154 | Coach Carrie Answers a Question from Kat: Having Radical Honesty with Your Coach

“ I’ve unfortunately faced a series of surgeries and setbacks over the last few years. While I feel like I have a supportive group of friends, I don’t feel like my primary coach has been that understanding of the mental toll that this has taken on me or how to navigate a game plan through my recovery, even though she’s successfully done that in the past with me as injuries have come up.  She doesn’t feel approachable to talk to and rarely reaches out to me. While I know she isn’t my therapist, I feel like I should be able to have honest conversations with her. When I’m not injured, I normally spend several hours a week 1:1 with her during my lessons. Every time I’ve approached her to sit down and discuss goals, she has objected saying that we cannot set goals with the unknowns of injury and recovery. I don’t know if I need to sit down and have a conversation, or just find a different coaching team, even though we’ve worked together for over 10 years. Any suggestions on how to navigate this?"

—Kat

In season 8 of The Injured Athletes Club podcast, mental skills coach Carrie Jackson answers a question every other week about the mental side of overcoming injuries. 

 

Kat isn’t alone in having conflicts with a coach during an injury—it can be particularly challenging when someone you’re counting on to support you doesn’t show up for you in the way you’d hoped.

 

Navigating these dynamics may require a hard conversation and what Coach Carrie calls radical honesty: Explaining clearly how you’re feeling and channeling curiosity and non-judgment to find out her side of the story, and how you can both move forward.

 

Resources/links:

• Our book Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries

 

A huge thank you to LEVER Movement, the exclusive sponsor of season 8 of The Injured Athletes Club podcast! The LEVER system is an innovative way to reduce your body weight, and the impact on your joints, while exercising on a treadmill. Use the code “TIAC20” to get 20% off your purchase. 

 

You can subscribe to The Injured Athletes Club on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, and if you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or a review in Apple podcasts. That helps other injured athletes find the show.

 

To access more resources for injured athletes:

• Buy Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries —now available as an audiobook!
• Buy Injured Athletes Club merchandise, including .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}