{"id":1547,"date":"2012-01-09T15:41:56","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T15:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/?p=1547"},"modified":"2025-08-07T02:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T06:05:12","slug":"4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Steps to Helping Young Athletes Improve Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sports_Parents_Help_Kids_Improve_Focus\"><\/span>Sports Parents: Help Kids Improve Focus<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 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-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/#Sports_Parents_Help_Kids_Improve_Focus\" >Sports Parents: Help Kids Improve Focus<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/#But_here_is_the_key_mental_skill\" >But here is the key mental skill:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/#Watch_the_video_below\" >Watch the video below:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/#Related_Articles_on_Youth_Sports\" >Related Articles on Youth Sports:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/#Help_Your_Young_Athletes_Improve_Focus_In_Sports\" >Help Your Young Athletes Improve Focus In Sports!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>In our last tip, we shared a video with you on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/top-performance-busting-distractions-for-young-athletes\/\">top distractions young athletes face in sports.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, we have a follow up video\u2014again produced by Dr. Cohn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ow_-6r8CjjQ\">Four Steps to Helping Young Athletes Improve Focus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This short video describes the critical steps to helping your athletes learn how to <strong>refocus<\/strong> when distracted. And that\u2019s our philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your athlete will lose <strong>focus<\/strong> at times during practice and competition. There is no doubt about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your sports kids are human, which we know they are, they\u2019ll get sidetracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"But_here_is_the_key_mental_skill\"><\/span>But here is the key mental skill:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>They need to quickly recognize they are off task and quickly <strong>refocus.<\/strong> That\u2019s the difference between <strong>success<\/strong> and making <strong>mental<\/strong> mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Cohn walks you through the steps to help you teach your kids how to get back on track quickly in his new video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Watch_the_video_below\"><\/span>Watch the video below:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-aede5096\">\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How to Help Young Athletes Improve Concentration: Youth Sports Psychology Tip\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ow_-6r8CjjQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\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_Articles_on_Youth_Sports\"><\/span>Related Articles on Youth Sports:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/help-young-athletes-improve-focus\/\"><strong>How Parents Can Help Young Athletes Improve Focus<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-athletes-can-stay-in-the-moment-and-improve-focus\/\"><strong>How Athletes Can Stay in the Moment and Improve Focus<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/help-kids-improve-their-focus-before-competition\/\"><strong>Help Kids Improve Their Focus Before Competition<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p 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 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0ynyaalKxbnNmsoeL8gF5X?si=8224669de9b3435b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/a> <\/strong>on Spotify<\/p>\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\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Help_Your_Young_Athletes_Improve_Focus_In_Sports\"><\/span>Help Your Young Athletes Improve Focus In Sports!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/focused-sports-kid-small-7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/focused-sports-kid-small-7.jpg\" alt=\"the Focused Sports Kid\" class=\"wp-image-11217\" style=\"width:168px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Are your young athletes easily <strong>distracted<\/strong> by people shouting on the sidelines? Do they obsess over their <strong>mistakes<\/strong>? Do they <strong>worry<\/strong> about what people think of them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These issues will cause their concentration and performance to suffer!<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-focused-sports-kid-cd-program\/\">The Focused Sports Kid<\/a> helps kids overcome distractions that can hurt their performance in sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-focused-sports-kid-cd-program\/\">The Focused Sports Kid<\/a> program is actually two programs: one for sports parents\/coaches that provides mental game tips especially designed for parents and coaches, and for young athletes, ages 8 to 12, that will walk them through 7 simple lessons in mental focus in sports.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-2050113d\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-030447a4 gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-focused-sports-kid-cd-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GET DETAILS<\/a>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-af59ca3f gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/products\/the-focused-sports-kid-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BUY NOW<\/a>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sports Parents: Help Kids Improve Focus In our last tip, we shared a video with you on the top distractions young athletes face in sports. Today, we have a follow up video\u2014again produced by Dr. Cohn: Four Steps to Helping Young Athletes Improve Focus This short video describes the critical &#8230; <a title=\"4 Steps to Helping Young Athletes Improve Focus\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/4-steps-to-helping-young-athletes-improve-focus\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about 4 Steps to Helping Young Athletes Improve Focus\">Read Sport Psychology Tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,107],"tags":[332,334,221],"class_list":["post-1547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-youth-sports-psychology-blog","category-youth-sports-psychology-videos","tag-concentration-for-sports-kids","tag-how-athletes-focus-better","tag-sports-concentration"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}