Superstitions in Youth Sports Do your sports kids harbor silly beliefs about what makes them better athletes? For example, do they insist on wearing a red-striped headband and on eating chocolate power bars before games? This is common in young athletes, and can actually hurt their confidence and performance. Why? … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Perfectionism in Sports Hurts Confidence For example, perfectionist athletes expect a lot from their performance. Some of their expectations are unrealistic and make them think too much about results. This can lead to self-doubt when they don’t perform up to these high demands. Perfectionists also have a hard time feeling … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Staying Tough in The Face of Bully Coaches We’ve warned you over and over that it’s critical to protect your young athletes from bullying in youth sports. The firing this week of Mike Rice, Rutgers basketball coach, for physically kicking players, throwing balls at them, and verbally abusing them is … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Pregame Routines in Youth Sports It’s easy to assume that an all-star guard like Pavin Parrish of the Rochester Rockets doesn’t face mental game challenges. The truth is, he battles with challenges like jeering, doubt, and worry every day-even though he has made his mark by scoring an average of … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Staying Focused in Youth Sports Sports kids would benefit much more from sports if they were less distracted and had more fun. That’s the word from Troy Drayton, coordinator of youth programs for the Miami Dolphins. Drayton, who visits elementary and middle schools three days a week to teach about … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Sports Bullying is in All Levels The recent announcement that 22-year-old tennis pro Rebecca Marino quit tennis due to bullying should be yet another warning to sports parents that bullying should be taken seriously in youth sports. Marino, who had a 150-107 WTA record, said that she struggled with being … Read Sport Psychology Tip