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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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

Tips for Helping Sports Kids Focus on What’s Important

Finding Flow in Sports Brooks Elms, a youth sports coach and former Division 3 player for NYU, says that as a young athlete, he was very anxious and too focused on winning. He brings that background to his coaching, helping kids cope with butterflies and focus on … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Tips for Helping Sports Kids Focus on What’s Important

What to Do or Say After Your Athletes Compete?

What to Say on the Car Ride Home After the Game This week, we are following up on a video we shared last week about "The Car Ride Home". We provide tips on how parents can help kids feel confident after the game… Sports parents often unwittingly make the mistake of … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about What to Do or Say After Your Athletes Compete?

Are Parents Too Soft on Sports Kids?

A viral video, “The Ride Home,” by True Sport Pur, generated many interesting comments from college and professional athletes. The video shows--on the car ride home--a dad scolding his child for not working hard enough, and the young boy doesn’t respond, but looks very … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Are Parents Too Soft on Sports Kids?

Athletes Who Do Well in Practice, But Struggle During Games

Kids Who Fail to Perform Well in Competition A sports grandparent says, “I have a 10-year-old grandson who plays little league baseball. When he started playing at 8 years old he was very aggressive and very good at making contact with the baseball. The last two … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about Athletes Who Do Well in Practice, But Struggle During Games

What Do Parents of Successful Athletes Do Right?

How to be a Successful Sports Parent A parent asks us how parents of successful athletes have been involved in their athletes’ sports experience. The most well-known example is Tiger Woods’ father. Earl Woods started teaching Tiger how to play golf before the age of … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about What Do Parents of Successful Athletes Do Right?

How Young Athlete Build Ultimate Self-Confidence

Athletes who Lose Confidence with Constructive Criticism "I'm a female soccer player. I'm often challenged mentally when playing and this usually happens at training sessions, my teammate would tell me how I can't do a certain thing eg. Properly marking my … [Read Youth Sports Psychology Tip...] about How Young Athlete Build Ultimate Self-Confidence

Youth Sports Psychology

Boost Young Athletes’ Confidence in Sports and Life!

Recent Youth Sports Psychology Articles