Youth sports psychology articles and strategies for sports parents of young athletes to improve mental game and performance.
Understanding Fight, Flight and Freeze Learning about the nervous system can help parents and young athletes better understand some of the feelings they experience, especially before games and competitions. “Our nervous system’s job is to protect us. Think about it as an early warning system, like an alarm system,” said … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Help Athletes Welcome Friendly Competition Young athletes can reap many benefits from embracing friendly competition. Often, kids shy away from competing with their teammates. They feel as if they’re not as talented as their teammates or are afraid of being embarrassed in front of them. For example, a basketball player … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Training Young Athletes to take their Sports Seriously Does Focusing Too Much on Fun Lead to Sports Kids Dropping Out? Often, parents focus too much on ensuring their kids are having fun in youth sports, which results in kids dropping out if the experience isn’t fun or entertaining, says Jonathan … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Helping Girls in Sports Feel Confident Body image worries. Fears of excelling and fears of being chosen to lead. These issues undermine girls’ experiences in sports. Girls and young women not only worry about how they look; they’re concerned that other girls will be angry with them for doing well … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Sports Experience Belongs to Young Athletes The main message from Amy Oliphant, a former Division 1 player, mom to four young athletes and youth coach: Sports should be the kids’ journey. The founder of Transcend Mental Training told us during an Ultimate Sports Parent podcast interview that she never pushes … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How To Trust In Your Training If you trust the training, the training will kick in, says Mark Jeffery, a former army officer and Army Tennis Champion in the U.K. He uses strategies he learned in the army to teach athletes how to trust in all that they’ve learned in … Read Sport Psychology Tip