Did you know that approximately 29% of female student-athletes and 9% of male student-athletes report experiencing overwhelming anxiety? The pressure to perform at the highest level has created a mental health crisis that extends far beyond the scoreboard. And those numbers are not just associated with the top levels, it’s a growing problem in leagues, clubs and high schools all over the US.
This very fixable reality reflects a growing problem in sports at every level: when we focus solely on winning, we can lose sight of the whole person wearing the uniform. Add to that the idea of “winning”to a developing athlete isn’t just about games, races of matches won. There is a missed impression of what wining can often be to a junior athlete. Winning can also be felt as; understanding a new concept, making the starting lineup, serving over the net in volleyball, or any number of small moments during the course of a season. Each one carries the same roller coaster of emotion along its path.
Whole Athlete Coaching; an approach that addresses athletes' mental, emotional, physical, and social development offers a powerful alternative to the win-at-all-costs mentality that dominates many sports programs. When we choose to see athletes as complete human beings rather than performance machines, coaches foster not only better athletic outcomes but also healthier, more resilient individuals wayyyy more likely to thrive on and off the field.
When I started tertad content and began looking for what areas I wanted to explore in the gyms and environments I was in; one of the top things was a simple disconnect in what many clubs say they are about and what their actions and day to day is actually about.
Many travel clubs and leagues sell the idea of or promise growth, being focused on the experience and then in practices and matches have inadvertently created an environment where even team is expected to ‘be a winner’. Which is great… as long as that benchmark is being set based on the development of that individual team and not comparatively across an age group, club, or region.
Each team’s journey has a clear season starting point and what ever growth is accomplished by that team may not be encompassed by its wins and losses.
What is often considered the traditional coaching model focuses primarily on results and comes with some serious drawbacks. When coaches prioritize winning and results above all else, athletes can [and often do at the younger age groups] experience burnout, characterized by "a reduced sense of accomplishment, devaluation/resentment of sport, and physical/psychological exhaustion." This approach creates a cycle that ultimately undermines the very performance it seeks to enhance.
It’s important to note that there is a very real “cliff” in development as well to consider. At the younger ages or when an athlete is new to the sport the growth they see can be immediate and dramatic in a very short period of time. This changes when they reach a baseline skill level or match the level of the environment. Once an athlete reaches this ‘cliff’, growth and accomplishment can really be a struggle to see as it comes in smaller increments and over sporadic timeframes.
This cliff isn’t just a skill plateau, it’s where many athletes’ mental health struggles begin. Without tools or conversations to help cope with slower progress, frustration turns into self-doubt, maxing out the anxiety and pulls an athlete out of the benefits of the experience.
Consider the following fictional example: Emma started swimming at age 12 and quickly dropped 10 seconds off her 100-meter freestyle in her first year, earning spots on relay teams and winning local meets. Her dramatic early progress continued through age 14, making her feel unstoppable. However, as she reached high school and her technique solidified to match her training environment, those big time drops disappeared. Now improvements came in tenths of seconds over months of training, and sometimes her times even plateaued or got slightly worse despite working harder than ever. Emma became frustrated and discouraged, believing she had "peaked" when she was actually still developing—just at the slower, more incremental pace typical of higher skill levels.
Research reveals that controlling coaching styles correlate with athlete burnout, while autonomy-supportive coaching shows no correlation with burnout symptoms. When coaches prioritize results above athlete development, they inadvertently create conditions that harm performance in the long run.
Whole Athlete coaching recognizes that athletes exist as complete individuals with multiple dimensions & lives outside of sport that need to be developed; all of which impact performance and wellbeing. While yes, the goal is to be developing and growing as athletes and teams it’s easy to trip into tunnel vision on just the athletic growth. Would it surprise you to learn that a more well-rounded approach is seen to increase wins & retention. Whole Athlete coaching checks a lot more than one box.
Mental Dimension: Beyond strategy and game intelligence, this includes psychological health, cognitive development, and mental resilience.
