Megan Weaver opens episode 33 of Coaching the Athletic Mind by focusing on the mental challenge of sitting the bench, noting many athletes now tie not playing to decreased self-worth. Drawing from her experience making varsity but sitting much of junior year, she explains how staying engaged, practicing, and supporting the team helped her continue to later college and international play. Weaver outlines common bench thoughts (“coach doesn’t like me,” “I’m not good enough,” “I should quit”) and urges coaches to check in on non-starters and communicate players’ value and roles. She reframed benching as sometimes a numbers game, encourages neutral, fact-based thinking, keeping team energy up, being happy for teammates, and advocating by asking coaches for specific skills to improve.

In episode 32 of Coaching The Athletic Mind, host Megan Weaver shares a key concept from Dr. Nate Zinser’s The Confident Mind by making regular confidence deposits through a written top-10 highlight reel. She explains that many athletes focus on mistakes as withdrawals, so they need to document their greatest moments in sport (and parents can do the same in other areas), capturing sensory details like sounds, feelings, and environment. Weaver notes that reliving these successes creates powerful recall because the brain can’t distinguish memory from current reality, reinforcing proof of competence and confidence. She adds that repeatedly reflecting on successful moments strengthens neural pathways and myelin, making confidence more automatic, and challenges listeners to write their top 10 highlights and complete a nightly “daily audit” of one thing they did well.

In episode 31 of Coaching The Athletic Mind, host Megan Weaver shares lessons from Dr. Becky’s Good Inside interviews with pro athletes Russell Wilson, Jordan Chiles, and Tony Finau on handling failure and adversity. Weaver explains that sports like golf and softball create long gaps between plays where athletes can spiral on mistakes, so routines and preparation matter, along with triggers to regroup (like Finau resetting when his club hits the bag). She emphasizes staying emotionally neutral rather than overly positive or negative, separating self-worth from wins and losses, and focusing on the process over outcomes. Weaver highlights Dr. Becky’s idea of separating identity from behavior (a good player who had a tough moment) and encourages parents and coaches to “sit on the feelings bench,” validate emotions, avoid immediate feedback, and help kids move forward and find life outside sports as well.