How Emotions Affect Young Athletes Athletes can pick up on others’ feelings–often negative–in youth sports. In fact, feelings can snowball from one player to another, either lifting the team up emotionally or dragging it down. That’s the message from Jess Woods, Ph.D, a sport and performance consultant, sports parent and … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Using Mindset to Get to The Next Level Some young atheltes define themselves by their limitations, saying “I’m shorter than most basketball players,” “I’m not as fast as other players on the soccer field,” or “I don’t have enough speed on my fastball to play college baseball.” When young athletes … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Improve Young Athletes Mental Toughness Resilience is an important trait for all athletes in sports. It helps them bounce back after losses, injuries and other types of adversity, says psychologist and former sports mom Kathryn Den Houter, author of “Resilience: A Workbook: Powering Through Adversity to Find Happiness.” To help … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Teach Sports Kids To Focus on What They Can Control Do your sports kids worry too much before and during competitions? When they worry, they’re often trying to control issues related to performance that are outside of their direct control. These issues include getting injured, being benched by a coach, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Confidently Play to Win Are your sports kids confident in their ability to close out games? Or do they get scared and play sloppily when their team is ahead? Whether your kids play soccer, football, hockey or participate in gymnastics, they need to have an aggressive mindset to … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Helping Kids’ Avoid Burnout in Sports Hernan Chousa is a former tennis pro and sports dad to a tennis player who is now playing at a Division 1 college. His son started playing early, and burnt out at age 15. He quit tennis for two years, then started over because … Read Sport Psychology Tip