Lift Up Athletes through Essential Psychological & Emotional Needs
There is a delicate balance to strike in training with physical, mental, and emotional elements. By learning how to integrate the Humanistic Approach, you can boost athletes’ confidence, self-esteem, and performance.
The Humanistic Approach focuses on each athlete as a whole and complex person who has essential needs, including psychological and emotional.
Let’s apply and reinforce these concepts as new habits. These make all the difference!
Essential Needs for Athletes
Every athlete in every sport has significant inner needs, especially in connecting with coaches and parents. In their training program day in and day out, we must speak to them and build them up! Their psychological and emotional needs will be met when you follow these tips:
1.
Person-centered
- every person is different; trust their experience and instincts; allow the athlete to take the lead sometimes and discover their own solutions.
2.
Effort and strengths
- put attention on the effort (not results); look for, salute, and celebrate personal assets as positives in the training process.
3.
Athlete’s thoughts and feelings
- ask about their thoughts and feelings, acknowledge them, and listen. Do they feel safe? Do they feel useful and included? These are vital.
4.
Open communication
- empower athletes to be leaders and speak honestly, even when it’s uncomfortable. They need to feel valued and that you will respect them and work with them.
5.
Strategize together
- talk together, keep adjusting and find new approaches and ways to achieve goals. As they feel heard, and see their progress, their confidence builds.
Through the Humanistic Approach, athletes are more apt to tackle difficult challenges and commit to training standards. Listening to athletes is key. Listen to every voice, seek deeper understanding, and you will be on that high road creating an important human connection for both safety and success.
Next week’s FAI Sneak Peek - from Chapter 4: Let’s Be Partners.
Learn the “Partnership Model”—the athlete’s trusting relationship with you is the heart of realizing their goals.
