Youth sports psychology articles and strategies for sports parents of young athletes to improve mental game and performance.
How to Strengthen Young Athletes’ Confidence Do your young athletes start to doubt themselves and lose confidence when they are criticized or given feedback in sports? One soccer player puts it this way: “I’m often challenged mentally during practice if a teammate tells me how I can’t do a certain … 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
How to Help your Athlete have Self-Confidence A volleyball player wrote us recently: “Volleyball just started up again a few weeks ago and I was very excited. My coach told me I would probably play varsity by our first game, I got to go with to tournaments and team camps … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Concentration in Youth Sports When young athletes struggle with distractions, it can hurt their performance. When they can’t reach a state of flow, they make more mental errors. Kids lose concentration a lot and it’s part of playing sports. They often think too much about things such as their stats, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Handle the Pressure of Tryouts Trying out for a new team will rattle the nerves of many young athletes. They may make constant comparisons to other players or try to play perfectly to impress the coaches. The mental game and mindset is super important for having a successful … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Finding Flow in Sports Brooks Elms, a youth sports coach and former Division 3 player for NYU, says that as a young athlete, he was very anxious and too focused on winning. He brings that background to his coaching, helping kids cope with butterflies and focus on what’s most important. … Read Sport Psychology Tip