Youth Sports Psychology Blog at The Ultimate Sports Parent

Welcome to The Ultimate Sports Parent blog at Youth Sports Psychology. Sports parents and coaches learn how to instill confidence and success in young athletes. Do your athletes struggle with doubt, anxiety, frustration or under performance?

Learn how mental training can help young athletes succeed. Here, you’ll learn proven mental game skills for sports and life! Browse our 100% FREE articles, videos, and podcasts:

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Why Adults Shouldn’t Heap Superstar Expectations on Sports Kids

Do Parents Pressure Kids to be Superstars? In the world of youth sports, we focus too much on “the next big thing”, creating high expectations. Eighth grade basketball player Elijah Fisher has been described by his coach at Grassroots Elite (Canada), “Elijah could be … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Why Adults Shouldn’t Heap Superstar Expectations on Sports Kids

Challenges for Athletes in the Age of Social Media

What is Social Media Doing to Athletes Today? Tricia Roos, Bishop Lynch High School’s head women’s volleyball coach, says that social media has changed how the members of her team focus and talk to each other. “For example, we were at the state competition a couple of … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Challenges for Athletes in the Age of Social Media

Help Your Athletes Benefit From Criticism by Coaches

How Athletes Can Deal with Coach Criticism It can be hard for your young athletes to take criticism productively from coaches. Kids often don’t interpret communication from coaches correctly because of the delivery or the emotion with which the feedback is … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Help Your Athletes Benefit From Criticism by Coaches

When Young Athletes Doubt Their Skills When Criticized

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 … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about When Young Athletes Doubt Their Skills When Criticized

When Athletes are ‘Frozen’ by Fear of Mistakes

Young Athletes Who Fear Coaches' Wrath A young athlete writes, “I have a new coach and before that, I was starting point guard and I was able to have confidence in myself when I played. But now I have none because I keep making mistakes due to the fact that I’m not … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about When Athletes are ‘Frozen’ by Fear of Mistakes

When Coaches or Teammates Hurt Kids’ Confidence

How to Help your Athlete have Self-Confidence A volleyball player wrote us recently: “Volleyball just started up again a few weeks ago and I was very excited. My coach told me I would probably play varsity by our first game, I got to go with to tournaments and team … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about When Coaches or Teammates Hurt Kids’ Confidence

Help Young Athletes Get into a Flow State

Concentration in Youth Sports When young athletes struggle with distractions, it can hurt their performance. When they can’t reach a state of flow, they make more mental errors. Kids lose concentration a lot and it's part of playing sports. They often think too much … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Help Young Athletes Get into a Flow State

Athletes Who Get Nervous During Tryouts

How to Handle the Pressure of Tryouts Trying out for a new team will rattle the nerves of many young athletes. They may make constant comparisons to other players or try to play perfectly to impress the coaches. The mental game and mindset is super important for having … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Athletes Who Get Nervous During Tryouts

Boost Young Athletes’ Confidence in Sports and Life!

Recent Youth Sports Psychology Articles