{"id":63,"date":"2008-10-15T13:15:32","date_gmt":"2008-10-15T13:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/?p=63"},"modified":"2025-08-08T05:26:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:26:23","slug":"why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Sports Parent Agonize about Pressuring Young Athletes"},"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\/07\/cope-with-bad-calls.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cope-with-bad-calls.jpg\" alt=\"Help Athlete Cope with Bad calls\" class=\"wp-image-9118\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cope-with-bad-calls.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cope-with-bad-calls-300x150.jpg 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=\"Parents_Pressure_in_Youth_Sports\"><\/span>Parents Pressure in Youth Sports<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\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/#Parents_Pressure_in_Youth_Sports\" >Parents Pressure in Youth Sports<\/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\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/#Heres_what_parents_ask\" >Here&#8217;s what parents ask:<\/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\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/#Understand_the_difference_between_support_and_pressure\" >Understand the difference between support and pressure.<\/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\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/#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\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/#Help_Young_Athletes_Boost_Confidence_in_Sports\" >Help Young Athletes Boost Confidence in Sports!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Here at the Ultimate Sports Parent and Kids&#8217; Sports Psychology, we receive many letters from parents who are confused about how much they should <strong>pressure <\/strong>their kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, it&#8217;s not an overstatement to say they <strong>agonize<\/strong> about this topic&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Agonize, you might ask? Yes. There&#8217;s lots to agonize about when it comes to <strong>pressuring<\/strong> your kids in youth sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Heres_what_parents_ask\"><\/span>Here&#8217;s what parents ask:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Should I make my child go to practice when he doesn&#8217;t want to?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Should I insist that my 9-year-old daughter try playing a sport?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I can see many ways my daughter&#8217;s basketball could improve.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Should I tell her my ideas after a game? Or would this feel like pressure?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I often tell my son to score 15 points before a game. My hope is to get him psyched, but lately I&#8217;m not so sure I&#8217;m helping. What do you suggest?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;My kids got mad at me yesterday for shouting <strong>positive<\/strong> things from the sidelines. I thought I was supporting them, but now I find out they think I&#8217;m pushing them too hard. How should I behave?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To help answer some of these questions, we recently checked in with Ryan and John, 20-year-old Division 1 wrestlers, about how their parents raised them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ryan and John discussed how parents can support their kids, based on their own experiences as wrestlers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Understand_the_difference_between_support_and_pressure\"><\/span>Understand the difference between support and pressure.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Support means attending matches, cheering kids on and videotaping&#8211;if kids ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t get too <strong>technical or over-coach<\/strong> your sports kids. Leave that up to the coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t push young athletes to enroll in sports. It should be their decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Help out the coach in any way you can. For example, if he or she needs someone to keep score, ask to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sports parents, you have every reason to <strong>agonize<\/strong> about your effect on your child&#8217;s sports experience. How you behave is critically important to helping your young athletes feel <strong>confident<\/strong> and happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right now, you can find ways to end your confusion. And take the wrestlers&#8217; suggestions one step further. You can learn much more, how to <strong>positively motivate<\/strong> your young athletes and how to <strong>communicate<\/strong> with them and their coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can listen to audios about how to talk to young athletes so they&#8217;ll listen to you, as well as other audios from sports experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that&#8217;s not all, visit <strong>Kids Sports Psychology<\/strong> and you can immediately download many sports psychology e-books for your kids, videos about perfectionism and other topics, plus sports psychology articles. And a bunch of other programs!<\/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\/how-parents-can-help-young-athletes-improve-in-sports-without-pressuring-them\/\"><strong>How Parents Can Help Young Athletes Improve in Sports Without Pressuring Them?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/how-to-motivate-your-young-athletes-without-pressuring-them\/\"><strong>How To Motivate Your Young Athletes Without Pressuring Them<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/why-sports-must-be-fun-for-young-athletes\/\"><strong>Why Sports Must be Fun for Young Athletes<\/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_Young_Athletes_Boost_Confidence_in_Sports\"><\/span>Help Young Athletes Boost Confidence 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\/2018\/10\/ultimate-sports-parent-small.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ultimate-sports-parent-small.jpg\" alt=\"The Ultimate Sports Parent\" class=\"wp-image-11157\" style=\"width:167px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Every day, we receive letters from parents like you who want their children and teens to excel in sports. However, these parents can <strong>see fear, doubt, and frustration on the faces of their kids<\/strong> who struggle with the \u201cinner\u201d game of sports. But these parents have no idea how to help their kids <strong>overcome the worries, expectations and self-defeating thoughts<\/strong> that prevent their young athletes from feeling confident and successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can benefit from our 1<strong>5-plus years\u2019 of work in sports psychology and sports parenting research<\/strong>. Now, you can <strong>tap into our secrets to sports success<\/strong> through a cutting-edge, 14-day program that helps young athletes overcome the top \u201cmental game\u201d challenges that sports parents face\u2014and the top <strong>challenges young athletes face<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-fbab03ed\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-fa7bf2e7 gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/ultimate-sports-parent-workbook-cd-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GET DETAILS<\/a>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-33bcee1d gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.peaksports.com\/products\/the-ultimate-sports-parent-digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BUY NOW<\/a>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents Pressure in Youth Sports Here at the Ultimate Sports Parent and Kids&#8217; Sports Psychology, we receive many letters from parents who are confused about how much they should pressure their kids. In fact, it&#8217;s not an overstatement to say they agonize about this topic&#8230; Agonize, you might ask? Yes. &#8230; <a title=\"Why Sports Parent Agonize about Pressuring Young Athletes\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/why-sports-parent-agonize-about-pressuring-young-athletes\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Why Sports Parent Agonize about Pressuring Young Athletes\">Read Sport Psychology Tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,6],"tags":[118,49,117],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pressure-from-parents","category-youth-sports-psychology-blog","tag-mental-game","tag-pressure","tag-youth-sports-psychology","resize-featured-image"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","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=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}