The Fine Line Between Motivation And Pressure For Sports Parents A sports dad asks a thoughtful question: “My biggest struggle at the moment is truly finding out if my son wants to train and practice to please me 'cause I'm his dad, or because he really wants to improve his skills for himself. There are days when I see him practicing on his own, but how do I really know?” It’s possible the … [Read more...]
How To Support Your Athlete’s Coach
How Your Athletes Benefit When You Support Their Coach A parent asks a very thoughtful question: “What are the coaches thinking and how do I access this information, not to aide my child, but to become a better parent/coach/cheerleader/technician?” Truth is, if you want to understand what your coaches are thinking and hope to become a better parent/coach/cheerleader/technician, you are going … [Read more...]
How Parents Can Help Athletes Stick with Sports
How Parents Can Keep Kids in Sports A parent asks, “How do you encourage participation during the drop out years of adolescence?” Good question... As we have mentioned in the past, more than half of all young athletes drop out of sports by the age of 13. How can parents help their kids stay in sports and not drop out? You can do this by focusing as much as possible on the benefits of sports: … [Read more...]
How Sports Moms Help Dads Build Kids’ Confidence
The Difference Between Moms and Dads as Sports Parents In the 1960s, youth football coach R. “Bob” Benjamin Jordan was upset by the way the dads behaved on the sidelines. “Dads had strong opinions that were different from the coaches,” he recalls. They were vocal and critical of the coaches. “I devised a plan to win the dads over through the moms. The moms were the glue that held the team … [Read more...]
Your Athletes’ Mental Preparation Prior to Competition
Help Your Athletes Get Mentally Prepared Do your athletes know exactly how to mentally prepare for competition - so they can perform their best? We think this is a super important area for young athletes and we'd love your feedback about your kids' pregame mindset... Do your athletes: Get tight or anxious before they compete? Lack confidence before they start? Worry about losing … [Read more...]
Identifying Confidence Challenges in Young Athletes
Confidence Challenges For Sports Kids The fall season is underway, so you likely are beginning to get a feel for how confident your athletes are feeling in their sport. If you’re uncertain about whether they’re feeling confident, here are a few things to think about. If you can identify what busts kids’ confidence in sports, you’re on your way to boosting their confidence and … [Read more...]
7 Tips For Sports Parents To Help Athletes Stay Composed
Helping Young Athletes With Composure Many young athletes have a difficult time staying composed after making a mistake during competition. Check out the infographic below to help your athlete stay composed: Please share the info graphic with other parents and coaches who you think would appreciate it. The graphic below will help you teach your athlete how to let go of mistakes and stay … [Read more...]
How Your Pregame Talk Can Turn Into Pressure For Athletes
High Expectations in Youth Sports Parents, it’s easy to hurt your sports kids’ confidence before a game by saying or doing things that you think will help your athletes. You may think that you’re boosting kids’ confidence, but in reality, you might cause them to feel more expectations. For example, if you say, “Be sure to score three goals,” it can make kids feel more expectations. It’s … [Read more...]
The Dangers of Over-Coaching Your Child Before Games
Over-Coaching Young Athletes Many parents we talk to are guilty of this mental game no-no before their athletes enter competition... Over-coaching your young athletes. When you over-coach kids just before a game, you fill their heads with information they really don’t need at that moment. Just before a game, kids are already thinking too much all on their own. They need to trust what they’ve … [Read more...]
Don’t Make This Mistake I Made With My Athlete…
What Sport Parents Should Avoid Lisa Cohn here from KidsSportsPsychology.com. I admit it. I said and did all the wrong things with my first young athlete, especially before a game. Long before we got in the car, I’d start talking about the last game. I’d talk about how big the players were, how the coaches yelled, or about my son’s mistakes. All huge sports parent and mental game … [Read more...]