How should sponsored athletes communicate with their sponsors to maintain good relationships?

Communication is critical and goes far beyond just asking for free products. Effective sponsor communication includes: sending regular sponsor updates with usable photos, sharing news about your results and championships, offering photos weekly that brands can use on their social media, expressing genuine appreciation and respect, asking if there's anything you can help with during downtime at events, and thinking outside the box to bring value to the brand. The worst approach is treating it as 'give me free stuff and I'll let you know when I need more free stuff' - this doesn't work well and damages relationships.