“I have a curiosity and passion for understanding and helping people. I love to teach others and so teaching and coaching – be it mental performance coaching or athletic coaching – have given me an outlet to do that with people of all ages.”
Zachary Hojnacki, MS, Ph.D., is a mental performance consultant who specializes in incorporating mindfulness and anxiety management strategies into high performance athletic environments. Zac has over five years of private mental performance coaching experience working with individual athletes and teams, as well as experience on various boards of directors, currently serving as the Acting Coaches Representative for Metropolitan Swimming in New York. He is an adjunct professor of psychology at Iona University, and currently teaches child and adolescent psychology.
As a former Division I athlete and competitive swim coach, Zac has extensive experience guiding athletes in the competitive sports space, totaling over 10 years of experience. He currently serves as Head Coach of the BGNW Marlins and was named the 2023 Metropolitan Swimming Senior Coach of the Year. As a former athlete himself, Zac is also very passionate about helping athletes overcome performance anxiety. He had his own share of setbacks throughout his career that have driven him to better understand the role stress plays in athletic performance so he can guide athletes to not only improve their competitive outcomes, but also experience more joy when playing their sport.
Zac believes in a highly personalized approach to care, and assumes every client enters with unique circumstances that need to be unpacked and understood to best support their needs. He also thinks clients should always have a voice in their care, as they know themselves better than anyone. His approach with clients is collaborative and supportive so they can work together to reach their individual goals.
He is dedicated to living a healthy and active lifestyle himself, and mental performance coaching allows him to share his knowledge of mental and physical health and wellness so others can enjoy the same benefits of healthy living that he does. Outside of work, Zac is an avid rock climber, triathlete, weightlifter, and yogi, and he enjoys using movement as a way to relieve stress.
Publications:
Mindfulness and Anxiety as Predictors of Swimming Performance Under Pressure
3 not-so-quick tips to improve your mental game
What happened to racing?
