Richard Burke, who has been coaching baseball, football and basketball for the last 12 years, recently told us how he used our Ultimate Sports Parent program to help a perfectionist pitcher. “I had a 10-year-old pitcher playing on an 11-year-old travel team. He was doing really well, but once I got to know him I found out he was very much a perfectionist,” Burke said. “From time to … [Read more...]
How Young Athletes Find Flow in Sports
Flow and Peak Performance in Sports For young athletes, finding flow is critical for their enjoyment and peak performance in sports… When kids experience being “in the zone,” they are focused, confident, and fearless. Athletes in a flow state perform on “autopilot,” feeling as though performance is almost effortless. In fact, this focused state of concentration or “total focus” … [Read more...]
How to Avoid Comparison Trap for Sports Parents
Comparisons Hurt Athletes’ Confidence When we surveyed parents, we found that 23% said that kids judge how their teammates are performing instead of focusing on their own play. Focusing on others’ play will distract your young athletes from their own game, and can become a major confidence killer. In the survey, parents said that kids compare themselves when they have friends who are … [Read more...]
Signs of Performance Anxiety in Young Athletes
How to Help Young Athletes Enjoy Sports Many athletes limit their performance due to anxiety, tension, worry, and fear. Sports are supposed to be fun, not stressful for your athletes, right? Parents and coaches, we can help you identify when sports kids are suffering from anxiety--and determine how to help them. First of all, how do you recognize your kids suffer from anxiety that … [Read more...]
Important Dos and Don’ts for Sports Parents Before Games
How to Help Athletes be Relaxed before a Game Parents want to know what to tell their athletes before a game that will help them perform well and feel less pressure… For example, parents say: *Do you coach your kids on what to do? *Do you let them mentally prepare on their own? *Do you wait for them to talk about the game before saying anything? Just before a game, you want to … [Read more...]
When Kids Worry About Others Judging Them
How to Help Young Athletes Overcome Worry A sports parent wrote to us recently to say… "My son is a top player but cannot perform any longer in matches when there is a crowd watching. He is 17, however he is as tight as a drum when playing matches now." "He still wins but says he only gets 20% of his ability to come through because he’s so tight. He loses to better players because of … [Read more...]
Why Young Athletes Avoid Mental Training
Athletes' Acceptance of Mental Training Often, young athletes don’t understand the benefits of mental game training. They say they’re already mentally strong. Or they’re afraid that they’ll have to sit on a couch and reveal their innermost vulnerabilities. Mostly, they don’t understand what mental game training is--or its benefits. To help sports kids embrace the benefits, let them hear … [Read more...]
The Expectations Trap for Perfectionists
Young Athletes who are Perfectionist "I have a son, age 15. He is skilled in many sports at school. Rugby, Hockey, XC running and Athletics (sprint and long jump where he holds the school record in both these)." "When he makes a mistake he can ‘lose’ it and can be seen to ‘give in’. In team sport it could be that he thinks he didn’t make that tackle and should have, his head can go down and … [Read more...]
Parents: Are Your Athletes Having Fun?
How to Keep Athletes in the Game A sports parent asks: “My son is a HS freshman with huge potential in football but is not wanting to pursue it, he says he does not feel ‘passionate’ about it, even after being told by a few retired coaches and refs that he could definitely get a scholarship. He's saying that he doesn't want to play football now and I think he is wasting huge potential. I … [Read more...]
Athletes who Get Benched for Mistakes
Athletes who Fear Mistakes A young athlete writes, “Sometimes I feel as if I don’t want to keep playing club volleyball and as a person who truly LOVES volleyball I have never ever met a team and coach who puts me down when I make a mistake rather than get me backup and help me improve. Every time I make a mistake my (current) coach tends to take me out of the game and let the other girls play and … [Read more...]
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