Youth sports psychology articles and tips for sports parents, young athletes, and youth coaches to improve mental performance and consistency.
At age 19, Cliff Meidl survived an electric shock that prompted doctors to say they should amputate his legs above the knee. But his mom did some research, and found Dr. Malcolm Lesavoy, a plastic surgeon and clinical professor of plastic surgery at UCLA School of Medicine. Lesavoy found a way … Read Sport Psychology Tip
The 3-Point Pre-game Plan for Sports Kids Creating pregame plans helps kids prepare well for games and often helps lift them to success–in sports and other areas of their lives. Jazlyn Pipkins, founder and owner of Jazletics LLC and a peak performance coach has developed a 3-part plan for the … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Visualization and deep breathing are powerful tools to help sports kids focus–and refocus. That’s the message from Dion von Moltke, a former professional race car driver and co-founder of Blayze, which provides one-on-one coaching for athletes. Visualization and deep breathing can help sports kids focus on what’s most important and … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Turn Negative Comments into Motivation What fuels your sports kids’ motivation? Wins, personal bests, rewards, awards and compliments are positive ways young athletes are motivated. When kids’ coaches, teammates or parents believe in kids, they will feel that extra spark and “go for it. But what if others don’t believe … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How do your athletes respond to constructive criticism? Do they reject it outright or welcome it from coaches? Why do some athletes reject corrections or constructive feedback from their coaches? Athletes are afraid of constructive criticism for several reasons: They feel they are negatively being judged. The criticism confirms some … Read Sport Psychology Tip
What Mental Game Skills do College Recruiters Look For? Recruiters and coaches look for a number of mental game traits when they’re evaluating athletes, says David Kmiecik, senior recruiting manager for Next College Student Athlete (NCSA). First of all, they look for athletes’ ability to recover from failure. “You’re going … Read Sport Psychology Tip