Remote Coaching
Some of the most meaningful coaching work I do happens entirely online. No shared sky, no takeoff together. Just a pilot with a real goal, or a real problem, and structured work to address it.
Remote coaching is for pilots who can’t travel to one of my programs right now, pilots who want ongoing mentorship between flying trips, and pilots who are working through something that needs consistent, focused attention over time. It’s also for people who simply want an experienced outside perspective on their flying, their goals, or their approach.
This is not a generic online course. It is one-on-one, tailored entirely to you, and built around what you’re actually working on.
WHAT WE CAN WORK ON
Mental performance and fear Fear, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, freezing in conditions you know you can handle, performing below your level when it matters. These patterns are not weaknesses. They are the nervous system doing exactly what it was built to do, in an environment that keeps asking a lot of it. Understanding what’s happening, and building the right tools around it, changes everything. This is the work I am most frequently asked for, and where I see the most significant results.
Goal setting and progression planning You have a vague sense of where you want to be in your flying, but no clear path to get there. We make the goals concrete, map the steps honestly, and build a plan that fits your actual life: your available flying time, your fitness, your schedule, your risk tolerance.
Vol-bivouac preparation First solo overnight, first multiday, first expedition into serious terrain. Remote coaching can cover everything from gear selection and kit weight to route planning, weather reading for complex terrain, fitness preparation, and the mental framework for making good decisions when you’re alone in the mountains.
Post-incident recovery An incident changes the way flying feels, sometimes for a long time. Remote coaching can help you understand what happened neurologically and psychologically, work through it at a pace that’s honest, and rebuild confidence that is real rather than forced.
Plateau and stagnation You’ve been flying at the same level for years. You’re not sure if the block is technical, mental, motivational, or just a lack of structure. Usually it’s a combination. An outside perspective helps.
Wing upgrade and skill transition Moving to a more demanding glider, or stepping into a new style of flying. Remote coaching helps you prepare properly and manage the transition without skipping steps.
HOW IT WORKS
We start with a free 20-30 minute call. No commitment, no sales pitch. I want to understand what you’re working on and whether I’m the right person to help. If we’re a good fit, we agree on a format and start from there.
Single sessions (50-90 minutes) are well suited to a specific, well-defined problem: a particular fear trigger, a pre-race mental block, a decision about wing progression, a kit question before a vol-biv trip. One session can open a significant door if the question is clear.
Structured programs produce deeper and more lasting change. A 4 to 16-week program gives enough time to do the real work: understand the root of what’s happening, build and practice the right tools, and integrate them into actual flying. The work compounds in a way that single sessions cannot replicate.
The format is flexible: video calls, between-session tasks and practices, flying and ground handling assignments where relevant, written reflections, reading, and whatever else is genuinely useful for your situation. Some pilots check in weekly. Others need less frequent contact with more autonomous work between sessions. We find what fits you.
TOOL AND METHODS
The approach draws on sport psychology, ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), nervous system regulation and somatic awareness, visualization and mental rehearsal, mindfulness and attention training, goal setting frameworks, and physical training guidance where relevant. Not as a technique menu, but woven together around your specific situation and what the evidence suggests will actually help.
I also have a background in physics and sport science, and have spent 15 years doing the thing I coach. Both of those inform how I work.
What pilots say?
Sam’s story
Sam is a busy professional with a family, limited flying time, and a lifelong fear of heights. When we started working together, he was getting anxiety at 200m above takeoff and had to come down every time. He wanted to fly properly, but his nervous system had other ideas.
The work we did was built specifically around his constraints. No hour-long daily practices, nor demanding homework. A few minutes of precisely chosen techniques each morning, consistent and deliberate. We addressed the fear response directly, worked on his relationship with height and exposure, and built a toolkit that fit inside his full life.
Two months later, Sam was flying comfortably at 800m above takeoff. Not white-knuckling it, but truly enjoying it.
X’s story
Years of competing, instructing and guiding. Then came accidents, witnessed ones, and their own. What follows for many pilots in that situation is a fear response that quietly takes hold. For X, it showed up as anxiety arriving earlier and earlier in flight, creeping forward with each season, eroding something they had built their life around.
This is one of the most common and least talked-about patterns in experienced pilots. The nervous system learns from what it sees and lives through. That learning doesn’t care about your logbook hours or your qualifications.
We worked through a structured 12-week program: understanding the fear response, building regulation tools, and integrating them under real flying conditions. Deliberate, layered, sometimes difficult and emotional work, no shortcuts, no bypassing.
The goal we set together was a specific committing triangle flight which felt “impossible” for X, they had tried before but never completed it. Something concrete and ambitious to aim at. When we started, even thinking about this flight triggered anxiety and doubts, so completing it required getting back to making bold decisions in the air without second-guessing every one, because the skills were always there. The work was about trusting them again.
MENTAL PERFORMANCE AS PART OF IN-PERSON COACHING
If you come to fly with me in the Alps, Himalayas, or New Zealand, the mental side of flying is already part of the program. It’s not a separate module or an add-on. It runs through every session, adapted to what each pilot is working through in real time.
Remote coaching is for pilots who want to do this work on its own terms, without needing to travel.
IS THIS FOR YOU?
If you’re not sure, get in touch. Describe what you’re working on and we’ll figure out together whether and how I can help. The first conversation is free.