Youth sports psychology articles and strategies for sports parents of young athletes to improve mental game and performance.
Do Your Sports Kids Not Get Enough Playing Time? Successful athletes often make sacrifices. Yet, one of the most challenging sacrifices for some athletes is accepting their role on the team. Players’ roles can frequently change due to injuries, roster shake-ups, changes in playing style, coach preferences, or a new … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Former Mets Catcher’s Take on How to Build Confidence For baseball players, making mistakes is the biggest challenge, says Josh Thole, former catcher for the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. Working with the makers of a new app, Players Way, he’s on a mission to help keep youth … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Listing Goals You Want to Achieve A study by the Aspen Institute and Utah State University–commissioned by TeamSnap–revealed what parents want most from youth sports and kids’ ability to meet those goals. Team Snap’s survey showed that parents, most of all, want kids to have fun, said Peter Frintzilas, CEO … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Providing Your Young Athletes Control With the start of a new season, it provides a much-needed opportunity to enhance youth sports in a way that provides kids with more fun and human connection, and ultimately, more confidence. That’s the word from Meredith Whitley, PhD, associate professor in Adelphi’s School of … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Helping Kids Look at Pressure as an Opportunity What causes choking? Why do some young athletes choke while other athletes rise to the occasion? Most young athletes don’t like to hear the word “choking,” let alone admit that they choke. Yet, some athletes believe they “always choke” when the pressure … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Turning Feeling into Goals When Breanne Smedley was a college volleyball player, her roommate earned the role of starter in Smedley’s position. Smedley, who is now a certified female athlete Confidence Coach, at first felt as if her friend shouldn’t have gotten the position. “I started going down these holes … Read Sport Psychology Tip