Confidence in young athletes articles and tips for sports parents, young athletes, and youth coaches to improve mental performance and consistency.
Instilling Confidence in Young Athletes Why is confidence so important in youth sports? Because it’s a cure-all. It’s that simple. When kids feel confident, they don’t get scared. They don’t get worried or tense. They believe their skills are just as good as their competitors’. Confident athletes recover easily from … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Motivating And Communicating With Young Athletes Mari, a sports mom of two successful kayakers, aged 13 and 14, says she’s her kids’ sports psychologist, personal trainer, nutritionist and much more. She contacted us to ask: Is she too over-involved in her kids’ sports life? After speaking with Mari, we concluded that … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Parental Pressure on Sports Kids Sports parents, did it ever occur to you that spending too much time watching your kids practice their sport makes it hard for them to take risks and grow as athletes? Huh? You might ask. What’s the link between watching them practice and ensuring they … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Building Confidence in Young Athletes How can parents and coaches fill a young athlete’s “emotional tank?” Coaches need to praise kids five times before they provide one piece of constructive criticism, says David Jacobson, a spokesman for the Positive Coaching Alliance, based at Stanford University. “We liken a child’s emotional … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Helping Sports Kids With Confidence We often see kids who excel in practice, but freeze up during games. This can be frustrating and confusing for parents and coaches. What’s going on in the young athlete’s mind and what can sports parents and coaches do about it? First, sports parents and … Read Sport Psychology Tip