Embracing a Coaching Philosophy In a recent survey by Youth Football USA, 69 percent of respondents said that their main concern was the quality of youth coaches, says Joe Bouffard, active director of Youth Football USA. The survey respondents had good reason to be concerned, he says. But first an … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Here’s a really tough question for sports parents…. If a youth sports coach yells at his young athletes a lot, but his teams always win AND his team members generally seem happy, is he a good coach or a bad coach? That’s a question recently posed in a blog that’s … Read Sport Psychology Tip
In a recent survey of more than 700 sports parents and youth coaches, 40% of respondents told us that their kids struggle with doubts and negative thoughts about their performance. In addition, 70% of sports parents reported that their biggest challenge is understanding how to help their kids get the most out of their talents without pressuring their sports kids.
Communicating With Young Athletes We recently checked in with sports dad Michael Wood–chief fitness officer at Koko Fitness Inc.– about his daughter’s making her high school basketball team as a 6th grader. This was a double-edged sword for Wood… On the one hand, he was happy she had the opportunity … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Rewarding Positive Behavior in Youth Sports Just how important is giving positive feedback to young athletes? For our Ultimate Sports Parent Radio show, we recently checked in with baseball coach Rob Gelphman about this topic. He says giving kids compliments, especially for making small achievements, like fielding a ground ball, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Identifying Perfectionism in Young Athletes Lisa Cohn here from The Ultimate Sports Parent. I would like to share some quick tips about identifying perfectionism and fear of failure in young athletes. This is a really hot topic in youth sports. Several parents and coaches have shared their stories about young … Read Sport Psychology Tip