Youth sports psychology articles and strategies for sports parents of young athletes to improve mental game and performance.
Coaches & Friends, Not Parents, Pressure Sports Kids The number of kids playing team sports is dropping quickly… To understand the factors behind this drop off, Yellowbrick Treatment Program surveyed 1,000 Americans about pressure in youth sports, says Matt Zajechowski, senior content strategist for Yellowbrick. Those surveyed were people who … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How High Expectations Lead to Pressure in Young Athletes A recent NCAA poll of more than 21,000 current college athletes shed some interesting light on how pressured these athletes feel about making it big. The data, from NCAA’s GOALS Study of the Student-Athlete experience, and just reported in USA Today, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Parents: Help Kids Boost Pregame Concentration Just before kids compete, they need to focus as much as possible on what’s happening right now, not on the past or future. They will do better if they can avoid focusing on common distractions–what others think of them, the score, the win, or … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Introduce Sports Psychology to Young Athletes In “Sports Psychology Sessions with Doc,” Dr. Patrick Cohn answers a question from Mike about how you can introduce mental coaching to your sports kids. Visit Sports Psychology for Athletes at Peaksports.com and click on contact us to submit your mental game … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Pressure And Social Approval Often, young athletes worry too much about what teammates, parents, coaches and friends think about how they’re performing on the court, field or course. When they seek others’ approval of their performance and abilities, and then don’t do well, they can feel inadequate. They might pressure … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How Coaches Influence Parents And Athletes A coach asks: “How does a coach influence the parents and players to be committed to a process that requires investment in effort, time and money before results are ‘seen’?” Good question… In our fast-paced lives, kids and parents often expect results right away … Read Sport Psychology Tip