Coaching for High Performance Athletes

In the competitive world of sports today, athletes and coaches seek a mental edge over the competition. And a Mental Performance Coach is important to athletes’ success in sports. In this article, you’ll learn about the role of a mental performance coach for athletes’ performance.

For athletes, a fine line separates finishing first from finishing second… Making a high school team or just barely being cut… Being a starter or on the bench… Achieving a personal record or falling a little bit short.

Athletes invest a lot of money, time and energy practicing, working hard, lifting weights, conditioning, changing diet, working on technique and buying the best equipment. All these physical training routines help improve performance. Working on all the physical aspects of your game are not enough to achieve peak performance. Peak performance requires a sound mental game. Mental skills contribute a great deal to peak performance, yet mental game performance is neglected by most athletes.

The development of mental skills doesn’t happen by chance. Mental skills need to be taught and honed through repetition and guidance by trained professionals, such as a Mental & Emotional Performance Coach.

A Mental & Emotional Performance Coach help athletes and teams develop the critical mental skills that optimize performance and give athletes a mental advantage over the competition! Only today are sports psychologists and mental performance coaches recognized by the majority of competitive athletes.

From the business world to arts, from sports to health, there are many people who we know have hired a mental Coach, for the primary reason that a Coach, accelerates the process between where they are and where they want to be. 

Who hires a coach knows that with this type of follow-up, support and Accountability, you get a better optimization of your mental and emotional capabilities, and can get a vision and an external voice of reflection, that help you significantly in the major decisions of your life.

As an athlete, the situations below are the most common and indicate that you could benefit significantly from my work:

• You feel like you have a lot more potential than you’re showing right now;
• You feel you can do so much more but you don’t know how;
• You have a lower performance in competition than you have in training;
• You think you’re doing everything you can but still don’t see the results you want;
• You have little confidence in yourself and your abilities ("things do not go well, whatever I do");
• You feel fear and/or anxiety before and during the competition;
• You’re too hard on yourself;
• You don’t deal very well with error;
• Difficulty of self-motivation;

Coaching among athletes is increasingly common, because it is recognized that it significantly increases their preparation and performance.

These are/were some of the best known athletes who work with their individual coaches:

• Michael Jordan (Basketball)
• Kobe Bryant (Free kick)
• Tom Brady (American Football)
• Tiger Woods (Golf)
• Novak Djokovic (tennis)
• Andy Murray (Tennis Shoes)
• Simone Alep (Tennis)
• Venus Williams (Tennis Shoes)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Football)
• Luisão (Futebol) Download
• Rui Patrício (Football)
• Dolores Silva (Football)
• Telma Monteiro (Judo)

No. The most common misconception about Coaching is that it is a disguised therapy - or even worse - phycology by an unqualified professional. Coaching is a unique service that aims to help ambitious individuals achieve results that will lead them to success and achievement in all areas of their lives.

Coaching is a process that produces positive and lasting changes in a short time, effectively, and quickly. Taking someone out of their current state and putting them in their desired state quickly and satisfactorily is what this means. A coaching process provides an opportunity to clearly visualize each of your individual points, improve self-confidence, transform limiting beliefs, and help you achieve your maximum potential and goals in a solid and consistent way.

João is certified in Coaching and Mentoring by Maxwell Leadership Certified Team and Sharma Leadership International. Two North American companies with over 30 years in the market and who have trained more than 50,000 coaches around the world. João was the first Portuguese certified by both.

He also has a specialization in building high performing team from Harvard University in the United States.

You can schedule a free discovery session with no commitment with me, where we can address any issue you have. You can do so through this page or by sending an email to growth@joaocordeiro.com