The Psychology of High-Performance Leadership – 5 Ways Coaches Can Build Confidence in Athletes
- Brainz Magazine
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 12 hours ago
Jess Lapachinski is a mental performance consultant, writer, and founder of Victory Lap Mindset. She partners with athletes, coaches, and leaders to build the psychological skills needed for high-level performance.
Confidence is the most coveted competitive advantage in sport. Athletes chase it. Coaches reward it. Parents are constantly concerned about it. But as important as confidence is to performance, we continue to misunderstand what truly builds it.
Today’s athletes face a level of pressure that older generations never experienced. They compete under the microscope of society. They have immediate and never-ending access to recruiting rankings, highlight reels, and the scrutiny of social media. This always-on comparison trap supports increased feelings of self-doubt and performance anxiety. As a result, the current sports landscape often leaves coaches wondering how they can help their athletes feel more confident while not adding pressure to the pile.
When leaders shift away from old-school, outcome-driven coaching to a more psychologically informed approach, they can encourage lasting confidence from the inside.
Here are five mental performance strategies coaches can use to develop mentally resilient, high-performing athletes.
1. Confidence starts with clarity
Many athletes think confidence is something they are supposed to feel before they perform well, but it does not work that way. Confidence is not magic. It is built through clarity and preparation. When athletes know their role, understand what is expected of them, and see a clear path for improvement, they naturally compete with more conviction.
Confidence tends to break down in uncertainty. When athletes are not sure what the coach wants or how they are being evaluated, they start second-guessing their performance. They question their decisions, tighten up, and play with hesitation. Clear direction is one of the most underrated tools a coach has in their toolkit.
In practice, this means getting specific. Clearly define roles, especially for athletes who move between positions or experience inconsistent playing time. Give simple, direct performance goals that offer repeatable cues they can anchor to. Replace vague feedback with actionable instructions they can use right away.
Clarity does not just improve execution. It creates psychological safety. Athletes feel informed and supported, and when they feel safe, they compete with a lot more freedom and confidence.
2. Praise behaviors, not identity
Coaches tend to motivate and acknowledge players by praising talent or outcomes. While well-intentioned, this type of feedback creates fragile confidence. If an athlete’s identity and sense of self are built on being the most talented, what happens when they begin to struggle?
Research is clear. When athletes tie their confidence to success or talent, they become more afraid of failure and more likely to tighten up under pressure. If their identity is built on perfect performance, every mistake feels like a threat.
Coaches who build real confidence shift the focus toward behaviors and actions, such as effort, habits, communication, and decision-making. These are things athletes can control and rely on regardless of the scoreboard. So instead of highlighting talent or ability, highlight what they do well, what they are committed to.
Rather than telling an athlete they are the best defender on the team, you might point out how well they communicate or how consistently they stay locked in on their assignment. Instead of praising someone for being naturally gifted, you can reinforce the quality of their repetitions and the dedication and commitment that led to it.
This shift teaches athletes that confidence comes from what they practice every day, not from outcomes or wins. It also reinforces a purpose-based identity. I am someone who competes with focus, effort, and intention, rather than I am only valuable when I perform well.
When athletes build their identity around purpose instead of performance, they become more resilient, more psychologically flexible, and far more capable of meeting the moment with confidence.
3. Normalize nerves and failure
Coaches cannot build confident athletes by trying to protect them from discomfort or difficult situations. Real confidence comes from learning how to compete with nerves, not trying to get rid of them. One of the biggest misconceptions in sport psychology is that confident athletes feel calm and relaxed. They do not. Confident athletes simply understand that nerves are a normal component of competition, and they have tools to handle them.
Some coaches send the opposite message without realizing it. When they tell players to relax or be confident, athletes learn to believe that their nerves and anxiety are unnatural. They think something is wrong with them and that they should feel a different way than they do. That belief creates more tension and more self-doubt.
Coaches who build long-lasting confidence normalize nerves in their athletes. They let players know that nerves are part of the deal, that pressure means the moment matters, and that athletes can feel anxious and still perform well.
When athletes stop treating nerves as a problem to fix and start seeing them as something they can work with, they stop fighting their emotions and start focusing on meeting the moment.
4. Build reset routines that anchor
Across every sport, the best performers share one skill. They know how to reset. You see it everywhere, tennis players between points, golfers before a shot, basketball players at the free-throw line, pitchers on the mound. A reset routine becomes their psychological anchor. It helps them refocus following a mistake and interrupt patterns of overthinking. Reset routines bring athletes back to the present moment. Without this skill, it is easy for athletes to spiral. One moment of doubt turns into a complete confidence crash.
Coaches play an essential role in helping athletes develop and practice these routines. The key is repetition. Reset routines must be trained intentionally. When athletes practice them consistently, the mental reset becomes accessible under pressure. In turn, athletes become more resilient, and confidence becomes something they can tap into when things get hard.
5. Create an environment where athletes can be brave
Confidence does not show up without courage, the courage to compete without any guarantee of success. But athletes cannot play with freedom when the environment punishes mistakes or makes them afraid to take risks. Confidence grows in spaces where athletes feel psychologically safe enough to try, fail, and try again.
Coaches who foster that level of confidence create a culture built on trust, communication, and consistency. Trust means athletes believe mistakes are part of growth, not something that will cost them playing time or respect. Communication means feedback is direct and grounded, not emotional or demeaning. Consistency means athletes know what version of you they are getting every day. When coaching is steady, athletes become steady. When athletes feel safe, they stop playing to avoid mistakes. They start playing to win.
Closing thoughts
At the end of the day, confidence is not something coaches talk athletes into. It is something they help athletes build through intentional leadership. When we shift from outcome-driven coaching to a more psychologically informed approach, we create environments where athletes compete with courage and learn through struggle. That is the kind of impact great coaches have, not just on performance, but on the people they lead.
If you are a coach who wants to build athletes who compete with confidence, I would love to connect. At Victory Lap, we partner with programs, coaches, and teams to develop the mental skills that elevate performance under pressure.
Reach out to learn how we can support your athletes, your staff, and your team culture. Visit victorylapmindset.com or contact me directly to start the conversation.
Read more from Jess Lapachinski
Jess Lapachinski, Mental Performance Consultant
Jess Lapachinski is a mental performance consultant and founder of Victory Lap Mindset. After years in collegiate and independent school athletics, she recognized the growing need for psychological skills training that meets the rising pressures of modern sport. With advanced degrees in sport psychology and sport leadership, she blends research-backed methods with the practical insight of a former coach and athletic administrator. Jess helps high-performing athletes move beyond overthinking and performance anxiety by building confidence and psychological flexibility. She also partners with coaches and athletic programs to create environments where athletes feel supported and empowered to perform their best.
