 There’s a quiet power in the glance between an athlete and coach before a critical moment—no words, just presence. It's in that moment that performance potential meets psychological safety. And at the center of that connection?
Trust. Trust is the invisible foundation of every meaningful coach-athlete relationship. Without it, all the strategy, technique, and training in the world become diminished. With it, an athlete can transcend fear, risk vulnerability, and step into performance with courage. Yet trust isn’t built overnight. It’s earned through consistency, care, and connection. What is Trust, Really? In sport, we often define trust implicitly. Athletes “buy in.” Coaches “have their athletes’ backs.” But let’s give it language. Trust, according to organizational psychology, is the belief that another will act in your best interest, especially when you are vulnerable (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995). It’s not about perfection. It’s about predictability, integrity, and empathy. In sport psychology, Jowett and Cockerill’s (2003) research on the coach-athlete relationship introduces the 3+1 Cs framework: Closeness, Commitment, Complementarity, and Co-orientation. These elements reflect how well the athlete and coach relate to, support, and align with one another. And at the heart of each? Trust. Building Trust is Building Performance Athletes perform best when they feel psychologically safe—free from judgment, humiliation, or fear of repercussion (Edmondson, 1999). When an athlete trusts their coach, they’re more likely to:
Trust and Motivation Decades of self-determination theory research show that athletes thrive when three basic psychological needs are met: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Trust between coach and athlete enhances each:
Trust is a Culture A coach’s relationship with each athlete is the bedrock of team culture. When trust is high, teammates model vulnerability, honesty, and accountability. When trust is low, athletes protect themselves—through silence, cynicism, or disengagement. It’s tempting to believe that trust is earned only through success. But in reality, trust is revealed in adversity.
How Coaches Build Trust
Sometimes trust gets ruptured—a miscommunication, a poor decision, a mistake. The question isn’t if this will happen—it’s how you’ll respond when it does. Repairing trust requires:
Why It Matters Athletes don’t remember every stat or drill. But they remember how you made them feel:
References Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999 Gould, D., Dieffenbach, K., & Moffett, A. (2002). Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(3), 172–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200290103482 Jowett, S., & Cockerill, I. M. (2003). Olympic medallists’ perspective of the athlete–coach relationship. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4(4), 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1469-0292(02)00011-0 Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080335 Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
0 Comments
When we picture coaching, we often imagine motion: whistles blowing, hands clapping, clipboards moving, feet pacing. But some of the most transformative coaching moments happen in stillness. Not in the heat of competition, but in the silence of listening. In the pause before we respond. In the long exhale of trust.
Great coaches don’t just give instructions—they hold space. What does it mean to hold space? It means creating emotional room for athletes to be seen, heard, and understood without judgment. It means temporarily setting aside our role as experts and stepping into our role as listeners. Not to fix, but to witness. This isn’t soft coaching. It’s human coaching. And it may be the most important work we do. Beyond the Stopwatch: The Coaching Relationship as Foundation Research in sport psychology has long acknowledged that the coach-athlete relationship significantly affects performance, satisfaction, and overall well-being (Jowett & Cockerill, 2003; Davis, Jowett, & Lafrenière, 2019). Holding space is not an abstract luxury—it’s a relational necessity. The coach-athlete relationship isn’t built solely on strategy, drills, or even time spent. It’s built on trust, empathy, and the feeling of psychological safety. Athletes need to know they can show up not just with their best, but with their whole selves—frustrated, excited, confused, broken, confident, or unsure. They need to know they don’t have to earn your attention with a personal best. They need to feel like your belief in them isn’t performance-based. This is what it means to hold space. Listening Isn’t Waiting to Talk I remember a conversation I had with an athlete named Joseph—a multiple time conference champion, from the outside, seemed dialed in all season long. But late in the spring, he started to withdraw. At first, I tried to coach through it. Adjust the workouts. Add variety. Nothing clicked. Eventually, I asked: “How are you, really?” He broke down. What followed wasn’t a motivational speech. It wasn’t a mental toughness lecture. It was twenty-five minutes of silence, broken only by his voice. I nodded. I asked simple questions. I made space. When he finished, he said, “Thank you for not trying to fix it. I just needed to let it out.” The next week, his training shifted. His energy returned. But not because we changed his plan—because we changed the relational environment. Holding space means allowing athletes to metabolize what they’re carrying—so it doesn’t carry them. The Science Behind Psychological Safety The concept of “holding space” aligns closely with what organizational psychologists call psychological safety: a shared belief that one can express thoughts and emotions without fear of ridicule or retribution (Edmondson, 1999). In sports, psychological safety is linked to:
When you create safety, you unleash authenticity. And authenticity unlocks performance. Practical Ways to Hold Space This isn’t just theoretical. You can begin holding space more intentionally with a few key shifts in your daily practice.
Holding Space in High-Stakes Environments One of the greatest myths in sport is that intensity and empathy can’t coexist. But the truth is: your athletes don’t need you to be softer. They need you to be steadier. Holding space doesn’t mean lowering standards. It means anchoring your expectations in care. Elite performance and deep humanity are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re interdependent. Athletes perform at their peak not just when they’re physically prepared, but when they feel emotionally supported and psychologically safe (Knight, Harwood, & Sellars, 2018). Holding space is the invisible scaffolding of sustainable success. What Athletes Remember When your athletes look back—ten, fifteen, twenty years from now—they won’t just recall what they achieved. They’ll recall how they felt in your presence.
And that is coaching at its highest level. References Davis, L., Jowett, S., & Lafrenière, M. K. (2019). An attachment theory perspective in the examination of relational processes associated with coach-athlete dyads. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 41(1), 18–30. Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. Fransen, K., Vanbeselaere, N., De Cuyper, B., Vande Broek, G., & Boen, F. (2014). The myth of the team captain as principal leader: extending the athlete leadership classification within sport teams. Journal of Sports Sciences, 32(14), 1389–1397. Jowett, S., & Cockerill, I. M. (2003). Olympic medallists’ perspective of the athlete–coach relationship. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4(4), 313–331. Knight, C. J., Harwood, C. G., & Sellars, P. A. (2018). Supporting adolescent athletes’ dual careers: The role of an athlete’s social support network. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 38, 137–147. |
Dr. Charles InfurnaCharles Infurna, Ed.D., is the owner and lead coach of Forza Athletics Track Club. Dr. Infurna has coached National Record Holders, National Champions, All-Americans, and Conference Champions at the Post-Collegiate, Collegiate, and High School level. Archives
July 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed