By Megan Buning
(November 16, 2022)
I don’t know about you, but I remember a time when playing my sport was fun, even relaxing. How much do you think today’s athletes (especially youth and college-aged) experience that same sense of stress relief, joy, and exhilaration that many of us likely experienced playing our sport 15 to 20 years ago? Research indicates the number of athletes who experience stress and burnout in their sport is quite high. For example, collegiate athletes report experiencing anywhere from 85% to 95% more stress than 52% of all non-athletes (Ward & Shiyko, 2016). At the youth level, 30% to 50% of athletes as young as nine years old report experiencing sport burnout. We each could most likely list many reasons why today’s athletes seem to have a very different experience from athletes two decades ago, yet sports are supposed to be largely beneficial for athletes. Lately, I have worked with several athletes and coaches that struggle with their mental approach because they are not able to cope with the stress and anxiety and they are mentally exhausted. They do not seem to enjoy the sport any longer.
When we look at the origin of organized youth sports, we can trace formal organization back to the beginning of the 20th century (e.g., YMCA, Boy Scouts) (LeUnes & Nation, 1989). When we look at the documented physical benefits of sports and physical activity participation, we see connections to healthier and stronger cardiovascular systems, blood pressure, cholesterol, musculoskeletal systems, and eating behaviors just to name a few (Saito & Kim, 2008; Sallis & Owen, 2003; Tiggemann, 2001). In addition, there are documented psychological benefits including reduced levels of stress and anxiety for athletes (Dimech & Seiler, 2011) and differences even between individual and team sport athletes (Pluhar et al. 2019). Given the positive influences of sport, it is important coaches and parents create environments that cultivate internal motivation and optimal mental health for athletes to continue sport participation.
Today there are many more and different kinds of stressors and sources of anxiety for athletes, all of which can influence athletes’ mental approaches (e.g., thought patterns, coping strategies, mental clarity) that directly impact performance. Impacts are felt amongst athletes that both struggle with mental illness and those that do not. For those not managing a clinical issue (e.g., depression, severe anxiety, diagnosable issues), there are ways we can facilitate optimal brain functioning that may eventually help athletes (or ourselves) cope, manage, or buffer against some of the challenges pertaining to the effects of stress and anxiety not only within sport but in life. Optimal brain functioning also gives our brains the best environment to perform routine performance-related tasks (e.g., imagery, visualization, self-talk, focus/concentration). The Healthy Mind Platter (Rock et al., 2013) presents evidence-based suggestions for how we can take care of our brain to give ourselves the best chance to provide quality performances.
The Healthy Mind Platter
The Healthy Mind Platter was the result of neurosurgeons, Dr. Dan Siegel and Dr. David Rock, condensing and summarizing decades worth of neuroscience and psychology research about the actions or behaviors people can do, develop, and apply to help their mental health (or brain health). Rooted in literature around neuroplasticity, the platter aligns with the research that the brain can and does change, and change occurs in four fundamental ways through our experiences (i.e., synaptogenesis, myelinogenetic, neurogenesis, epigenesis) (Siegel, 2011; 2012). Essentially, the healthy mind platter offers seven actions we can incorporate into our daily routine that can help our brain strengthen neural connections to current and past experiences which help us develop coping skills, habits, and memory, learn content, and enhance our ability to connect with others (Table 1). The goal of the platter is to help us see the variety of mental activities that fall on a spectrum that can help us achieve balanced mental health (for those not experiencing clinical mental health issues). Rock et al. (2013) do not provide specific guidelines for how long people should engage in the seven activities each day, but rather focus on the spectrum approach to incorporating the seven each day. This means how long each person engages in each of the seven may vary from day to day and be dictated by the daily structure and events. Additionally, the seven activities can be combined; however, we may need to be mindful about intentionally planning to engage with certain activities each day to ensure we meet the specific activity need.
Table 1: The Healthy Mind Platter Elements and General Activities
| Element | Description | Example Activities |
| Play Time | Intentionally taking time to be spontaneous or creative or “playfully enjoying” new or unique experiences. | Engage in unplanned, fun activities. Try something you have never experienced (novel, new). Participate in a creative activity (painting, writing, drawing, sculpting, musical). |
| Connecting Time | Intentionally connecting with other people (preferably in person). | Try to say hello or engage in conversation with a colleague down the hall or in the checkout line. |
| Physical Time | Intentionally spending time moving your body (ideally aerobic movement). | Go for a 15-minute walk during your lunch break. Complete 5 jump squats every hour while at work or during practice. |
| Time In | Intentionally taking time to reflect quietly on internal sensations, thoughts and feelings, and visualizations (or practicing imagery). | Spend 5-minutes reflecting on how your day went. Close your eyes for 5-minutes and pay attention to how your body feels. |
| Focus Time | Intentionally focusing on a task with a goal or purpose in mind. *Reduce distractions & multitasking | Intentionally block off time during the day to complete a project or task. Articulate the purpose/goal of the task. Keep your focus on that task during that scheduled time. |
| Downtime | Intentionally allowing time to not focus on anything and letting our minds wander or relax with no specific goal or purpose in mind. | Spend 10-minutes before or after work letting your mind wander or rest. Close your eyes to help. |
| Sleep Time | Intentionally taking adequate time to rest and let our brain reset and recharge. | Get the minimum number of hours of nighttime sleep. Schedule a 15-30-minute mini-nap if you can during your day. |
How Coaches Can Implement the Healthy Mind Platter
As a coach, you can help yourself and your athletes by incorporating elements from the healthy mind platter into practices and games. In the following sections, I provide suggestions for how to use the healthy mind platter to facilitate discussions around optimal mental performance and offer examples of how you may incorporate the elements in practice.
