Self-Talk and Breathing for Better Performance with Kris Goodman
https://sportfuelslife.podbean.com/e/kris-goodman
Meet Our Guest
Kris Goodman’s path into the mental side of sport started as a high school pitcher, watching an ESPN E:60 feature on legendary sport psychologist Ken Ravizza and MLB star Evan Longoria. That spark led him to study psychology at the University of Iowa while playing four years of college baseball, followed by being drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2015 and spending four seasons in minor league and independent ball. After his playing career, he earned a master’s degree in performance psychology from Minnesota State, Mankato, served as a graduate assistant baseball coach, and completed a formative internship at IMG Academy, working with athletes across tennis, baseball, football, basketball, soccer, and more. Currently, Goodman serves as the Tampa Bay Rays mental performance coach.
About the Episode
In this conversation, Kris unpacks the mental performance tools he now uses with big-league players and makes them accessible for coaches, parents, and athletes at every level. Whether you’re coaching a college tennis team, running youth clinics, or competing yourself, Goody provides language, tools, and frameworks you can start using on the court, in the dugout, or in the weight room today.
Kris Goodman leaves us with a powerful reminder: the two things every athlete controls—every rep, every point, every pitch—are how they breathe and how they talk to themselves. Master those, and you change your physiology, your mindset, and ultimately your performance.
If you’re a coach, parent, or athlete looking to sharpen the mental side of the game, this episode offers a clear roadmap: build better self-talk, anchor it with intentional breathing, and let those habits fuel your resilience, your confidence, and your consistency.
Top 5 Takeaways
- Self-talk and breathing are the “lowest hanging fruit” in mental performance.
Athletes are already doing both every moment; the shift is making them intentional instead of automatic. - Resilience can be trained using the 3 Cs: Commitment, Control, and Challenge.
Know what you’re committed to, pour your energy into what you can control, and see tough moments as challenges, not threats. - Neutral thinking beats chasing constant positivity.
When negative thoughts show up, athletes should “shift to neutral”—focus on facts and next actions instead of obsessing over outcomes. - Stories, humor, and “edutainment” make mental skills stick.
Especially with younger athletes, lessons are more powerful when they are caught, not taught through relatable stories and playful delivery. - Great coaches ask better questions, not give more speeches.
Simple prompts like “What are your three words when you’re at your best?” or “On a scale of 1–10, how well did you control the controllables?” help athletes self-reflect honestly and build their own process.
Mindset Shift
The Resilient C’s: Commitment, Control, Challenge
Kris Goodman’s framework for resilience is simple enough to remember and powerful enough to use in real competition. He breaks mental toughness into three C’s: commitment, control, and challenge.
Commitment starts with clarity. Resilient athletes know what they are committed to, and they return to that commitment when the game gets messy. That might mean staying focused on being the best version of themselves, or simply locking in on the next point, the next pitch, or the next play. Commitment gives athletes something steady to hold onto when emotions start to spike.
Control is about energy management. The best performers understand the difference between what they can control and what they can’t, and they go all in on the controllables. Effort, preparation, breathing, body language, and response to adversity are all within reach. Kris’s point is that control creates clarity, and clarity creates better decisions.
Challenge is the mindset shift that separates resilient athletes from overwhelmed ones. Instead of seeing pressure as a threat, they learn to see it as an opportunity. A tough moment becomes a chance to compete, to grow, and to prove what they’re made of. That’s why Kris’s line resonates so strongly: when it’s hard for everyone else, it’s just right for us.The big takeaway is that resilience isn’t something athletes either have or don’t have. It’s something they can train by strengthening their commitment, tightening their focus on control, and reframing challenge as opportunity.
Going Deeper
How Coaches Build Trust Before Correction
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that great coaching starts with trust—not correction.
As Kris Goodman explains, athletes need to feel understood, respected, and valued as people before they’re ready to receive honest feedback. That’s why he prioritizes building relationships first. Whether it’s asking questions that have nothing to do with the sport, using humor, sharing stories, or showing genuine curiosity, those early conversations lay the foundation for trust.
And that trust makes all the difference.
Athletes are far more likely to embrace feedback from someone who has taken the time to earn their confidence. When the relationship is strong, even difficult conversations are received as support rather than criticism.
For coaches, the message is simple: don’t rush to fix. Invest in the relationship first. When athletes know you genuinely care about them beyond their performance, they’ll be more open to listening, learning, and growing. That’s where meaningful coaching begins.
Coach’s Corner: 3 Questions to Ask Your Athletes This Week
1. “Give me three words: What are you like at your best?”
Prompt athletes to describe their optimal performance state (e.g., “relaxed, aggressive, present”).
2. “On a scale of 1–10, how well did you control the controllables today?”
Use this right after a match/game or practice.
3. “What were you saying to yourself when things started to speed up?”
This gets them to notice their self-talk in pressure moments.
“If there’s two things to really master, master the breath and master your self-talk.” – Kris Goodman, Tampa Bay Rays Mental Performance Coach
