Performance psychology coaching

Performance psychology coaching applies mental skills that sport research has tested, such as imagery and routines, to real performance under pressure. Meta-analyses have examined psychological interventions in sport, and imagery in sport has its own preprint meta-analysis, which reports a medium average effect. Most of that research is in sport, so its reach into other fields is less certain.

What it is

Performance psychology coaching works on the mental side of performance: how a person prepares, focuses and recovers when the stakes are real. It draws on skills that sport psychology has studied for decades, such as mental rehearsal and set routines, and adapts them to a person's own activity, whether that is competition, a presentation or a demanding job.

The coach helps the person choose the few skills that fit their situation, and the practice happens in the session with the coach. A pre-performance routine, for example, is a short fixed sequence agreed in advance: an exhale on the release, a look at one target, and one physical cue such as watching the seams of the ball. An imagery rehearsal runs one part of the performance in detail, in the same order each time, for a number of repetitions the coach and the person agree beforehand. The approach does not rest on one method. Its evidence is drawn mostly from sport, where the research is most developed.

Where it comes from

The approach draws on mental skills research in sport. Driskell, Copper and Moran (1994) asked whether mental practice enhances performance, and Toth and colleagues (2020) returned to that question with a 24-year follow-up and a meta-analytic replication and extension.

The coaching form is newer and less studied than the sport research behind it. It has no single originator; it is grounded in the wider mental skills literature.

The principles underneath

A few skills, chosen to fit

A small number of skills chosen for a specific situation is treated as more useful than a long list applied to everything.

Practise close to the real thing

The approach holds that skills rehearsed in conditions close to the real situation carry over better. In one meta-analysis, an unreviewed preprint (Simonsmeier et al., 2020), imagery combined with physical practice was more effective than physical practice alone.

A familiar sequence under pressure

The approach holds that a set pre-performance routine gives a person a familiar sequence to follow when the situation feels unfamiliar.

Review, then adjust

After each performance the person reviews what worked. A skill that did not hold is adjusted rather than dropped.

How a session runs

The coach asks you to describe the last performance that went differently from how you prepared, and what the demands of the next one are.
Together you choose one or two skills, such as a pre-performance routine, an imagery rehearsal, or one physical or attentional cue for a particular moment.
The coach walks you through the chosen skill step by step, and you run it once in the session in the form you would use it in the real situation.
You agree when you will use it before the next real performance, and what you will notice afterwards, such as the point where your attention moved.
Between sessions, you try the skill in one real situation and note what happened in the first minute and at the moment of release.
The next session starts with what happened in that real situation. A skill that did not hold is adjusted, with the cue or the timing changed, rather than dropped.

When it tends to fit

You prepare well, and then lose focus in the first few minutes of the performance.
Before a competition, presentation or interview, your mind runs through what could go wrong and you lose the thread of what to do.
You are about to take on a demanding role and want a set way to prepare that you can repeat.

What the research shows

Evidence: Randomized trials or meta-analyses

Meta-analyses of psychological interventions in sport exist, so the evidence tier rests on sport research rather than on coaching. Brown and Fletcher (2017) meta-analysed psychological and psychosocial interventions for sport performance. Toth and colleagues (2020) present a 24-year follow-up and a meta-analytic replication and extension of the question Driskell and colleagues (1994) asked about mental practice. Simonsmeier and colleagues (2020, an unreviewed preprint) report a meta-analysis of imagery interventions in sports; their preprint abstract reports a medium average effect (d = 0.43) across sport outcomes, and that imagery combined with physical practice was more effective than physical practice alone. No study tests coaching as such.

Where the evidence is thin: The evidence is about specific skills, mostly imagery, and about interventions in sport; none of the sources here tests coaching as a relationship. The Simonsmeier figures come from a preprint abstract, not from a peer-reviewed version. The effect sizes in Brown and Fletcher (2017) and Toth and colleagues (2020) are not given on this page.

Sources

Where it stops

Performance coaching does not treat anxiety, panic or perfectionism that causes distress. If pressure brings on panic or persistent low mood, a qualified clinician is the right first contact.

Skills such as routines and imagery are used within a wider plan. They do not replace medical care, rehabilitation, or sleep and recovery, which a doctor or physiotherapist should advise on.

A performance goal can become a source of harm if it drives you past exhaustion or injury. That is a question for a clinician or supervisor, not a skill to tighten.

Practices for this approach

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