Bricks & Bridges: Coaching the Difficult & Defiant Athletes
EP. 129
Every coach has the athlete who's easy to reach, and the one who's checked out, arms crossed, wall fully up. This episode is about that second athlete, and why they're usually the one who needs you most.
Tex breaks down the Coach-Athlete Reinforcing Loop, the five-stage cycle of trust extended, coaching delivered, athlete response, outcome, and reinforcement, and explains why it never resets to neutral.
We unpack the five real reasons athletes resist coaching, none of which are usually about defiance at all, and why treating resistance as data instead of a discipline problem changes everything about how a coach responds to it.
