Fear of Failure in Sports Kids
Courtney Johnson, a former silver Olympic medalist who is now a sports parent, says parents can predict what kind of mental game issues their kids will experience in sports-if they simply pay attention.
And they need to pay attention, she says. Mental toughness is critical in sports, as kids start getting involved at younger and younger ages.
“As parents, you have to know your children and their strengths. If they have problems in one area of their lives, you’ll see it in sports.”
For example, Johnson has children who are perfectionists, who fear failure, and who compare themselves to others-all confidence busters in sports!
She sees these qualities in their everyday lives.
As a former top-level athlete who has had mental-toughness training, she deals with many of these issues by helping her kids adjust their goals.
For example, her oldest experiences fear of failure. He has a hard time applying himself. “If he can’t get it right the first time, he will rather not try than fail. We have to constantly adjust his goals.”
Her son needs to work on things he doesn’t like to do. So Johnson gives him one small goal to work on, and has him focus on just that goal.
The aim is to have him improve in that area, experience success, and realize the work was worth it. That builds his confidence.
To listen to the first half of this interview, use the player below:
At Kids’ Sports Psychology, you’ll also find loads of articles, e-books, interviews, videos and other resources that will help you boost your kids’ confidence in sports and improve their performance.
During our interview, we discovered that Johnson is a big fan of our resources. Here’s what she had to say:
“I love your website. I love everything I’ve gotten on it. Mental toughness is really important in sports. As kids get younger and younger and more involved in sports, they need tactics for dealing with all these pressures.”
Check out Kids’ Sports Psycholgoy today!
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- Helping Young Athletes Kick Perfectionism and Fear of Failure
- Fear of Failure and Youth Sports
- How To Help Young Athletes With Fear of Failure
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