Help Athletes Welcome Friendly Competition Young athletes can reap many benefits from embracing friendly competition. Often, kids shy away from competing with their teammates. They feel as if they’re not as talented as their teammates or are afraid of being embarrassed in front of them. For example, a basketball player … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Mental Toughness vs. Mental Health During the 2020 Olympics, Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in the world, pulled out of some Olympic events after experiencing the “twisties.” She said her head was not in the right place… However, she returned to the Olympics, winning a Bronze medal on the … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Boost Young Athletes’ Communication and Cooperation Chasta Hamilton, author of “Trash The Trophies: How To Win Without Losing Your Soul,” was seeing red flags in her dance studio. The owner and artistic director of Stage Door Dance Productions thought that the often expensive “pay to play” dance scene was creating … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Keep Confidence Up, Even in a Pandemic When kids’ sports schedules are interrupted or stopped altogether–which is true for many young athletes right now, due to the pandemic–they can feel anxious. Injuries, illnesses, inclement weather, facility shutdowns and vacations are some of the other circumstances that can disrupt athletes’ training … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Be Mentally Prepared for Adversity Do your sports kids embrace unexpected challenges, seeing them as a way to discover new ways to keep moving forward? Or do these challenges dissuade them from reaching their athletic goals? Kids need to expect the unexpected. In fact, they should prepare for … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Strengthen Young Athletes’ Confidence Do your young athletes start to doubt themselves and lose confidence when they are criticized or given feedback in sports? One soccer player puts it this way: “I’m often challenged mentally during practice if a teammate tells me how I can’t do a certain … Read Sport Psychology Tip