Assessment and Discussion. Before planning where to incorporate these activities, I suggest you first have all coaches and athletes take a brief self-assessment of each element. This can be as simple as describing each element one at a time and asking everyone to rate how much they think they engage in each every day on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (frequently). It may be helpful for each person to see a visual representation of how often they spend on each element as this can provide data and discussion points. One way to create a visual is to put each element on a circle chart or draw a bar chart and shade in their rating using the same 1 to 5 scale (Figure 1). For example, playtime may be shaded up to the 3 rating and physical time may be shaded up to the 5 rating.
Figure 1: Healthy Mind Rating Chart
Next, have a discussion with all involved on what reasons they have for not engaging as often in their lowest-rated elements. You can start incorporating connecting time even within this team discussion. For example, have athletes/staff pair up or form small groups and share their ratings and reasons before sharing as a whole group. This pre-assessment can give you an idea of the elements to emphasize during your time together as a team or staff. You can also engage the athletes and coaches by asking them to provide examples of how they could achieve the selected elements within a practice or game. Based on suggestions, identify ones that could reasonably be worked into practice. Depending on responses, you may get some ideas that would satisfy play time, connecting time, focus time (for example), or a combination of elements within one activity. Remember to educate all involved on the importance of achieving each element daily. After the season or a few weeks of thoughtfully incorporating the elements, give a similar post-self-assessment to gauge progress. Have those involved re-examine elements they want to emphasize and create new ideas for how to help them achieve those specifically.
Examples of Practice Activities. There are different ways you can intentionally plan for the elements within a practice. Some elements are more easily incorporated for athletes and coaches daily (e.g., physical time), and others are outside of the control of coaches (e.g., sleep time). For these two elements, you can help athletes by emphasizing proper amounts of sleep and activity for their age by educating them on the benefits and repercussions of inadequate sleep (Bolin, 2019; Chandrasekaran et al., 2020; Riederer, 2020) and physical activity (e.g., Carter & Micheli, 2011; CDC, 2022; Singh et al., 2012) can have on their performance and health. Since each sport and coach structure practices and games differently, I will focus on times that I think most teams partake, and I provide examples to help stimulate your own creative thinking.
Warmup Well. Warmups are a great time to incorporate some of the healthy mind platter elements. Warmup time includes both structured pre-game warmups and unstructured warmups that take place prior to pre-game warmups (e.g., before athletes enter the field between games). The unstructured warm-up time is a good place to allow athletes and coaches to connect with each other and engage in both physical and playtime. Encourage a game of hacky sack or pick a random game that will involve physical movement (safely) the athletes have never played. The physicality of this warmup time helps prepare their bodies for the structured warm-up and provides an enjoyable break for their brains while still stimulating their thinking skills.
During the structured warm-up time, instruct athletes to engage in time and focus time. This part of warmups will allow them to start narrowing their focus to more performance-related tasks. Encourage them to keep their attention on each warmup exercise (correct form, number of repetitions or length of time) and to pull their focus in by noticing how their body feels as it begins to warm up (heart rate increase, warmth, tightness, soreness, breathing pattern). Of note, in between multiple games in a day or during a game-filled weekend, all could benefit from intentional downtime. Other specific examples of activities are provided in Table 2.
Use the water cooler wisely. A typical water break consists of athletes grabbing a drink and then rushing back to a drill. You can plan healthy mind platter elements into water breaks. Give athletes a defined amount of time for each break (e.g., 2 to 5 minutes) and provide a challenge for them to complete during that time. You can mix up the challenges to keep athletes engaged. For example, during the first water break when athletes are still energetic, challenge athletes to engage in conversation with a teammate or coach about other topics besides practice. This time could be a great way for athletes to get to know others more deeply. You could have preprepared questions for athletes to ask others during this break. At the second water break, challenge them to a coach-selected spontaneous or new type of activity (e.g., a quick game of tic-tac-toe or Rock-Paper-Scissors). You can alternate time in, focus time, and downtime depending on the number of breaks you provide. This freedom of thought during a break also allows the brain to rest by providing a different line of thought. Athletes may find it easier to re-engage with drill work after this type of mental break.
