{"id":11358,"date":"2025-04-24T21:13:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T01:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/?p=11358"},"modified":"2025-07-07T07:43:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T11:43:47","slug":"helping-young-athletes-focus-on-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-focus-on-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Young\u00a0Athletes Focus on Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our brain tends to lean toward negativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe brain doesn&#8217;t understand today the difference between protecting us from a lion or a snake and protecting us from emotional states,\u201d said Debbie&nbsp;O &#8216;Connell, president, Live Positive and Golf Positive and vice president, LPGA&nbsp;Northeast section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The brain tends to embrace negative emotional states like doubt and fear, anger and frustration, she said. These emotions all get in the way of athletic performance\u2013and performance in non-sports activities. She gives three tips for overcoming this negativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Embed Player\" style=\"border:none\" src=\"https:\/\/play.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/36273290\/height\/128\/theme\/modern\/size\/standard\/thumbnail\/yes\/custom-color\/26a1fb\/time-start\/00:00:00\/hide-playlist\/yes\/download\/yes\/font-color\/FFFFFF\" height=\"128\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"true\" mozallowfullscreen=\"true\" oallowfullscreen=\"true\" msallowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"related-articles-on-hockey-mental-game\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_Kids_Sports_Psychology_Articles\"><\/span>Related Kids Sports Psychology Articles:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-focus-on-mental-health\/#Related_Kids_Sports_Psychology_Articles\" >Related Kids Sports Psychology Articles:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-focus-on-mental-health\/#THE_FOCUSED_SPORTS_KID_DIGITAL_DOWNLOAD\" >THE FOCUSED SPORTS KID (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-toxic-sports-cultures-hurt-kids-mental-health\/\"><strong>How Toxic Sports Cultures Hurt Kids\u2019 Mental Health<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/the-link-between-sports-kids-mental-game-and-mental-health\/\"><strong>The Link Between Sports Kids\u2019 Mental Game and Mental Health<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-to-care-about-athletes-mental-health\/\"><strong>How to Care About Athletes\u2019 Mental Health<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-f49818fa-7c7a-4ee3-b5ee-66581aad2c71\">*Subscribe to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/sports-psychology-podcast-by-peaksports-com\/id152566009\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on iTunes<br>*Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0ynyaalKxbnNmsoeL8gF5X?si=8224669de9b3435b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a> on Spotify<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"THE_FOCUSED_SPORTS_KID_DIGITAL_DOWNLOAD\"><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/products\/the-focused-sports-kid-digital\" title=\"\">THE FOCUSED SPORTS KID (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidssportspsychology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/focused-sports-kid-small.jpg\" alt=\"The Focused Sports Kid\" class=\"wp-image-2352\" style=\"width:164px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Focused Sports Kid\u201d helps sports kids who get easily distracted and can\u2019t maintain their focus in competition. In this program, you and your athlete learn concentration-boosting strategies to help young athletes develop laser focus during competition. \u201c<em>The Focused Sports Kid<\/em>\u201d is two programs in one. You get a manual and Audio program for parents\/coaches, and a PDF workbook and audio programs for young athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWe just completed the first ten tips,&nbsp;it has helped tremendously&nbsp;for (our daughter) and us. We\u2019ve learned to keep our behavior and comments in check. She\u2019s&nbsp;letting mistakes happen&nbsp;and&nbsp;not worrying about them, she\u2019s&nbsp;now just moves on&nbsp;to the next play with the same attitude as before the mistakes. She\u2019s&nbsp;playing more aggressively&nbsp;all game. Her coach even mentioned that whatever we are doing, keep doing because&nbsp;it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/em><strong> ~Scott, Sports Dad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/products\/the-focused-sports-kid-digital\">Get Details<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our brain tends to lean toward negativity. \u201cThe brain doesn&#8217;t understand today the difference between protecting us from a lion or a snake and protecting us from emotional states,\u201d said Debbie&nbsp;O &#8216;Connell, president, Live Positive and Golf Positive and vice president, LPGA&nbsp;Northeast section. The brain tends to embrace negative emotional &#8230; <a title=\"Helping Young\u00a0Athletes Focus on Mental Health\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-focus-on-mental-health\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Helping Young\u00a0Athletes Focus on Mental Health\">Read Sport Psychology Tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,17],"tags":[264,39],"class_list":["post-11358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kids-in-sports","category-sports-parenting","tag-confidence-in-young-athletes","tag-kids-sports-psychology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 5.0.0.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The brain tends to embrace negative emotional states like doubt and fear, anger and frustration, she said. 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