How to Help Your Kids Stop Over Analyzing Their Performance A sports parent asks: “How do I reduce my child’s over-analysis of possible difficult in-game situations?” Concentrating on in-game mistakes is a common issue for sports kids, and hurts kids’ confidence. Do your sports children focus on the small details, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
What Mental Game Challenges Do Young Athlete Have? A sports parent wrote in and said: “My 14-year-old is a basketball player and an excellent shooter under most circumstances, but recently he has been missing free throws and shots in the fourth quarter. After the games, he seems dejected and sad, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Avoiding Comparisons to Boost Confidence in Young Athletes As sports parents, we all strive to be positive and happy role models for our children. Unfortunately, the stresses of sports can bring out the negative in us if we don’t try to keep an actively positive mind. The trap is that … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Every day, we receive letters from parents like you who want their children and teens to excel in sports. However, these parents can see fear, doubt, and frustration on the faces of their kids who struggle with the “inner” game of sports. But these parents have no idea how to … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Reasons for Rising Dropout Rates in Sports Recent studies have shown a 14% drop off in soccer participation between the ages of 6-12, says Benjamin Dudley, executive director, Positive Coaching Aliance (PCA), Portland. We also see these kinds of numbers in baseball, football, and basketball all around the country. And … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Nearly every athlete struggles with some form of perfectionism or fear of failure. Kids who look like stars in practice will often choke up or under perform during games or competition. Other athletes expect too much of themselves—then get frustrated when they don’t meet their high expectations. Or they’re extremely … Read Sport Psychology Tip