Do Young Athletes Have Mental Blocks? A sports parent says: “I have a 12-year-old son who is having major mental blocks as it comes to baseball. He feels the pressure to live up to the hype of making it to the World Series. His pitching has improved tremendously however in … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Young Athletes’ Motivation For Playing Sports A young athlete writes: “My father made me start taekwondo when I was still very young. I am tired of the injuries and with the fact that they don’t care if I am hurt or not. I still like the sport but I am … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Creating Team Culture to Support Kids’ Mental Game Intentionally or not, all teams have a culture. While cultures are usually not created intentionally, the impact of the culture is far reaching. But what is team culture? “The culture is how it feels to be involved with the team,” says Mark … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Communicating With Sports Kids After Games Sports parents often ask how to best communicate with their sports children after a game. This is a critical question; the messages that parents give their sports kids after a game can do wonders for their self-esteem and confidence, or on the contrary, do … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Helping Sports Kids Control Expectations If you’ve done a great job instilling in your sports kids a sense of right and wrong, they may have problems with a coach who appears to pick favorites. “Often, kids and parents alike will have perceived fairness issues, which can really take a toll … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Strategies to Help Sports Kids Overcome Failure Fear of failure affects sports children in all types of sports, but can be especially challenging in baseball, says Nova Newcomer, executive director, Friends of Baseball, in Portland, Oregon. “The tough challenge with baseball is it’s a failure-based sport,” says Newcomer, whose organization … Read Sport Psychology Tip