of someone telling you what you are doing wrong. Most of the time you take it in your stride but sometimes, if you’re not strong, it blows you off course.” Eddie Jones, two-time World Cup finalist and former head-coach of the England national team [1]
Whilst coaching can be challenging at any level, it is thought to be even more demanding when working with elite athletes due to the high-stakes nature of high-performance sport and the variety of stressors that a coach is exposed to on a daily basis [2]. Despite this, the wellbeing of the coach often comes a distant second to that of the athlete [3]. In fact, whilst the mental health of elite athletes has received much media attention in recent years (e.g., Serena Williams, Brian O’Driscoll, Virat Kohli), considerably less has been said regarding the mental health of the coaches and support staff who work within the same high-performance sport settings [4].
This blog post seeks to:
Highlight research that has explored coach mental health and wellbeing
Provide an accurate definition and description of stress
Identify key stressors in the coaching environment
Outline strategies to manage stress, reduce burnout risk and promote coach wellbeing
Coach mental health and wellbeing
Research indicates that athletes are not the only individuals in a sport domain who are susceptible to developing mental health difficulties. Approximately 40% of elite coaches and high-performance support staff (physiotherapists, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, etc.) have been found to report mental health symptoms at a level that would warrant professional treatment [5]. That is, 100 of the 252 coaches and high-performance support staff who took part in the study showed signs of a clinical mental health disorder. Whilst 13.9% reported experiencing high to very high psychological distress, 41.8% reported ‘potential risky’ alcohol consumption and 17.7% reported moderate to severe sleep disturbance. These symptoms and behaviours are evidence of coaches failing to perform at their best.
Timothy Gallwey, the performance coach and eminent author, has written that performance = potential – interference [6]. In other words, for an individual to realise their potential and attain high performance, the impact of interferences or stressors must be reduced.
Performance = potential - interference
What is stress?
"Stress occurs when a substantial imbalance exists between the physical and psychological demands placed on an individual and that person’s response capability under conditions in which failure to meet the demand has important consequences” [7].
Stress is perhaps best conceptualised as a seesaw with all the perceived demands of an environment on one side and all an individual’s perceived coping resources on the other. We experience stress when the perceived demands outweigh our perceived coping resources (see Figure 1).
Three distinct, but interrelated, categories of stressor have been identified: competitive stressors, organisational stressors and personal stressors (see Figure 2 for definitions) [8]. Stress can be experienced as the result of any combination of these stressors [9].
What makes coaching a stressful profession?
"Coaching is an around the clock job, as top coaches live and breathe the art of coaching" The International Olympic Committee [10]
The life of the coach in elite sport is characterised by a constant competitive pressure to meet performance expectations as demonstrated by a win-at-all-costs mentality, which typically contributes to experiences of low job security [11]. For instance, this fierce hire-and-fire culture can be seen in the first 11 weeks of the 2022-23 football season with 4 Premier League managers losing their jobs [12] and 8 of the 24 teams in the Championship sacking their manager [13]. Moreover, in a world dominated by social media, judgements on the coach’s performance, team selection and tactical decisions are often made by boards and fans alike before a match has even finished [14].
At an organisational level, the values of key stakeholders in a sporting organisation as well as those that are inherent in the culture of the sport itself are imposed on the coach and can shape his/her own behaviour [14]. For example, in many sports there is a social stigma towards seeking help and being vulnerable whereas mental toughness, resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity are often valued [11]. Combined with a perceived lack of social support [15], these stoic values can reduce the likelihood that a coach will ask for help [16].
Competitive and organisational stressors associated with coaching can also combine to create additional stressors at a personal level (see Figure 2). For instance, coaches are expected to travel extensively and work long, irregular hours [17], which can easily contribute to feelings of isolation from loved ones back home [18] and a general lack of work-life balance [19]. Coaches often admit to being “always on” with many taking work home with them and finding it hard to switch off due to the excessive demands that are placed on them by their employers [20].
Prolonged exposure to too many of these stressors can facilitate the development of a coaching environment that leaves coaches with a very real risk of experiencing burnout [14].
What is burnout?
Whilst several explanations have been proposed, burnout is most typically understood as a response to chronic stress [21]. As such, burnout is more than feeling tired for a day or two; it is characterised by experiencing a combination of physical and psychological symptoms over a prolonged period of time: (1) emotional exhaustion (feeling physically worn out and emotionally drained by the demands of work), (2) depersonalisation (an increased cynicism towards the sport itself as well as the personal relationships within it) and (3) a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (experiencing low self-esteem, under-achievement and a perceived lack of competence) [22]. Whereas an individual who displays all three symptoms is said to be burnt out, an individual who experiences just one or two of the symptoms described above is said to be at risk of burnout. Additionally, these three characteristics can help distinguish burnout from the typical fatigue response that is normally expected as a fundamental part of the coaching role. However, it should be noted that not everyone who experiences stress, experiences burnout [23]. Consequently, exposure to stress is not sufficient to cause burnout on its own and wider contextual issues must also be considered.
