How Aryna Sabalenka Built the Mindset of a Grand Slam Champion | Jason Stacy

Aryna Sabalenka’s fitness and mental coach, Jason Stacy, joins us to break down the physical and mental transformation behind her rise to becoming a multiple-time Grand Slam champion.

Jason explains why he doesn’t like the word “confidence,” how they focus instead on building belief, and why vulnerability, trust and awareness of the body, mind and emotions have become such important parts of Sabalenka’s success.

We also dive into their approach to fitness, recovery, communication, handling pressure and what it actually takes to build one of the best athletes in tennis.

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🎾 Welcome to The Changeover Podcast 🎾
Ever wondered what life is really like as a professional tennis player? On The Changeover, hosts Jody Maginley and Justin Roberts take you behind the scenes of the tour—sharing insights on training, weekly progress, the grind of climbing the rankings, and conversations with players living it every day.

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🎶 Intro audio by DJ Quest

00:00 Intro
00:18 How to spot a fitness coach
02:45 From homelessness to pro tennis
07:43 Meeting Dmitry Tursunov
09:09 First impressions of Sabalenka
10:42 Translating Martial Arts control to tennis
14:43 Listening to your body, gut and brain
18:49 Communication within the coaching team
22:06 Sabalenka’s strong personality
23:05 Building trust with a player
25:42 Justin’s use of IM8
27:00 Introducing Breath control to Aryna’s workouts
29:55 Noticing how your body feels
36:04 Tap into anger or play your own game?
40:40 Coping with increased expectation
43:49 Going from hunter to hunted
47:53 Coping physically with media commitments
50:38 Is neutral thinking better than positive thinking?
54:02 The power of self-belief over confidence
58:15 The Pressure Code