Here’s one former sports kid who has lots of good things to say about the benefits of mental training.
“Dr. Patrick Cohn, I am so happy to see you exposing the true potential and impact of mental training with children. As a gymnast, I used mental training techniques day in and day out- and I still use them daily as an adult – peak performance is important for living. Thank you!”
The truth is, most parents, youth coaches, and sports kids don’t understand why mental training is so critical to enjoying and benefiting from youth sports.
A number of myths prevent adults and young athletes from truly understanding sports psychology the way this former gymnast understands it.
Here are just a few of the myths and our response to them:
1. “I’m already mentally tough,” kids say.
Sure, they may be mentally tough in some areas, but we guarantee that they could toughen up other aspects of their game! For example, they might excel in practice, but freeze up during games.
Even if they’re top performers, they might get nervous when their friends watch their games. Or they might dwell on losses in ways that hurt their performance.
2. “I’m playing well now. I don’t want to hurt my momentum,” young athletes say.
Guess what? If these kids could learn how to identify the thoughts and feelings that are feeding their success, they’d learn how to harness these thoughts and feelings at a later date—when they’re not on the top of their game.
That’s just one of the lessons they’ll learn if they embrace mental training.
Kids also say they don’t need mental training because their coaches don’t value sports psychology, and because the key to success is hard work.
Again, they’re limiting themselves with these ideas!
If you’d like to learn more about how to help your young athletes benefit from mental training and make the most of their sports experience, check out:
Kids’ Sports Psychology – Mental Training For Young Athletes
First of all, exclusive members will gain access to an ebook, “Helping Young Athletes Embrace Mental Training.”
Exclusive members also gain access to loads of other ebooks, articles, videos, audios, and Q-and-As designed to help parents improve their sports parenting skills and ensure sports kids make the most of their physical talent.
At Kids’ Sports Psychology, you can learn about how to deal with sports kids’:
- fear of failure
- worries about what others think
- perfectionism that’s they’re worst enemy
- bullying in sports
…and much more!
What are folks saying about our resources? This week, we’ll simply repeat what you already read above:
“I am so happy to see you exposing the true potential and impact of mental training with children. Thank you!”
–A former gymnast
Sincerely,
Lisa Cohn and Patrick Cohn, Ph.D.
P.S. Having troubles convincing your kids that they could really benefit from mental training? Exclusive members can download our “Help Young Athletes Embrace Mental Training” e-book here:
http://www.kidssportspsychology.com/members/372.cfm
