By Dave Brunner
(May 22, 2026)
Coaches are always looking for ways to have their athletes play with great emotion while developing and sustaining intensity during competition. Legendary coaches such as Nick Saban and John Wooden have addressed this issue. “I always talked with my players about playing with emotion rather than being emotional,” states Coach Saban. “Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker,” said Coach Wooden.
Considering the game of American football with the constant physical and mental demands imposed upon the players, it is easy to see how these two concepts are interrelated. On every play, there is an emotional reaction to what transpired. These emotions can range from utter despair to complete joy and euphoria, with the majority of emotional reactions falling somewhere in between these two extremes.
Scholarship in the field of Sport Psychology has demonstrated to us that emotion can influence our thought patterns and our physiology; often in a manner which can limit an athlete’s ability to perform at the upper range of their potential (Ellis 1994, Ellis & McLauren 1996, Lazurus 1998). Considering the ubiquitous nature of emotion in all athletic competitions, the question presents itself as to how we might use emotion to calibrate our physiology and attention to promote optimal performance.
Scholars in Sport Psychology have shared that the use of self-talk and imagery can facilitate proper direction of attention, promote self-confidence, and help us attain balance in the subsystems of the autonomic nervous system (Lazarus 1991; Bandura 1993); all associated with increased precision, accuracy, and motor control. Training in how to acquire and apply these skills must be executed prior to the beginning of the season of competition.
Some scholars and practicing coaches suggest it might be best to discard emotions that are not positive. Quickly block out being sad, frustrated, or angry. Then refocus on something positive and hopeful. In the football program I coach in, we take a different approach and we encourage our players to acknowledge the emotion they are feeling and use that emotion as the beginning of a refocus technique. For example, when a player feels a certain way after a play, this should be the catalyst for the beginning of internal dialogue (self-talk), which will lead them towards reframing the previous play and/or imagining the upcoming play for success.
The process begins with the athlete acknowledging the presence of emotion by acknowledging the fact “I Feel” – thus considering the possibility of frustration as the initiating emotion. The self-talk of “I feel frustrated” begins the reframing. A quick visual as to why the player feels frustrated plays through the movie theatre in their mind. This image quickly transforms into a form of self-talk, which is categorized as “I Will.” Perhaps the frustration comes from poor application of technique by a Wide Receiver in attempting to gain release from a defensive back when running a route. The phrase “I Will trust my technique” can set the player up for the final phase of the process when they internally orient themselves with the self-talk phrase “I see.” In this case, it could be I see “Swat cross, stack and escape” to stimulate the image of using footwork and hand work in a specific manner to obtain release and gain leverage when running the prescribed route.
In summary, the reframing technique of “I Feel,” “I Will,” and “I See” can be applied in framing the emotion experienced by the player from the result of the previous play. All of which will register in our brain as a successful repetition promoting self-efficacy through personal experience (Bandura, 1992). Further, this same process can be used to frame an upcoming performance if applied to the new assignment dictated by the play call. Perhaps, the player will reflect internally with the phrase “I feel excited” as they hear the upcoming play call. Quickly followed by “I will be physical; my hands beat your hands,” followed by an “I see a short swim technique followed by a wrap to escape and gain leverage against press coverage.”
In closing, I suggest that emotion can be our ally in finding a way to use it to direct our attention and energy in a manner which can result in behavior with intention and purpose and yes—Intensity!
Editor’s Note: All articles in Sport Coach America are authentic and original work by the author(s).
