Youth sport coaching articles and tips for coaches and parents to develop confidence and a growth mindset in young athletes.
Are Losses Devastating or Motivating for Young Athletes? Summary: A loss can be either devastating or motivating, and the difference comes down to how an athlete chooses to respond to it. Some kids let one defeat convince them they aren’t good enough. Others use that same defeat to sharpen their … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Growth Mindset for Young Athletes Rather than focusing on instilling fear to motivate athletes, parents need to create a safe training environment for them, says Pomai Miyata, MGCP, and sports performance consultant and founder of ICE Mental Game. Fear-based training was common with old-school coaches and is often depicted in … Read Sport Psychology Tip
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 … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Strategies For Building Confidence in Young Athletes There’s a reason Mark Lawton, longtime coach and teacher, takes his team to the championship level… He focuses on building a team culture that boosts kids’ confidence. When we spoke to him recently, he gave us some quick tips for both parents and … 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
How to Help Young Athletes Build Confidence Table of Contents Toggle How to Help Young Athletes Build Confidence Related Kids Sports Psychology Articles: The Confident Sports Kid In this sports psychology video, Dr. Cohn helps a parent whose athlete is struggling to compete when he is not the best on … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Setting Team Goals as a Parent-Coach A sports parent asks: “As a parent and a coach, how should I handle performing both duties simultaneously to help all the kids as much as possible?” Being a coach and parent can breed many issues that you need to be aware of from … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Coaches & Friends, Not Parents, Pressure Sports Kids The number of kids playing team sports is dropping quickly… To understand the factors behind this drop off, Yellowbrick Treatment Program surveyed 1,000 Americans about pressure in youth sports, says Matt Zajechowski, senior content strategist for Yellowbrick. Those surveyed were people who … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How Coaches Influence Parents And Athletes A coach asks: “How does a coach influence the parents and players to be committed to a process that requires investment in effort, time and money before results are ‘seen’?” Good question… In our fast-paced lives, kids and parents often expect results right away … Read Sport Psychology Tip
As the fall sports season starts to wind up, be sure to prepare your sports kids for potential bullying from other athletes and coaches. Sadly, there’s an epidemic of bullying in sports right now. The worst part of it: Children are reluctant to tell their parents they’re being bullied. All … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Interviewing A New Coach As the summer winds down and you’re preparing for fall, it’s critical to ensure your kids have a coach whose style and philosophy builds their confidence. Whether your young athletes are already on a team or will be with a coach for the first time, it’s … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Coaches: Building Trust in Kids Building trust in kids is critical for coaches. If coaches establish a close, trusting relationship with their players, the players are more likely to feel confident, supported, and open—all keys to learning and transferring sports skills to life. In an inspiring interview with Thom Schauerman, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Girls in Youth Sports Too often, coaches treat female athletes differently than male athletes. Coaches tell females to act more like men. But, truth is, girls and women don’t approach sports in the same way men approach sports, says Joan Steidinger, author of “Sisterhood in Sports: How Female Athletes Collaborate … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Coaches Who Instill Fun in Youth Sports Lisa here from Kids’ Sports Psychology to tell you about how my 6-year-old’s first soccer practice went- and why I hope your kids have similar experiences. I’m here to report the practice went very well. I’m thrilled with my son’s coaches this year. … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Being Playful in Youth Sports Being playful in sports–finding ways to laugh and joke around during practice–isn’t just for fun. It actually helps kids improve faster in sports. That’s the word from Gary Avischious, founder and head coach of coachingschool.org. Avischious learned about the science of play at the National … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Mental Training Benefits For Kids Here’s one former sports kid who has lots of good things to say about the benefits of mental training: “Dr. Patrick Cohn, I am so happy to see you exposing the true potential and impact of mental training with children. As a gymnast, I used … Read Sport Psychology Tip