How Skipping Breakfast Doesn’t Help Performance This can lead to anxiety and lower performance in sports, said Steph Magill, a registered dietitian who specializes in sports nutrition and is a sports parent to two teens. She recently was a guest on our Ultimate Sports Parent podcast. Anxiety and lower performance … Read Sport Psychology Tip
A Slump or Losing Streak Starts as Nothing Unusual Every athlete and team occasionally experiences bad games or unproductive performances. So, what turns a few bad games into a performance rut? What commonalities trap a player or team in a cycle of under performance? If your sports kids can identify … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Deal With Distractions Sports kids struggle with a number of distractions. They include: These examples are external distractions. While external distractions are bothersome, they are not the most formidable challenge for athletes. Internal distractions are much more destructive and difficult to manage, particularly the “what if” trap. ‘What … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Do Your Young Athletes Focus Too Much on Mistakes? Do they criticize their performance instead of focusing on learning from their mistakes? And do they ignore what they did well? If so, your sports kids are likely perfectionists. They tend to be hard on themselves after they compete, which undermines … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Emotional Outbursts Lead to a Loss of Focus? You can’t take emotions out of the game. By nature, we are emotional beings. However, when young athletes don’t reel in their emotions, they will intensify, and their performance will decline rapidly. For example, Mary S. is a high school basketball player. … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Hypnotherapy Can Relieve Stress Lark Ericson, a certified hypnotherapist and life coach, works with a number of sports kids, and begins by explaining to them how hypnotherapy can help, she said during an interview with our Ultimate Sports Parent podcast. For kids who might be resistant to the idea, she … Read Sport Psychology Tip