Why Is Trust So Important Between Athlete and Coach?
Article Table of Contents
Summary: When athletes build trust with their coach, it opens the door to rapid athletic growth and improved performance under pressure. Trust helps athletes seek feedback, ask questions when unsure, acknowledge mistakes, and take risks in competition without fearing it will affect their playing status.
Trust is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, components of athletic success. An athlete can have exceptional talent and technical ability, but if they don’t trust their coach, or their coach doesn’t trust them, the relationship can become a source of stress rather than strength.
An athlete who lacks a trust bond with their coach will worry about making mistakes or losing their coach’s approval. They feel anxious during competitions, overthink decisions, and play to avoid losing rather than to win. They often take criticism personally, which can interfere with their athletic growth.
Trust doesn’t mean you and your coach will always agree. It doesn’t mean your coach will give you the playing time you want, tell you what you want to hear, or never criticize your effort or performance. Instead, trust means believing that both of you are on the same page, committed to the same goals, and that each can rely on the other to do their part.
Way 1: Give Trust Time
Trust is not built overnight or after one conversation. It develops through hundreds of small interactions: showing up, communicating openly, working hard, responding positively to adversity, accepting feedback, and following through.
This is one of the hardest parts of building trust for young athletes, because it requires patience. There’s no single moment where trust “clicks” into place. It accumulates quietly, interaction by interaction, over an entire season or career.
Athletes who expect instant trust often get discouraged early and either give up on the relationship or try to force it through grand gestures. Consistent, unremarkable effort over time works far better than any single big moment.
This is especially true with a new coach or after switching teams. Give the relationship at least a full season before drawing conclusions about whether trust is developing, since a coach is also learning how you handle adversity, pressure, and feedback during that stretch.
Way 2: Be Coachable
Being coachable is not mindlessly agreeing with your coach. It means being willing to listen, consider feedback, ask questions, apply what you’ve learned, and implement those changes in competition.
A coachable athlete can disagree with a decision and still execute it fully. That distinction matters, because coaches build trust in players who follow through even when they don’t love the call, not just players who nod along.
You can find answers to common mental game questions athletes ask about staying coachable while still advocating for yourself, which is a balance many young athletes struggle to strike early on.
Way 3: Be Consistent
Coaches learn to trust athletes who are dependable. Your effort should be consistent in practice and competition, not dependent on whether you’re starting, winning, getting attention, or receiving praise.
Consistency builds credibility, and credibility builds trust. A coach who sees the same effort from you whether you’re playing thirty minutes or three learns they can rely on you in any situation, which often leads to more opportunities over time.
Inconsistent effort sends the opposite signal. Even if you’re talented, a coach who can’t predict your effort level will hesitate to put you in high-pressure moments, because trust requires predictability.
Consistency also means showing up the same way after a bad practice or a benching as you do after a great game. Coaches watch closely how athletes handle adversity, and steady effort through those moments builds trust faster than talent alone ever could.
How Olivia Miles and Cheryl Reeve’s Trust Paid Off
A recent example involving Minnesota Lynx rookie guard Olivia Miles illustrates just how transformative trust can be between an athlete and a coach.
In a 94-84 win over the Washington Mystics, Miles finished with 24 points, seven assists, and three steals. Perhaps the most significant moment of the game came when Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve decided to leave Miles in the game after she picked up a fifth foul midway through the fourth quarter. The trust Reeve showed in Miles helped Minnesota pull away for its 16th victory in 17 games.
In her post-game interview, Miles talked about the level of trust that had been building since preseason. “I trusted [Reeve] with that, and then she ultimately trusted me to stay in the game,” Miles said. “It’s just a testament to our relationship and the trust that we’re building.”
Ultimately, trust gives athletes the freedom to compete without fear. When athletes know their coach believes in them, and coaches know they can rely on their athletes, players can communicate openly, take risks, learn from mistakes, and stay committed when things get difficult.
What Does a Lack of Trust With a Coach Look Like?
A lack of trust between an athlete and coach usually shows up as anxiety during competition, overthinking simple decisions, and a tendency to play it safe instead of taking the risks that lead to growth. Athletes without that trust often hide mistakes instead of learning from them, out of fear it will cost them playing time.
Research on the coach-athlete relationship supports this pattern. A 2023 study found that trust in the coach directly mediates the overall quality of the coach-athlete relationship, meaning low trust doesn’t just feel bad, it measurably weakens the working relationship itself.
More recent research reinforces the stakes. A 2025 study on coach-athlete relationships found that relationship quality is linked to athletic engagement and, ultimately, team performance, through pathways like emotional intelligence and open communication.
If you notice these signs in your own relationship with a coach, it doesn’t mean the relationship is broken beyond repair. It usually means it’s time to be more intentional about the three ways above: giving it time, staying coachable, and staying consistent.
Conclusion
Trust between an athlete and a coach isn’t built through talent, agreement, or a single big moment. It’s built through time, coachability, and consistency, the same three ingredients that show up in Olivia Miles and Cheryl Reeve’s relationship this season.
When that trust is in place, athletes compete with freedom instead of fear. They take risks, own their mistakes, and grow faster because they’re not spending mental energy worrying about their coach’s approval.
If you’re struggling to build trust with a coach, or you’re not sure why the relationship feels strained, working with a mental performance coach can help you understand what’s happening and build a plan to move forward. Book a free session to start building the kind of trust that lets you compete at your best.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to build trust with a coach?
There’s no fixed timeline. Trust builds gradually through consistent interactions over weeks, months, or an entire season, rather than through any single conversation or moment.
What if I don’t trust my coach’s decisions?
It’s possible to disagree with a specific decision while still trusting the overall relationship. If the distrust is deeper and ongoing, it’s worth having an honest, calm conversation with your coach about your concerns.
Does being coachable mean always agreeing with my coach?
No. Being coachable means listening, considering feedback, and following through on decisions even when you don’t fully agree, not blindly agreeing with everything your coach says.
Can a coach lose an athlete’s trust?
Yes, trust runs both directions. A coach who is inconsistent, dismissive of an athlete’s effort, or unreliable in their communication can lose an athlete’s trust just as an athlete can lose a coach’s.
How do I rebuild trust after a conflict with my coach?
Start with a direct, calm conversation about what happened, then focus on consistent effort and follow-through afterward. Rebuilding trust takes the same ingredients as building it the first time: time, coachability, and consistency.
