{"id":5073,"date":"2018-12-14T15:09:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T15:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/?p=5073"},"modified":"2025-07-10T06:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T10:03:16","slug":"how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Help Athletes Focus on The Process"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/five-ways-sports-parents-hurt-kids-mental-game.jpg\" alt=\"Youth Sports Mental Game\" class=\"wp-image-4789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/five-ways-sports-parents-hurt-kids-mental-game.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/five-ways-sports-parents-hurt-kids-mental-game-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Athletes_Who_Are_More_Confident_in_Practice_Than_Competition\"><\/span>Athletes Who Are More Confident in Practice Than Competition<br><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\/how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process\/#Athletes_Who_Are_More_Confident_in_Practice_Than_Competition\" >Athletes Who Are More Confident in Practice Than Competition<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process\/#Game-time_however_is_a_different_story%E2%80%A6\" >Game-time, however, is a different story&#8230;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/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\/how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process\/#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-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process\/#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 class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>A sports parent wrote in and said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Somehow on the courts, my son still lacks confidence. He has great techniques and I know that he can be a great player. But on the court he freezes, he feels scared and once he knows he sees competition that is better, his performance drops as well. Please help me on how to help him overcome this?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Often, kids who freeze up during games don\u2019t feel as <strong>comfortable<\/strong> in games as they do in practice, or they\u2019re intimidated by the competition. They may also lack <strong>trust<\/strong> in the skills they learned in practice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During practice, sports kids have the opportunity to practice their skills in a <strong>low-stress <\/strong>environment, with <strong>calmer<\/strong> coaches, no parents, and with <strong>supportive<\/strong> friends alongside them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under this scenario, it is much easier to try new things and feel at ease with the game.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Game-time_however_is_a_different_story%E2%80%A6\"><\/span>Game-time, however, is a different story&#8230;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p> Under the ramped-up <strong>intensity<\/strong> from coaches and parents and past failures, <strong>fear of failure<\/strong> can take hold.&nbsp;Your athletes may question their skills and feel reticent to try new techniques or play boldly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to freeze up and play to avoid making mistakes, instead of <strong>playing freely<\/strong> and with <strong>confidence<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As parents, you need to let your sports kids know that you only want them to <strong>focus<\/strong> on improving their skills and playing in the moment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Encourage them to <strong>focus on small goals<\/strong>, rather than outcomes or on the size and strength of the competition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Small goals might include knowing where their teammates are on the field or court, attempting crisp passes and plays, and defending with <strong>aggression<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They should <strong>concentrate<\/strong> on these goals instead of thinking,<br><em>&#8220;I need to score two goals,&#8221; <\/em>or, <em>&#8220;We need to win this game.&#8221;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, remind kids to <strong>focus<\/strong> on their own strengths, not the apparent strengths of the opposition. And tell your sports children that true <strong>fun<\/strong> is playing in the moment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Focusing on the process<\/strong> rather than the outcome is what\u2019s most important.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Athletes who under perform in competition do so because they <strong>focus<\/strong> too much on the what ifs&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What if I lose? What if I choke again? What if I don&#8217;t perform well?&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your athletes will then lose trust in their skills and perform too safe, which leads to under performance in competition.<\/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_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-focus-on-the-process-before-a-game\/\"><strong>Help Young Athletes Focus on The Process Before a Game<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-this-sport-builds-confidence-and-focus-in-kids\/\"><strong>How This Sport Builds Confidence and Focus in Kids<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/focus-on-fun-for-your-athletes-not-scholarships\/\"><strong>Focus on Fun For Your Athletes, Not Scholarships<\/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 <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-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:158px\"\/><\/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>Athletes Who Are More Confident in Practice Than Competition A sports parent wrote in and said: &#8220;Somehow on the courts, my son still lacks confidence. He has great techniques and I know that he can be a great player. But on the court he freezes, he feels scared and once &#8230; <a title=\"How to Help Athletes Focus on The Process\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-to-help-athletes-focus-on-the-process\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to Help Athletes Focus on The Process\">Read Sport Psychology Tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[310,325],"class_list":["post-5073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freezing-in-competition","category-youth-sports-psychology-blog","tag-focus-in-youth-sports","tag-trust-in-youth-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073","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=5073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}