Helping Young Athletes Trust in Their Skills

Do your sports kids excel in practice, but freeze up in competition? Do they have a hard time just being spontaneous and “free” when they compete? If so, you might need to help your child trust his or her athletic ability...

Freezing up in competition is a common challenge for young athletes. Some kids and teens love to practice and improve, but when it comes to competing, they suddenly don’t trust in their own skills and or have confidence in their abilities.

All young athletes face a lack of trust and confidence in their skills from time to time.

Maybe they’re new to a particular sport. Maybe they’re trying to learn a brand new skill and haven’t quite gotten it yet. Perhaps they’re perfectionists and feel that their performance isn’t “perfect” enough. They may also be afraid of making mistakes, so they play or compete tentatively.

Why should kids trust in their skills and abilities?

If they believe in their ability to execute a skill successfully, they’ll feel more confident. And more confidence will lead to more trust. That’s crucial to success and happiness in sports. In order to trust, athletes need to let go of conscious control—of their motor skills, for example. They must be able to perform spontaneously and intuitively.

As parents and coaches, there’s lots you can do to help young athletes learn to compete with trust and freedom.

First of all, look at your own behavior. Do you:

>>Ask your child to focus on proper or perfect form during the game?

>>Encourage your child to try to be perfect when performing?

>>Over coach your child right before game time?

>>Introduce a different method than the coach’s and confuse your child?

Instead, you need to:

1. Help your young athletes leave practice on the practice field, and learn to trust in their abilities.
2. Help them switch into an athletic, “let it happen” mindset in competition. Tell them to react intuitively, to keep it simple: See the ball and hit it.
3. Help them think of ways to perform in the here-and-now. How can they get the job done without worrying about or analyzing how to get the job done?
4. Help them accept that they can’t perform perfectly.

Want to learn more about how to help kids improve their performance, trust and confidence?

Check out our Ultimate Sports Parent workbook/CD program....

You’ll learn how to:

>Instill a confident mindset in your young athletes

>Help kids deal with competitive pressure

>Help kids trust their skills on game day

>Help young athletes set goals

>Guide sports kids who are dealing with difficult feelings and much more!

Hop over to our web site to snag your copy:

http://youthsportspsychology.com/

Sincerely,

Patrick Cohn, Ph.D., Mental Training Expert

P.S. The Ultimate Sports Parent workbook program comes with a neat
bonus that helps parents act and say the right things before a game or
competition:

http://youthsportspsychology.com/

©2007 The Ultimate Sports Parent by Peak Performance Sports
Instilling Mental Skills for Sports & Life!

Keeping Young Athletes from Dropping Out

Did you know that 75% of all young athletes drop out of sports by the time they are 13? They drop out because taking part in youth sports is no longer enjoyable for them.

What factors might lead young athletes to drop out? First of all, they might be playing for the wrong reasons—because a parent or coach wants them to play. Ultimately, playing to make someone else happy doesn't make the athlete happy.

Second, they may feel too much pressure to perform. When kids feel too much pressure, they often under-perform. Their confidence and happiness may sink.

Third, peers, parents and coaches may expect too much of young athletes—especially talented athletes. High expectations can undermine athletes' confidence and happiness.

To ensure your young athletes continue to enjoy sports, make sure they're playing because they want to play. Let your young athletes lead you. If all they want to do is play recreationally, let them do just that.

Don't push them to try out for higher levels of competition if they're mostly interested in playing for fun with friends. If you push them, your efforts may backfire and your kids may drop out of sports. Kids sometimes thrive when they can develop confidence at lower levels.

In addition, don't focus too much on winning. Winning may be fun for parents. But it's not always what's most fun for kids. Keep the long-term benefits of sports participation in mind. By taking part in athletics, kids learn important life skills such as sportsmanship, teamwork, and coping with adversity. They also stay fit and healthy.

Check your own motivations. Do you want your kids to play sports to win scholarships or to succeed in ways that you failed to succeed? Don't assume your athletes have the same goals or motivations that you have about sports.

Be a good cheerleader. Be positive and supportive of your young athletes' team and coaches. Find ways to help out the team. You can be a team parent or sign up to bring snacks, for example. While you're being supportive, be sure to keep your own coaching to a minimum. Leave the coaching to the coach.

Want to learn more about how to ensure kids stay in the game for as long as possible? Check out our Ultimate Sports Parent workbook and CD program. Nearly every section gives you important tips about how to ensure your kids enjoy sports for now and many years to come. Specifically, the workbook/CD program addresses:

*How to communicate with your young athletes

*How to help your athletes establish appropriate goals

*Providing positive motivation for your athletes

*How to instill a confident mindset in your sports kids

*Helping kids deal with competitive pressure

*Providing kids with positive support after defeat

**And much more!

Hop over to our web site to learn more how to help sports kids improve confidence and success!

Sincerely,

Patrick Cohn, Ph.D., Mental Training Expert

P.S. The Ultimate Sports Parent workbook program comes with a neat
bonus that helps parents act and say the right things before a game or
competition:

http://www.youthsportspsychology.com/

©2007 The Ultimate Sports Parent by Peak Performance Sports
Instilling Mental Skills for Sports & Life!