Recovery from athlete burnout is rarely as simple as taking a break and coming back. Athletes, coaches, and families often expect that a few weeks off will restore motivation and performance, and when it does not, they assume something more is wrong, or they push the athlete back too soon and lose them entirely. The research on burnout recovery is clearer than most people realise, and it points to a process that is structured, gradual, and as much about meaning and identity a

Burnout has become one of the most widely used and least precisely understood terms in sport. Athletes describe themselves as burned out when they are tired, when they are fed up, when they have lost form, when they want a break, or when they are genuinely struggling with a clinical syndrome that requires real intervention. The word covers all of these, and that is part of the problem. If we are going to talk seriously about athlete burnout, we need a clearer understanding of

In some sports, the practice of weighing athletes, sometimes publicly, sometimes weekly, sometimes within hours of competition, is so embedded in the culture that it goes largely unquestioned. Athletes are weighed in front of teammates. Targets are set without clinical input. Acute weight cuts are treated as a rite of passage. And the psychological and physiological consequences of all of this are quietly absorbed by the athletes who carry them. This blog is about the practic

Sport is one of the few environments in which the body is simultaneously a tool, a measurement, and a public statement, observed by coaches, photographed by spectators, compared to teammates, and increasingly broadcast to the world through social media. For most athletes, navigating that is part of the job. For many, it becomes a source of significant distress. Body image in sport is not the same conversation as body image in the general population. The pressures are differen

A guide for coaches and parents around some of the difficulties in approaching care for athletes experiencing eating disorders.

The fitness industry is a beast of an industry with often good intensions. But what happens when the people we are influenced by are portraying disordered eating habits and routines.

Over the past couple months I have completed close to 30 hours of professional development on binge eating disorder (BED), thanks to the ANZAED Autumn workshop series. I have come away from that training with a renewed conviction that this is one of the most underdiagnosed, misunderstood, and inadequately supported conditions in the athlete population and that current trends in weight-loss medication are making the situation more urgent, not less. What Is Binge Eating Disorde

This blog details considerations for coaches of your female athletes.

Understanding the complex dynamics of parents that coach, for parents, youth athletes, and organisations.

Coaches hold enormous influence in an athlete's life. At their best, they shape confidence, build resilience, and ignite a lifelong love of sport. But what happens when a coaching relationship becomes the source of stress rather than support? This blog explores how athletes, parents, and organisations can recognise the warning signs of harmful coaching and what can be done to protect athlete wellbeing without losing sight of growth, skill development, and a love of sport. Und

Earlier this year I had the privilege of co-presenting a webinar series on neuroaffirming interventions in sport with Dr. Samantha McLeod from The SAM Centre, delivered through Sports Medicine Australia and College of Sport & Exercise Psychologists. The conversations that followed, with practitioners, coaches, and athletes, made one thing clear: most of us working in sport have had little to no formal training on neurodiversity, and our systems still expect neurodivergent ath

Not long ago, I had a conversation that has stayed with me. I was at a session with Professor Cliff Mallett, a researcher who has spent decades studying coaching expertise and sport psychology, and I asked him about coach evaluations. Why, I wondered, do so many coaches resist being assessed or evaluated, even when the intention is to support their development? His answer was characteristically direct: “Well, coaches are supposed to be the experts. So evaluation is a threat.”

Earlier this month I had the privilege of attending the Women in Sport Congress — two days of presentations, panels, and conversations about the state of women in sport in Australia and beyond. It was great to connect with so many likeminded health professionals and people working in sporting spaces. I feel as if I was inducted into the world of rugby league, connecting with many of the allied health professionals working in that space! I left feeling inspired, challenged, an

Every coach wants a connected team. A team that communicates well, supports each other, plays for each other, stays grounded under pressure, and feels united on and off the field. Yet bringing a group of individuals together into a cohesive, resilient, and safe team environment is one of the hardest parts of coaching. It does not happen through a single team talk, a pre-season camp, or a one-off activity. It happens through repeated, intentional behaviours that build trust, c

Every coach has a way of leading, speaking, motivating, managing conflict, and responding under pressure. Some of this comes naturally. Some of it comes from how we were coached growing up. And a lot of it comes from habit, environmental norms, and the demands of the sport. But here is something important. Coaching style is not a fixed personality trait. It is a skill that can be understood, refined, and adapted. From grassroots to professional sport, the more self-awareness

Coaching is often framed as something you step into because you know the sport, you have experience, or you care about helping young athletes. But in reality, coaching is a role that stretches far beyond drills, game plans, and technical cues. Coaches are leaders, motivators, problem-solvers, steady hands under pressure, and the emotional temperature-setters of their teams. Yet while athletes are constantly encouraged to learn new skills, practice mental strategies, and refin

Most people grow up with a very specific picture of what exercise looks like. It is usually fast, sweaty, structured, and high intensity. It is team sport, running, weights, or something that feels hard enough to prove that it “counts.” If you walk, stretch, dance in the kitchen, play with your dog, or ride your bike to work, you might not consider any of that “real exercise.” But here is the truth. The science is clear that exercise is far broader, more flexible, and much mo

Everyone experiences an exercise slump at some point. You miss a session, then another, and suddenly it has been weeks. You feel flat, disconnected, or frustrated. You want to get moving again, but the thought of starting feels heavy. You might even question your motivation or identity as someone who used to exercise regularly. These slumps are not signs of failure or weakness. They are predictable, human responses to stress, transition, overwhelm, shifts in identity, or chan

Most people know the feeling. You miss a session, skip a walk, lose motivation, or fall out of routine, and suddenly the inner critic shows up. It tells you that you are lazy or uncommitted. It convinces you that you have fallen behind. It can even make you feel guilty for resting, taking time off, or choosing a lighter session. This spiral of self criticism is incredibly common, especially in athletes, high achievers, perfectionists, and neurodivergent individuals. But it is

Whether you’re moving on from a school team, leaving a performance program, changing competitive level, or stepping back from sport altogether, that moment of transition can feel like both an ending and a beginning. It’s a time of letting go of the “old you,” reconnecting with your values, and rediscovering purpose and community beyond what the scoreboard and training diary have defined. Here are some reflections and evidence-based tools to help you navigate this next chapter