The Sport Psych Show #334 Simon Gelsthorpe - Emotionally Informed Coaching
Dec 22, 2025
Simon Gelsthorpe, a clinical psychologist with a focus on emotions, shares insights on Emotionally Informed Coaching, a framework designed to enhance athletes' emotional well-being and performance. He highlights the importance of understanding emotions as predictors of future actions rather than mere reactions. Simon discusses the need for coaches to develop a precise emotional vocabulary and to facilitate open conversations about feelings. He also emphasizes reframing sadness as a motivational force and advocates for measuring athletes' emotional experiences beyond traditional performance metrics.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Emotion Is Under‑Taught But Universal
- Emotion is a universal, under-taught domain that shapes why people seek help and decide what to do next.
- Simon argues psychologists must communicate emotion research simply to wider audiences to be useful.
Media Cases Sparked Coaching Focus
- Simon describes media cases (cycling, gymnastics, swimming) that revealed coaching failures and unhappy athletes.
- These incidents motivated him to adapt psychologically informed care into Emotionally Informed Coaching.
Feelings Guide Future Action
- Emotions are future‑oriented signals the brain uses to decide what to do next rather than simple reactions to the past.
- Simon urges reframing 'positive/negative' to 'comfortable/uncomfortable' to respect emotional usefulness.