Youth sports psychology articles and strategies for sports parents of young athletes to improve mental game and performance.
How to Help Kids Through Stress and High Expectations Ryan Colby, a mental health specialist for athletes, has seen a big jump in the number of kids experiencing anxiety and depression during the pandemic—and that includes sports kids who were already feeling pressure. Kids are also struggling with identity issues … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Teach Athletes Strategies to Control Their Thinking Are your sports kids anxious during stressful moments while they’re competing? Are they generally anxious as athletes? Why do so many athletes feel anxious during competitions? Two issues contribute to anxiety in sports. First, young athletes label themselves as anxious. When this happens, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Encouraging Young Athletes to Learn “Superpowers” in Sports Young athletes can learn a number of “superpowers” by participating in sports–traits such as courage, resilience and character. That’s the message from Beth Brown, an educator with a Ph.D. in sports psychology and the author of the children’s book series, “Adventures with … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How Emotions Affect Young Athletes Athletes can pick up on others’ feelings–often negative–in youth sports. In fact, feelings can snowball from one player to another, either lifting the team up emotionally or dragging it down. That’s the message from Jess Woods, Ph.D, a sport and performance consultant, sports parent and … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Using Mindset to Get to The Next Level Some young atheltes define themselves by their limitations, saying “I’m shorter than most basketball players,” “I’m not as fast as other players on the soccer field,” or “I don’t have enough speed on my fastball to play college baseball.” When young athletes … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Improve Young Athletes Mental Toughness Resilience is an important trait for all athletes in sports. It helps them bounce back after losses, injuries and other types of adversity, says psychologist and former sports mom Kathryn Den Houter, author of “Resilience: A Workbook: Powering Through Adversity to Find Happiness.” To help … Read Sport Psychology Tip