The Burnout is Real: Tips for Understanding and Avoiding Burnout [24]
Practical recommendations
As demonstrated in the previous video, most stress management techniques and mental wellness initiatives place the emphasis on the individual to look after themselves, but no-one lives in a social or cultural vacuum. Emotions and behaviours often spread through emotional contagion; how one person in a particular environment feels and acts influences the feelings and actions of the people that they share the space with [25]. Coaches can’t deal with their wellbeing by themselves; they require support from the relationships and cultures that surround them. Therefore, to optimise the coach’s experience and performance, it is critical that National Governing Bodies (NGBs), Performance Directors and other key stakeholders in high-performance sport seek to manage stress, reduce burnout and promote coach wellbeing at an organisational level.
The strategies outlined below are by no means exhaustive, but they could be adopted as part of an integrated approach that prioritises coach mental health.
Recognise that coaches are performers
Whilst athletes are typically signed by elite teams for their physical abilities (e.g., their strength and pace), coaches are usually hired for their mental capabilities (e.g., their decision-making and communication skills under pressure) [26]. Organisations must, therefore, recognise that the coach is not a commodity to be hired and fired. Rather, the coach is a performer in need of a facilitative environment [27]. Just as coaches are encouraged to develop personal relationships with their athletes, key stakeholders within a sporting organisation should make getting to know their coaches’ needs and values a priority. Ask coaches if the work environment allows them to function effectively. If it does not, ask them what it is lacking. Satisfaction with social support, whether it be emotional, esteem-based, informational or tangible, has been found to act as a key protective factor for coach mental health [5].
Improve work-life balance
A lack of time set aside for recovery is a strong predictor of burnout [28]. Consequently, NGBs should ensure that coaches have a more sustainable workload by scheduling in rests to daily/weekly routines and encouraging coaches to take days off away from the sport. Satisfaction with work-life balance has been found to act as a key protective factor for coach mental health [5]. Ask coaches ‘When was the last time that you had two days off in a row? And when will be the next time?’. Key stakeholders should establish more realistic performance expectations by improving goal-setting practices and respect their coaches’ time with family by not sending emails in the middle of the night. Additionally, providing coaches with adequate time to rest is likely to help them develop multiple parts to their identity and recognise that they are more than what they do for a living. By investing time and energy in activities and relationships outside of a sports context, coaches at risk of burnout can reduce feelings of entrapment and enhance feelings of self-esteem in other areas of their life [29]. A multi-dimensional identity is thought to serve as a physical and emotional buffer that mediates burnout risk.
Provide access to psychological skills training
Returning to our earlier analogy of stress as a seesaw (see Figure 1), to reduce stress we can either weaken the perceived demands being made or we can strengthen an individual’s coping resources. To improve coaches’ coping and stress management skills under pressure, researchers recommend that appropriate psychological skills training is embedded in coach education and development programmes [30]. Mental Skills Training (MST) interventions, such as those aimed at enhancing goal setting, imagery, self-talk and arousal regulation, are an established part of elite athletes’ preparation in high-performance sport [31, 32]. However, coaches have rarely been afforded the opportunity to engage in MST themselves despite evidence that they too can benefit [30]. For instance, following a six-week MST intervention, five coaches from one of Great Britain’s most successful sporting universities reported numerous positive changes to their coaching performance, including improvements to their self-regulation skills and personal wellbeing as well as reductions to their experiences of competitive anxiety and use of self-blame strategies. Mindfulness training has also been demonstrated to be an effective strategy at enhancing coach wellbeing and reducing coach stress. Many of the coaches who participated in these mindfulness-based interventions have described improvements in overall coaching performance, relationships with athletes and general work-life balance [33] as well as a reduction in rumination and perceptions of stress [34].
Promote the benefits of self-reflection
Finally, it should be made clear that wellbeing is individual-specific, context-dependent and changes over time; it is not one-size-fits-all [35]. As such, key stakeholders should provide coaches with opportunities to develop self-awareness skills so that they can review their own personal meaning of wellbeing. Ask coaches ‘What does wellbeing look like for you?’. Coaches should also be encouraged to review their stress responses often and ask themselves whether the level of stress that they’re experiencing is normal or whether it could be a precursor to burnout [4]. This could help to address the culture of mental toughness that is pervasive in many elite sports [11], and, by normalising talk of emotions, remove the stigma that often impedes help-seeking behaviours [36].
Key takeaways
Elite coaches are at least as likely as elite athletes to experience some form of mental health difficulty, but coach wellbeing is often undervalued in comparison.
Stress is typically experienced when the perceived demands outweigh an individual’s perceived coping resources.
Coaching is a challenging profession that exposes coaches to a variety of competitive, organisational and personal stressors.
Burnout is best understood as a response to chronic stress and is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and a reduced sense of accomplishment.
To optimise the coach’s experience and performance in elite sport, NGBs, Performance Directors and other key stakeholders should aim to manage stress, reduce burnout risk and promote coach wellbeing at an organisational level by: (1) recognising that coaches are performers; (2) improving work-life balance; (3) providing access to psychological skills training and (4) promoting the benefits of self-reflection.
Thank you for reading to the end of this blog post! I hope that you have found it an engaging and informative read. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or get in touch with me directly. My contact information is at the bottom of the page.
If you work in elite sport, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take 5 minutes to complete the form below.
References
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Disclaimer
The author is a Sport and Exercise Psychology student working towards completing his Stage 1 training with an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University. The author has not yet gained accredited status as a Sport and Exercise Psychology Practitioner with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). If you would like to work with a Sport and Exercise Psychologist, the HCPC keeps a register of all individuals who are legally allowed to practise sport and/or exercise psychology on their website.
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