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 the best player to ever come out of Canada.” Some have said of high school junior quarterback Eli Brickhandler, “He’s the … [Read more...] 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 years ago. The teens were at dinner, all looking down at their phones. I said, ‘Put your phones down.. You are all here … [Read more...] 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 conveyed. When their coaches criticize young athletes, the kids may focus on only the negative part of the message, or miss the message … [Read more...] 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 tells me how I can’t do a certain thing, such as properly marking my opponent. I end up questioning my ability to do so, … [Read more...] 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 fulfilling the new coach’s expectations." He continues… "He puts so much pressure on me because if I mess up once, my … [Read more...] 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 camps and I played a lot! But at the team camp my confidence and ability went down. The team of older girls got mad at me and … [Read more...] 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 about things such as their stats, needing to score, or worrying about what others think, and thus they are not performing in … [Read more...] 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 a successful tryout… Your young athletes may arrive at the tryout and feel the pressure to perform better than the other … [Read more...] 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 what’s most important. In a recent interview, he described being a sports kid whose identity was wrapped up in being … [Read more...] 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 hurting their kids confidence after a game or competition. This often happens during the car ride home, or even before kids … [Read more...] about What to Do or Say After Your Athletes Compete?