Former Essendon player Kaine Baldwin is set to launch a phone app focused on the mindset of footballers.
The 23-year-old spent three injury-interrupted seasons at the Bombers, playing eight games while studying a Bachelor of Neuroscience, and is hoping to provide aspiring and current AFL footballers with a resource he did not have.
In Play will be available for users from February, aiming to enhance players' confidence and execution on-field while reducing anxiety of performance.
Having worked for Cricket Victoria and currently facilitating mental skills sessions at Essendon, as well as breathing sessions at mindfulness and wellness centre The Breath Haus, he is using firsthand knowledge to inform his teachings, which are presented in a digestible manner for a cross-section of the footy community.
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“It's going to be an app that functions similarly to any other meditation-style app,” Baldwin told Zero Hanger.
“It's a library of audio content and really aims to help mainly younger athletes, and is also relevant to AFL clubs and elite players to help prepare them for the challenges they face mentally in a game.
“There's a lot (of content) around attention, practising confidence and trying to create separation between how one event can impact your mindset and your focus in the next event.
“It's pretty common with people having set shots, for example, you miss one, and then two and the third one feels grand and high pressure, even though it is the same exact process as the first two.
“The AFL is an open sport and really chaotic with 36 other guys out there that influence what happens, so you have to learn to be prepared for mistakes, the unexpected and things to go wrong, so it's important to build the skill of learning to come back to the next moment, opportunity or contest.”
Baldwin endured several setbacks throughout his time at the Bombers, opening his eyes to the difficulties that accompany competing at the highest level.
He conceptualised the idea in late 2024 and has dedicated significant time to the venture across the last six months, with support from former teammates Jordan Ridley and Andrew McGrath.
“I definitely, in particular games, and particularly at AFL level, really felt the anxiety and inability to move on from making one mistake or one error, which would leak into the rest of my entire game," he said.
“You turn so insular and nervous and you don't want to put a step wrong; you're really conservative, and everything becomes so tense and so tight.
“I remember that specifically in the Anzac Day game I played in 2022, so there's obviously that part, and I've obviously had a range of injuries over my career.
“It's a tool to help stay connected to what it's like to play.
“How are you actually going to train what it's like to be a key forward when you're on the sidelines?
“If you're injured, how can you stay in touch with the kind of movements, kind of feelings and the kind of scenarios that happen as a keyboard in the game?
"I would have loved this when I was playing: I have been a meditator for a number of years but there wasn't really anything exactly football specific."
The key forward is set to call VFL club Port Melbourne home for a second consecutive season, following a 2025 hampered by a foot injury.
