Helping Sports Kids Control Expectations If you’ve done a great job instilling in your sports kids a sense of right and wrong, they may have problems with a coach who appears to pick favorites. “Often, kids and parents alike will have perceived fairness issues, which can really take a toll … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Is Your Young Athlete a Perfectionist? A young athlete asks: “I’m 14 years old and have been playing tennis since I was 5. But 2 years ago I started to go to an academy. And at the same time I started to play tournaments. One of my coaches calls me … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Strategies to Help Sports Kids Overcome Failure Fear of failure affects sports children in all types of sports, but can be especially challenging in baseball, says Nova Newcomer, executive director, Friends of Baseball, in Portland, Oregon. “The tough challenge with baseball is it’s a failure-based sport,” says Newcomer, whose organization … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How Parents Can Help Sports Kids Stay Safe It’s hard to read the stories about members of the USA Gymnastics Team being harassed and abused by the team’s doctor. And it’s easy to worry about such dangers. Kids who are bullied, abused or harassed as sports kids can suffer throughout … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Identifying Focus Issues in Young Athletes A sports parent writes: “My child gets fouled a lot, when the referee fails to make a call, or when it builds through a game, he sometimes loses control. This is usually anger boiling over. Also, when an opposing player talks to him (taunts) … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Helping Sports Kids Overcome the Fear of Making Mistakes A sports parent asks: “My daughter is 13 years old and is currently playing basketball. She is very athletic and has natural abilities but just doesn’t know it or use it. Her confidence level is not there. She gets in a … Read Sport Psychology Tip