{"id":2303,"date":"2014-05-23T14:04:19","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T14:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2025-07-21T06:20:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T10:20:52","slug":"helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/what-if-thinking.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/what-if-thinking.png\" alt=\"Helping Sports Kids with \u201cWhat if\u201d Thinking\" class=\"wp-image-9143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/what-if-thinking.png 600w, https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/what-if-thinking-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Helping_Perfectionist_Sports_Kids\"><\/span>Helping Perfectionist Sports Kids<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><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-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#Helping_Perfectionist_Sports_Kids\" >Helping Perfectionist Sports Kids<\/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\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#Help_them_understand_why_this_works_against_them\" >Help them understand why this works against them:<\/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\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#Related_Articles_on_Kids_Mental_Game\" >Related Articles on Kids&#8217; Mental Game:<\/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\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#The_Composed_Sports_Kid\" >The Composed Sports Kid<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do they hang onto a mistake for too long, talking about them or reminding themselves about how much they goofed up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If so, it&#8217;s likely you have a <strong>perfectionist<\/strong> on your hands&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many people think of <strong>perfectionism<\/strong> as being a <strong>positive<\/strong> quality.&nbsp;<strong>Perfectionists<\/strong> work hard and always show up on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But along with these <strong>positive<\/strong> qualities come qualities that hurt <strong>perfectionists&#8217; confidence<\/strong> and <strong>performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If they criticize themselves for making mistakes, they&#8217;re hurting their <strong>confidence.<\/strong> If they can&#8217;t move on after making mistakes, they&#8217;re distracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But you can help kids who criticize themselves by teaching them to identify, first of all, that they&#8217;re criticizing themselves. They may not be aware of how much they&#8217;re doing this or that they can change this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Help_them_understand_why_this_works_against_them\"><\/span>Help them understand why this works against them:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They&#8217;re sinking their <strong>confidence.<\/strong> What&#8217;s more, they&#8217;re <strong>distracted.<\/strong> They need to be thinking about their next move-not <strong>focusing<\/strong> on their last one and how bad it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While you&#8217;re at it, you might point out that being a <strong>perfectionist<\/strong> has its up side, but there&#8217;s also a downside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Help <strong>perfectionist<\/strong> sports kids take a look at these traits and think about <strong>perfectionism<\/strong> and how it can hurt them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, if you&#8217;re not careful, <strong>perfectionists<\/strong> will start criticizing themselves for being perfectionists!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Help them understand that making mistakes is human, and generally helps sports kids learn-if they can see mistakes as a learning experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They need to let go of mistakes and move on to the next move or play. Help them think about the many ways they can learn from their mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, you may have a point guard who freezes up after someone steals the ball from him or her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Help these types of young athletes understand that instead of freezing up, they need to come up with a strategy for getting around that player-and they need to be creative and risky about it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means they may lose the ball a few more times before they figure out the best strategy.<\/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\" id=\"related-articles-on-hockey-mental-game\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_Articles_on_Kids_Mental_Game\"><\/span>Related Articles on Kids&#8217; Mental Game:<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\/when-young-athletes-doubt-their-skills-when-criticized\/\"><strong>When Young Athletes Doubt Their Skills When Criticized<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/what-to-do-when-sports-kids-dont-believe-in-themselves\/\"><strong>What to do When Sports Kids Don\u2019t Believe in Themselves<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-kids-stop-criticizing-their-game\/\"><strong>Helping Kids Stop Criticizing Their Game<\/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\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Composed_Sports_Kid\"><\/span>The Composed Sports Kid<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 loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/composed-sports-kid-small-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Composed Sports Kid\" class=\"wp-image-11173\" style=\"width:170px\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The Composed Sports Kid&#8221; audio&nbsp;and workbook digital download program for young athletes and their parents or coach helps kids cope with frustration and anger in sports. Help your sports kids learn how to manage expectations and let go of mistakes so they can keep their head in the game.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>The Composed Sports Kid system<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;is really two programs in one\u2013one program to train parents and coaches how to help their kids practice composure, and one program that teaches young athletes\u2013<em>ages 6 to 13<\/em>\u2013how to improve composure, let go of mistakes quickly, have more self-acceptance,&nbsp;<strong>and thus enjoy sports more<\/strong>!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-26bcd9b3\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-903b6244 gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-confident-sports-kid-cd-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GET DETAILS<\/a>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-3275f4fd gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/collections\/confident-sports-kid-series-digital-version\/products\/the-confident-sports-kid-bundle-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BUY NOW<\/a>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Helping Perfectionist Sports Kids Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes? Do they hang onto a mistake for too long, talking about them or reminding themselves about how much they goofed up? If so, it&#8217;s likely you have a perfectionist on your hands&#8230; Many people think &#8230; <a title=\"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves\">Read Sport Psychology Tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27,6],"tags":[309,527,564],"class_list":["post-2303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perfectionism-in-sports","category-perfectionism-is-young-athletes","category-youth-sports-psychology-blog","tag-confidence-in-youth-sports","tag-perfectionism-in-youth-sports","tag-perfectionist-kid","resize-featured-image"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 5.0.0.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes? Read more to learn about perfectionistic athletes and how you can help them.