I am asked if I feel the pressure? I tend to quip back "it's not me doing the running and jumping" but a coach can feel or even add to the pressure.

So as a coach working with pressure, the athlete's mind is where I tend to work most. I've be lucky to have worked with Jessica for so long now that our approach to competition and performance is just part of the teams make up, that you can only do what you can do. Often described as 'controlling the controllables', or not being distracted by outside influences.

Pressure can come from the most unexpected places and a coach can be left to deal with it. With the recent street race in Manchester where there were nine hurdles and not the usual 10 is a great example. At first it can seem like a waste, but we're always looking for the performance positives, beating an Olympic champion and a world silver medalist, checking the splits and trying to compare the performance to previous competition or training. Even using humour "bet it's a British Record for nine Hurdles!"

Even officials feel the pressure and no-one is trying to do a bad job, so there's little value in dwelling on it. What is important is to accept that you and the athlete will need time to go through the frustration before really being able to move on. No athlete really accepts the performance positives or is willing to hear them till they've finished being agitated or angry.

The need to help is what you want to do as a coach but is the athlete quite open to the help just yet.

Cheers, 
Toni

Watch our video of Jessica feeling the pressure ahead of London 2012.

Follow Toni on twitter @Coach_Toni