Sports Kids Who Fail to Perform in Competition
Many parents and coaches contact us every day at Peak Performance Sports asking why their kids look like stars in practice, but fail to perform well in competition.
Actually, failing to perform well in competition is the number one reason athletes seek me out.
It’s a sign that your athletes’ mental game is stifling their physical potential.
Many things explain why your athletes’ struggle to perform up to their abilities in competition.
These might include:
- They perform scared due to fear of failure
- They fear disappointing a parent or coach and play safe
- The want to win too badly and can’t stand losing
- They can’t trust their skills when it counts and over control
- They have self-doubt about their skills and lose confidence
- They expect to perform perfectly and get frustrated when they don’t
These are just a few examples of why athletes don’t perform their best in competition.
I know – as a sports parent myself – how frustrating it is to watch your kids self-destruct in competition when they perform so consistently in practice…
What can you do?
- Do you encourage your athletes to just work harder and be patient?
- Do you ask them to just focus better the next time?
- Or do you keep quiet and hope your athletes don’t give up?
Athletes want to perform their best and improve in competition, but usually focus on the wrong things.
They search for the missing “secret”:
- Athletes blame their faulty technique and make hasty changes
- Athletes blame their circumstances and change teams
- Athletes fault their equipment and look for newer or better stuff
- Athletes blame their coaches or parents for putting too much pressure on them
But these are all just excuses that mask the real culprit:
A lack of MENTAL TOUGHNESS!
I’m here to tell you that athletes can learn to improve mental toughness.
But they have to stop searching and first admit that their mental game can improve.
Unfortunately in my work, “mental training” or mental coaching is a last resort for parents and athletes — after all else fails.
The reality is that athletes don’t want to admit their mind is getting in the way of peak performance.
They go for the alternative: Work harder and be more dedicated.
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- How Choking Hurts Athletes’ Performance
- How Young Athletes Can Use Mental Imagery to Boost Performance
- Helping Kids Have High Intensity to Perform Well
*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on iTunes
*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on Spotify
Help Young Athletes Boost Confidence in Sports!
Every day, we receive letters from parents like you who want their children and teens to excel in sports. However, these parents can see fear, doubt, and frustration on the faces of their kids who struggle with the “inner” game of sports. But these parents have no idea how to help their kids overcome the worries, expectations and self-defeating thoughts that prevent their young athletes from feeling confident and successful.
You can benefit from our 15-plus years’ of work in sports psychology and sports parenting research. Now, you can tap into our secrets to sports success through a cutting-edge, 14-day program that helps young athletes overcome the top “mental game” challenges that sports parents face—and the top challenges young athletes face.
All of the above!! Have never seen my 8 year old let a game become bigger than him until he made the baseball travel team. Football all-star…but baseball is a game that can get to your head and his lack of confidence at the plate is something Ive never experienced with him.
Yes, confidence can be fragile for some young athletes. A couple games of no hitting and the doubts can start to creep in to his head.
Dr. Patrick Cohn,
I am so happy to see you exposing the true potential and impact of mental training with children. As a gymnast, I used mental training techniques day in and day out- and I still use them daily as an adult – peak performance is important for living.
Thank you!