Level Up Your Coaching: How to Help Athletes Grow Their Talent

The research behind this blog came from the Association for Applied Sports Psychology 1. 
Think about your favorite athlete. Do you think they were just born amazing, or did they work super hard to get where they are? The way you answer that question says a lot about your "mindset," and it seriously affects how you coach and how your athletes perform.
What's a "Mindset" Anyway?
Basically, a mindset is what you believe about talent and abilities. There are two main types:

Fixed Mindset: Thinking that people are born with a certain amount of talent, and that's it. Like saying, "She's a natural athlete, so she doesn't need to try as hard."

Growth Mindset: Believing that you can get better at anything if you work hard and practice. Like saying, "He wasn't great at first, but he kept practicing and now he's amazing!"
Why Growth Mindsets Matter in Coaching
If you have a growth mindset as a coach, you'll probably:

  • Push your athletes to challenge themselves
  • Help them learn from mistakes
  • Value effort and improvement over just winning
Athletes with growth mindsets are more likely to:
  • Be motivated and not give up easily
  • See failure as a chance to learn
  • Reach their full potential
The GrowTMindS Intervention: Training Coaches to Think Differently
Some experts created a program called the GrowTMindS Intervention to help coaches develop growth mindsets. It focuses on two things:

Coach Talent Mindset (C-TM): How coaches view their own coaching abilities. Can they learn and improve as coaches?

Athlete Talent Mindset (A-TM): How coaches view their athletes' abilities. Do they believe all athletes can grow, or only some?
The program uses a bunch of tools to help coaches shift their thinking:

Workshops: Where coaches learn about growth mindsets and share ideas.

Videos: Showing real-life examples of growth mindsets in sports.

Assignments: Putting growth mindset ideas into practice.

Parent-Coach Meetings: Talking to parents about how to support their athletes' growth.

Training Session Implementation: Changing up practices to focus on learning and effort.
What Coaches Say About the Program
Coaches who've gone through the GrowTMindS Intervention say it's helped them:
  • Understand the importance of effort and hard work
  • Communicate better with their athletes
  • Create a more positive team environment
They also pointed out some ways to make the program even better:
  • Make sure everyone understands the basic ideas
  • Customize the program to different sports and age groups
  • Create a team culture that supports growth mindsets
How You Can Use Growth Mindsets as a Coach?
Even if you don't have access to a fancy program, you can still use growth mindset principles in your coaching. Here's how:
  • Praise effort, not just talent.
  • Encourage athletes to take on challenges.
  • Help athletes learn from mistakes.
  • Create a team culture that values growth.
By focusing on effort, learning, and improvement, you can help your athletes develop their abilities and achieve their goals.
1. Nilsen, D. A., Sigurjonsson, T., Ivarsson, A., & Pensgaard, A. M. (2024). Part I of a two-step mixed-methods approach in developing the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches Intervention: The design and targeting of the intervention. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 37(1), 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2024.2361692
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