Advocating For Yourself: A Skill Every Athlete (And Human) Needs to Practice

Oct 29

When it comes to playing sports—or simply existing in a body that moves, aches, and strives—one of the most important skills you can develop isn’t a physical one. It’s self-advocacy.

Self-advocacy is the ability to speak up for yourself: to ask questions, to push back when something doesn’t sit right, to choose what’s best for you, even when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or not what others expect.

Athlete and coach sitting on side of boxing ring

Why Self-Advocacy Feels Hard

Let’s be honest: it’s not easy to advocate for yourself in systems that weren’t designed to empower you.

Maybe you’ve been in a setting where you felt like your voice didn’t matter—a coach brushing off your pain, a trainer rushing your return-to-play, or a medical provider making decisions for you instead of with you.

Maybe you’ve been taught (like most of us) to be the “good patient,” the “coachable athlete,” the “easy client.”

To not question authority.

To not make waves.

But advocating for yourself doesn’t mean being difficult. It means being involved. It means being an active participant in your own health and performance, not a passive recipient.

Let’s talk about where this gets especially tricky.

In Sports: Where “Toughness” Gets Confused With Silence

From the time many of us start playing sports, we’re praised for being tough, for pushing through, grinding harder, ignoring pain, and doing whatever it takes for the team.

That mindset builds grit, sure, but it can also blur the line between mental toughness and self-neglect.

Athletes are often conditioned to override their body’s messages:

“It’s fine, just a little sore.”
“I don’t want to let my team down.”
“Coach said I’m cleared, so I must be ready.”

In environments where performance is prioritized over process, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture—your long-term health and your relationship with your body.

And when everyone around you seems to be doing the same—pushing through, not speaking up—it can feel isolating or even selfish to do otherwise.

But the truth?
Speaking up for your body is part of being a good athlete.
Because the best athletes don’t just train hard, they train smart.
They know when to push and when to pause.
They learn to listen to their bodies as closely as they listen to their coaches.

In The U.S. Medical System: Where Care And Confusion Collide

Then there’s the medical system—where even the most confident, educated people can feel small and powerless.

It’s a system full of jargon, hierarchy, and red tape. Appointments are rushed, insurance dictates what “counts.” You’re handed paperwork, referred out, or told “it’s normal,” without anyone really explaining what’s happening.

Patients often find themselves trying to piece together a puzzle without the box lid—disconnected providers, conflicting opinions, and treatment plans that feel more like checklists than care.

And when you’re in pain or scared or just tired, it can feel impossible to speak up, let alone know what questions to ask. You might leave appointments thinking, I wish I’d said more…or I didn’t really understand, but I didn’t want to seem difficult.

This isn’t a personal failure, it’s the product of a system that wasn’t built for collaboration. But you can still learn to navigate it differently: to ask for clarity, to request transparency, and to remind your providers that you’re not a passive patient, you’re an active partner.

What Self-Advocacy Actually Looks Like

Self-advocacy isn’t about knowing all the answers—it’s about asking better questions. It’s the athlete who asks, “Why this drill?” The patient who says, “Can you explain that differently?” The person who notices something feels off and doesn’t push through “because coach said so.”

It’s also about knowing your boundaries and learning to listen when your body whispers before it starts screaming.

And sometimes, it’s about slowing down long enough to notice what your body is trying to tell you in the first place.

Skills You Can Practice

Like strength, mobility, and coordination, self-advocacy is a trainable skill.

You don’t just “become” good at it overnight: You practice, reflect, and build it over time.

Here are a few ways to start strengthening that muscle:

Get curious, not confrontational.
You don’t need to have all the answers—you just need to ask better questions. Try: “Can you help me understand why this is the best next step?” or “What other options might we have?”
Curiosity opens doors. Defensiveness closes them.
Name what you need.
Clarity is power. Whether you need more explanation, a slower return-to-play timeline, or a referral to someone who listens better—say so out loud. The more specific you can be, the easier it is for others to meet you there.
Build body awareness
Learn to pay attention to your body’s signals before they become screams. The better you can describe what you feel—where, when, how it changes—the easier it is to communicate clearly and be taken seriously.
Support yourself with systems
Advocacy is easier when you prepare for it.
-Write down questions before medical or training appointments so you don’t forget them in the moment.
-Bring a notebook or use your phone to jot down what was said (especially when you’re given a lot of information at once)
-Follow up in writing. Sending an email after an appointment, “Just to confirm, here’s what we discussed and what I’m supposed to do next,” helps prevent miscommunication and creates a record you can refer back to.
-Bring a friend or family member if you know you might feel overwhelmed or dismissed. Sometimes having another person present helps you stay grounded and makes providers slow down and listen more carefully.
Seek support, not permission.
The best coaches, trainers, and clinicians are partners in your process, not gatekeepers. It’s okay to gather multiple perspectives, get a second opinion, or ask for someone who communicates differently. You deserve a team that works with you, not around you.
Practice Recovery—not apology.
If you leave an appointment wishing you’d said something differently or asked for more clarity, don’t spiral into self-criticism. That reflection is part of the practice. You get to try again next time—with a little more confidence and a little more language to back you up.

Why It Matters

Advocating for yourself isn’t just about getting better care or better results—it’s about reclaiming ownership of your body and your process.

When you show up as an active participant, you learn more, progress faster, and make decisions rooted in understanding rather than fear.

The truth? No one knows your body like you do.

And the more you practice listening, questioning, and speaking up, the less you’ll need to rely on others to interpret it for you.

How This Ties Into The Way I Practice

Helping people learn to advocate for themselves isn’t just something I talk about—it’s something I build into every part of my physical therapy practice.

So much of traditional healthcare unintentionally teaches the opposite: short appointments, surface-level conversations, and treatment plans dictated by what insurance will approve rather than what your body truly needs.

That’s not care, that’s compliance.

My goal is to help my patients learn their bodies—to understand what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what steps they can take to move forward confidently. That means giving them space to ask questions, time to process information, and the opportunity to make informed choices about their care.

That’s why I offer one-on-one sessions and why I’m not in-network with insurance companies.

It allows me to prioritize you, not paperwork, not billing codes, not someone else’s definition of “medically necessary.”

You get my full attention, individualized care, and the time and context to become an active participant in your recovery and performance.

Because empowerment doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by design. And the kind of care that truly changes people’s outcomes is the kind that puts them back in the diver’s seat.