Elements and drills. You can incorporate some elements during drills. For example, help athletes with a focus routine that can be used before the start of a drill to get their minds prepared. A focus routine may involve diaphragmatic breathing and self-talk (time in) by taking a few seconds to allow athletes to fully focus on the upcoming drill. It is important you give athletes a defined goal or outcome expectation of the drill to help with focus time. Practicing mindfulness is another way to experience focus time. During the drill, have athletes re-engage in time in by quietly self-reflecting on their drill performance, visualizing desired outcomes, and/or paying attention to how their body should feel during the drill or movement. Connecting time could be incorporated during the drill by allowing for peer mentoring on the drill and/or peer debriefing on each other’s drill performance.
Wrap up and wind down. At the end of practice (or games), athletes can partake in both time in and focus time initially. The cool-down stage of practice should encourage athletes again to focus specifically on the cool-down exercises (similarly to the warmup exercises). Cool downs are an excellent stage of practice to engage athletes in time in through body scans, breathing exercises, and/or imagery work. Encourage athletes to take a few minutes following the final cool-down exercise to let their brain rest by not directing their thought (no goal, purpose, or specific task in mind). If they cannot do this at the end of practice, encourage them to do so when they get home for a few minutes at least. This will give them a chance to recharge their brain.
Coaches can participate in similar activities during these times with the athletes or amongst each other. If you are intentional about incorporating the healthy mind platter elements, you could help those involved accomplish five of the seven elements at the least during practice. Encourage athletes and staff to think of ways they could continue partaking in the elements daily on days they do not have practice. This could set up a fun team or staff challenge amongst you all!
Table 2: Example Practice Activities for Coaches
| Element | Example Activities |
| Play Time | Use concentration grids (2022) to train the eyes, concentration, and competition (also satisfies focus time). Allow athletes to wear seasonal costumes to practice. Introduce a new team-building game before or after practice. Team building activities are excellent avenues to achieve playtime. Have athletes create practice using different drills when they show up that day. Spontaneously have athletes do random tasks (practice related or not) during practice. Play a board or card game where moves/cards or points/outcomes are attached to a sport-specific drill or action (e.g., if you match the cards, you complete five serves)Complete a drill backward (non-dominant hand, reverse running patterns). Invite an opposite sport team to practice and teach them how to play your sport or vice versa (e.g., gymnasts learn how to hit a ball) (connecting time achieved here as well)Plan a portion of practice/drill (or practice game) where athletes compete v. parents or staff. |
| Connecting Time | Invite special guests to engage with or speak to athletes. Structure peer instruction and/or reflection/debrief time. Incorporate “get to know me” time for athletes to learn about their teammates/coaches. Create a “show and tell” time where each athlete/coach gets their own practice to share more about them. Invite another team to help with practice or learn from your team |
| Time In | Engage in body scans. Plan (or teach) structured visualization or imagery sessions before or after practices. Teach diaphragmatic breathing and when/how to use breathing techniques. Plan self-reflection time during or after practice. Encourage post-practice journaling (this can help lead the brain to a passive state and downtime)Use the Mood Meter (2022) to help athletes/coaches assess their moods and how they can shift or maintain their current mood. Help athletes become aware of their self-talk during drills/practice. |
| Focus Time *Increase the length of time or level of focus as progress is made | Teach mindfulness and how to apply it during practice.E.g., Spend 10 minutes quietly observing the field area or drill. Emphasis is on taking note of what they see without judging or evaluating. Practice refocusing as needed with a refocus routine (stay in the moment). This could be incorporated as a station. Work one drill/task at a time (single tasking) Use a Pomodoro-type (Collins, 2020) technique for timing drills to help athletes build up their focus ability. “On” focus times should build up to mimic in-game required focus times. Plan time to have athletes/staff think through possible obstacles or errors and how they could handle those obstacles. Use concentration grids (2022) pre- or during drills Teach pre-performance routines (including cue or trigger words) and habits to help stay on task. |
| Downtime | Plan for mini breaks during practice and encourage athletes to think of nothing (or anything but practice/sport) (e.g., water breaks)After completing a drill/task, allow for a pause to celebrate good performance (v. moving immediately to the next task). Allow for moments of “no thinking” immediately following post-practice/game stretch sessions (preferably laying down with eyes closed) prior to leaving for the day go on a brief team walk around the complex. Remove technology (disconnect) and other distractions. Practice mindfulness and/or meditation. Have athletes/staff listen to soothing music to help shift thought and wind down (particularly when ending practice). Plan downtime during team travel and off-season (highlighting rest) (Eccles et al., 2020) |
| Physical Time | Physical time may often be achieved through the actual practice for athletes. Coaches may need to be more intentional. Below are the recommended minimum amounts needed for general health benefits (CDC, 2022): Children and adolescents ages 6-17 years need 60 minutes of moderate/vigorous activity every day. Part of those 60 minutes (3x/week) should include vigorous activity, muscle strengthening, and bone strengthening activities. Adults ages 18 – 24 years need 150 minutes/week with at least 2 of those days focused on muscle strengthening. |
| Sleep Time | Educate athletes/coaches on the benefits of proper sleep, how they can facilitate healthy sleep habits, and how performance is affected by sleep. Children ages 6-12 years need 9 to 12 hoursYouth ages 13 – 18 need 8 to 10 hours (Paruthi et al., 2016)College athletes need 7 to 8 hours (Watson et al., 2015) |
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