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patrick Cohn\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"perfectionism in youth sports,perfectionist kid,confidence in youth sports\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 5.0.0.1\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#article\",\"name\":\"Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips\",\"headline\":\"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/author\\\/doccohn\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/managing-what-if-thinking.png\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Helping Sports Kids with \\u201cWhat if\\u201d Thinking\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-23T14:04:19-04:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-21T06:20:52-04:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"commentCount\":1,\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Perfectionism in Sports Articles, Perfectionism in Young Athletes, Youth Sports Psychology Articles, Confidence in Youth Sports, Perfectionism in Youth Sports, Perfectionist Kid\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Sports Psychology for Young Athletes\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Psychology for Young Athletes\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Perfectionism in Young Athletes\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Perfectionism in Young Athletes\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Sports Psychology for Young Athletes\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/category\\\/sports-psychology-for-kids\\\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Perfectionism in Young Athletes\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peak Performance Sports, LLC\",\"description\":\"Online Mental Performance Coach for Young Athletes & Parents\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/\",\"email\":\"coach@peaksports.com\",\"telephone\":\"+14079091700\",\"foundingDate\":\"2014-06-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":0,\"maxValue\":6},\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/sports-parent-logo-new.jpg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":600,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Youth Sports Psychology\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#organizationLogo\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/author\\\/doccohn\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/author\\\/doccohn\\\/\",\"name\":\"Patrick Cohn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6239ee1eafee4d6dadb49fb8d946e1fe94dc55a9943a1eb2b4281e09fac2b028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/\",\"name\":\"Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips\",\"description\":\"Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes? Read more to learn about perfectionistic athletes and how you can help them.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/author\\\/doccohn\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/author\\\/doccohn\\\/#author\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/managing-what-if-thinking.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#mainImage\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Helping Sports Kids with \\u201cWhat if\\u201d Thinking\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\\\/#mainImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-23T14:04:19-04:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-21T06:20:52-04:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Youth Sports Psychology By Peak Performance Sports\",\"description\":\"Online Mental Performance Coach for Young Athletes & Parents\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\\\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro -->\r\n\t\t<title>Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips","description":"Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes? Read more to learn about perfectionistic athletes and how you can help them.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"perfectionism in youth sports,perfectionist kid,confidence in youth sports","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#article","name":"Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips","headline":"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/author\/doccohn\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/managing-what-if-thinking.png","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"Helping Sports Kids with \u201cWhat if\u201d Thinking"},"datePublished":"2014-05-23T14:04:19-04:00","dateModified":"2025-07-21T06:20:52-04:00","inLanguage":"en-US","commentCount":1,"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Perfectionism in Sports Articles, Perfectionism in Young Athletes, Youth Sports Psychology Articles, Confidence in Youth Sports, Perfectionism in Youth Sports, Perfectionist Kid"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/#listItem","name":"Sports Psychology for Young Athletes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Psychology for Young Athletes","item":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\/#listItem","name":"Perfectionism in Young Athletes"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"Perfectionism in Young Athletes","item":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#listItem","name":"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/#listItem","name":"Sports Psychology for Young Athletes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#listItem","position":4,"name":"Helping Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/category\/sports-psychology-for-kids\/perfectionism-is-young-athletes\/#listItem","name":"Perfectionism in Young Athletes"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/#organization","name":"Peak Performance Sports, LLC","description":"Online Mental Performance Coach for Young Athletes & Parents","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/","email":"coach@peaksports.com","telephone":"+14079091700","foundingDate":"2014-06-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":0,"maxValue":6},"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/sports-parent-logo-new.jpg","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#organizationLogo","width":600,"height":100,"caption":"Youth Sports Psychology"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#organizationLogo"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/author\/doccohn\/#author","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/author\/doccohn\/","name":"Patrick Cohn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239ee1eafee4d6dadb49fb8d946e1fe94dc55a9943a1eb2b4281e09fac2b028?s=96&d=mm&r=g"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/","name":"Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips","description":"Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes? Read more to learn about perfectionistic athletes and how you can help them.","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/author\/doccohn\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/author\/doccohn\/#author"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/managing-what-if-thinking.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#mainImage","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"Helping Sports Kids with \u201cWhat if\u201d Thinking"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/helping-young-athletes-who-criticize-themselves\/#mainImage"},"datePublished":"2014-05-23T14:04:19-04:00","dateModified":"2025-07-21T06:20:52-04:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/","name":"Youth Sports Psychology By Peak Performance Sports","description":"Online Mental Performance Coach for Young Athletes & Parents","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/#organization"}}]}},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"2303","title":"Young Athletes Who Criticize Themselves | Sports Tips","description":"Do you have sports kids who criticize themselves for making mistakes? Read more to learn about perfectionistic athletes and how you can help them.","keywords":[{"label":"perfectionism in youth sports","value":"perfectionism in youth sports"},{"label":"perfectionist kid","value":"perfectionist kid"},{"label":"confidence in youth sports","value":"confidence in youth sports"}],"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"Article","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[],"defaultGraph":"","defaultPostTypeGraph":""},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-05-17 19:15:04","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"reviewed_by":null,"open_ai":null,"ai":{"faqs":[],"keyPoints":[],"titles":[],"descriptions":[],"socialPosts":{"email":[],"linkedin":[],"twitter":[],"facebook":[],"instagram":[]}},"created":"2020-12-21 17:02:26","updated":"2026-06-02 01:15:22","focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303","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=2303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}