Human-first performance coaching
Training the body is the easy part — work with me to fine-tune the mind. I coach high-performance athletes, coaches and professionals to thrive in pressure, reset gracefully after mistakes, and compete with a sharp, present mind. And in the process, find joy and purpose in your craft.
Based in Zürich · sessions in person or online
Pressure as information, not threat — a routine for the moments that used to shake you.
The error happened. The next play hasn't. Recover gracefully and stay in the game.
A sharp and present mind — attention that goes where you send it, and stays when it counts.
The story
Two threads run through my whole life: engineering and the game of basketball. For fifteen years I studied how machines perform - and all along, basketball was teaching me how people do. Eventually the two threads became one calling that I could not ignore - so I chose it. The method never changed: see the human in the athlete, observe honestly, find the constraint, offer questions that loosen the knot.
Mechanical engineering at Brunel University London — and president of its Hellenic Basketball Team. Both threads were there from the start: the discipline of design, and the love of the game.
Ten months where pressure isn't a metaphor. My first real education in composure: the mind quits long before the body has to — and both can be trained not to.
Motorcycles at Triumph, vehicles at Polaris, autonomous drones at Sunflower Labs — then senior engineer, then leading a design team. That's where the lesson landed: the limiting factor was almost never the machine. It was attention, confidence and pressure — the human system running the technical one.
By day I became a CAD coach at SHL Medical, training engineers and teams in SolidWorks and Teamcenter. By night I coached basketball — player development and mental training at Opfikon Basket, then head coach at Basketball Regensdorf. In both gyms I noticed the same thing: the part I loved was never the tool or the tactic. It was watching a person unlock.
The calling was simply too clear to ignore. Today I coach the instrument behind every performance: the mind. Same meticulous approach, narrowed and locked in on the subject. Human first. Growth over comfort.
“Pressure doesn't build character. It reveals the training.”
Services
Every engagement starts with a free discovery call: no pitch, real introduction. An honest and unscripted talk about you as a human, and as an athlete. We look at the overall fit together - and lay down the plan that meets your needs.
Quick consult
One focused call on one specific challenge — a competition next week, a slump, a conversation you're avoiding. You leave with a plan you can use the same day.
CHF 60 / session
Book 30 minutesPick a slot online, pay later by invoice.
New here? Start with the free discovery call
Full session
A complete session: where you are, what's actually in the way, and the first interventions to train. The right starting point for most people.
CHF 110 / session
Book 60 minutesPick a slot online, pay later by invoice.
New here? Start with the free discovery call
Monthly program
Four sessions a month plus support in between: personalized mental performance interventions, routines built around your calendar of pressure, and honest review of how they hold up.
CHF 420 / month
Start the programScheduled sessions, pay by monthly invoice. Cancel anytime.
New here? Start with the free discovery call
Also available for teams: team culture & cohesion and leadership/coaching development. For clubs, teams and companies. Get in touch.
Contact
Questions, team workshops, slumps, or just say hi and tell me what you're training for. I read and answer everything myself.
Prefer email directly?
argy@papadakiscoaching.com