Emotional Dimension: Addressing emotional intelligence, stress management, and the ability to process both victories and defeats in healthy ways.
Physical Dimension: Not just strength and skill development, but also proper rest, nutrition, injury prevention, and long-term physical health.
Social Dimension: Fostering healthy relationships, teamwork, leadership skills, and connections both within and outside the sport.
The benefits of developing the whole athlete include:
Reduced burnout and more potential after sports: Burnout often results from a combination of factors occurring over extended periods, including high workload without sufficient resources or environments where athletes don't feel secure and valued.
Improved performance sustainability: Athletes who develop multiple aspects of themselves maintain more consistent performance over time. Yes, this includes being a multi sport athlete when at all possible!
Greater resilience in the face of challenges: A wholly developed athlete has more resources to draw upon when facing setbacks.
Healthier transitions to life after sport: When athletic identity is balanced with other aspects of self, retirement from competition becomes less traumatic.
Enhanced overall wellbeing: Research shows that athlete burnout is associated with: increases in negative mental health outcomes & decreases in positive mental health.
The power of whole-athlete coaching through a lens of a fictional examples and real-world success stories.
A compelling real-world example is Jill Ellis, who led the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team to two World Cup victories. By focusing on team cohesion and individual well-being, Ellis exemplified how a whole-person coaching style can yield both personal and professional triumphs. Her approach demonstrates that attending to athletes' complete development can lead to the highest levels of competitive success.
In another fictional example, consider Coach Martinez, who transformed a struggling high school basketball program not by focusing on wins, but by implementing a whole-athlete approach. Coach Martinez began by establishing clear communication with players about their lives beyond basketball. Practice schedules accommodated academic demands, and team activities included community service and leadership development. Players set personal growth goals alongside athletic ones, and the coaching staff recognized progress in character as much as improvement in skills.
Research supports this approach, showing that positive coach-athlete relationships can enhance athletes' satisfaction with training and competitions, while reducing the likelihood of burnout. Each and every athlete remembers how you made them feel about being a part of “your” team.
As noted by the National Federation of State High School Associations, "Coaches who value and focus on effective, personal relationships with their athletes are guaranteed benefits regardless of wins and scores because they will have helped to influence positive moral and ethical behaviors."
Parents and coaches can begin applying whole-person principles through these practical steps:
Start with relationships: When the coach-athlete relationship is harmonious, athletes not only avoid interpersonal pressure but also benefit from coaches' help and support, reducing the likelihood of a crap experience.
Establish balanced expectations: Help athletes set goals across multiple dimensions of their lives, not just athletic performance.
Create space for rest and recovery: Teach the importance of self-care, and that athletes should never feel guilty for resting. Encourage them to have outlets outside of the team and time spent on other hobbies and with other people.
Validate the whole person: Recognize and celebrate growth in character, academics, and leadership, not just athletic achievements.
Model balance yourself: Coaches who demonstrate healthy boundaries and well-rounded lives set powerful examples for their athletes.
The scoreboard will always matter in sports, I mean come on. Competition is inherently about seeking excellence and measuring progress, but when we reduce athletes to their performance metrics, we risk their wellbeing & also limit their potential both within and beyond athletics.
As one coaching expert puts it, "Our job as coaches is not only to influence our athletes in the short time we have with them, but to create an impact that can last a lifetime." Whole-athlete coaching offers a more sustainable, humane, and ultimately more effective approach to athletic development. By seeing and nurturing the complete athlete, coaches create the conditions for both better performance and healthier, happier individuals.
As you reflect on your own experiences with coaching—whether as an athlete, parent, or coach—consider how a more whole-person approach might transform not just the athletic experience but your experience as well.
Note: Some examples in this article are fictional and created to demonstrate key concepts in whole-athlete coaching, while others reference real coaches and their approaches.
**AI used to provide research and structural elements of this post.
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