Mindfulness Training for Coaches: A Mixed-Method Exploratory Study

“…that reported qualitative data, participants described a direct link between the intervention and the ability to maintain task-focused attention (Baltzell et al., 2014; Bernier et al., 2014; Buscombe et al., 2014; Goodman et al., 2014; Longshore & Sachs, 2015; Quinones-Paredes, 2014; Wicks, 2012).”

“Longshore and Sachs [70] MAAS TMS STAI PANAS BRUMS No significant interaction effect reported for anxiety, mindfulness awareness or experience, or moods.”

“Broadly speaking, well-being in coaching is an emerging area, limited to sport psychology and with much of the work and resources focused on athletes and their psychological development (Longshore and Sachs, 2015).”

“Despite the current absence of research including sport coaches, Longshore and Sachs (2015) recently noted that Mindfulness training is a promising”

“Much like Longshore and Sachs [91] and Hägglund et al. [84], intervention studies should continue to explore the influence of protective factors such as psychological skills (e.g. resilience and self-reflection) and coping strategies (e.g. emotion-focused strategies), to protect and enhance the…”

“…systematic review, Breslin and colleagues (2017b) showed that mental health awareness programmes resulted in reduced levels of negative affect (Longshore and Sachs, 2015), increased knowledge of mental health disorders (Bapat et al., 2009; Breslin et al., 2017a; Pierce et al., 2010; Sebbens…”

“The use of mindfulness techniques has also been recommended for coaches [61].”

“To achieve improvements in well-being or resilience, a similar approach to previous programs that have reduced depressive symptoms and anxiety could be considered (Donohue et al., 2013; Donohue et al., 2015; Longshore & Sachs, 2015).”

“At individual/group level, coaches could benefit from learning and possibly engaging in some mindfulness meditation activities with the scope of regulating their levels of perceived stress (Austin, 1997; Longshore and Sachs, 2015).”

“Longshore and Sachs (2015) noted that female athletes will often request to explore the rationale behind coaching decisions and will often want to be involved with the decision-making process more than male athletes.”

“Longshore and Sachs (2015) explains that female athletes have a greater need than male athletes for this democratic coaching approach, as they feel a relationship will develop on a personal level through this style of coaching.”

“…in line with the general discussion points alluded earlier, we see a need for a range of applied intervention work for HPCs drawing on mindfulness (Longshore & Sachs, 2015; Lundqvist et al., 2018) and its effect on energy and mood (Pawsey et al., in press), how reflective practice is developed…”

“Current mindfulness-based interventions have shown early promise in cultivating greater emotional awareness in high-performance coaches.(68,69) Given these studies found that greater self-awareness led to improved mental well-being, mindfulness-based interventions could be incorporated as a potential strategy to enhan…”

“Whereas empirical studies have focused on presenting evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness on demands placed on competitive athletes, its applicability on stress reduction for sport coaches is still largely unexplored.(40) By use of a mixed-method approach including assessments of mindfulness, emotional stabil…”

“These fi ve studies all used different programs or interventions (MMTS [Baltzell et al., 2015]; Mind-fulness Training for Coaches [MTC] [Longshore & Sachs, 2015]; mindfulness intervention [Lundqvist et al., 2018]; Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement [Pineau et al., 2019]; and brief mindful self-re…”

“…these interventions have demonstrated their positive impact on participants’ academic pursuits, personal development, interpersonal relationships, work-life balance, overall well-being, mental health, and life satisfaction outside of sporting contexts (Longshore and Sachs, 2015; Cote et al., 2019).”

“…to mindfulness, such as mindfulness intervention in athletes (Moore, 2009) [2], skills acquisition (Zhang et al., 2016) [3], coaches’ mindfulness (Longshore & Sachs, 2015) [4], theoretical aspects of mindfulness-performance links (Birrer, Röthlin, & Morgan, 2012) [5] and motor control (Kee,…”

“This sport-specific intervention can help lead to positive adjustments, balance, and psychological well-being in all areas of a coach’s life, through better work–life balance among other factors [33].”

“Mindfulness-based approaches reduce symptoms by fostering present-moment focus [41].”

“To our knowledge, Longshore and Sachs (2015) were the first to publish a mindfulness-based training program explicitly focused on coaches.”

“Specific to sport psychology topics (e.g., mindfulness, motivation), scholars have stressed the necessity of engaging with different sources of information (e.g., Longshore & Sachs, 2015; Smith et al., 2016).”

“…the use of reflection for the development of coaching 87 knowledge has explored various strategies for reflective practice, such as reflective journals 88 (Koh et al., 2015); reflective cards (Winfield et al., 2013; Rodrigue & Trudel, 2018); and 89 meditation (Longshore & Sachs, 2015).”

“…Training for Sport) with a focus on meditation (Baltzell and Akthar, 2014), MTC (Mindfulness Training for Coaches) with coaches as target group (Longshore and Sachs, 2015), or MAIC (MindfulnessAcceptance-Insight-Commitment) especially for Chinese athletes (Si et al., 2016)—just to name a few.”

“The results, which reveal signi fi cant negative correlations between mindfulness levels and key job-related stress factors, align with and extend previous research 28,29,30 by highlighting the speci fi c bene fi ts of mindfulness training in the context of sports coaching.”

“As a result, Caudwell (2011) has argued for more gender-based research in sport; focusing speci fi - cally on issues such as coach education, particularly as male and female athletes require different pedagogical coaching approaches (Longshore & Sachs, 2015).”

“…cultures within high-performance systems (Gorczynski et al., 2020, p. 715) and with positive impacts cited in relation to levels of negative affect (Longshore & Sachs, 2015), knowledge of mental health disorders (Pierce et al., 2010; Sebbens et al., 2016), levels of stigma (Bapat et al., 2009),…”

“Coaches have been shown to benefit from practicing mindfulness (Longshore & Sachs, 2015), and SAs have taken notice of these benefits before (Worthen & Luiselli, 2016).”

“…of heterogeneity in the workplace and the characteristics of mindfulness -based intervention in order to minimize perceived stress HCPs 75 12 3 (Longshore and Sachs, 2015) Positive impact of mindfulness training in sports coaches Sports Coaches 70 21 4 (Craigie et al., 2016) Evaluating…”

“…the role’s inherent links with performance outcomes, coaches can be supported through educational resources and programmes to help them navigate these uncertainties (e.g., self-compassion, self-reflection and mindfulness-based interventions) (Hägglund et al., 2021, 2025; Longshore & Sachs, 2015).”

“Recognizing and successfully regulating negative thoughts in sports may be seen as a method that positively influences performance (Röthlin et al. 2016; Longshore and Sachs 2015).”

“On the other hand, there are several studies as well as well-proven experiences showing the importance of psychological factors in team sports (Longshore & Sachs, 2015; Orlick, 2008; Schinke & Hackfort, 2016).”

“Coaches not only helped themselves but also improved their coaching practice (Longshore, 2015; Longshore & Sachs, 2015).”

“Although not designed to address burnout, Longshore and Sachs (2015) found that an intervention promoting mindfulness (i.e., a construct related to self-regulation that reflects greater present-moment awareness and acceptance, Baer, 2003) led to decreased anxiety and negative emotions in their…”