Youth Sports Psychology Articles

One Way Sports Kids Lose Confidence and the Solution

Youth Sports Psychology

Keeping Game Time Focus in The Present Sophie is a 7th grade cross-country runner who has trouble letting go of past losses. She assumes one loss will lead to another. This is a common challenge for young athletes. They make generalizations about one bad game or race. If it happened … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How Sports Kids Deal with Constructive Criticism [Interview]

Video of The Week

Handling Criticism in Youth Sports Lisa Cohn of Kids’ Sports Psychology interviews coach James Jackson and Dr. Patrick Cohn about how kids handle criticism in sports today. When coaches don’t communicate well during games, kids take well-meaning constructive feedback personally and generally don’t learn or improve. Watch the video below … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Why Confidence is a Youth-Sports Cure-All

Youth Sports Psychology

Instilling Confidence in Young Athletes Why is confidence so important in youth sports? Because it’s a cure-all. It’s that simple. When kids feel confident, they don’t get scared. They don’t get worried or tense. They believe their skills are just as good as their competitors’. Confident athletes recover easily from … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How Athletes Can Use Mental Imagery To Help Them Succeed

Youth Sports Psychology

Using Positive Mental Imagery For Success Too often, when young athletes prepare to compete or perform, they imagine in their minds the bad things that might happen to them—like getting beat out by a competitor or missing a critical shot. What they need to do instead is visualize success, says … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How Young Athletes Become Frustrated – A Model for Parents and Coaches

Video of The Week

Young Athletes And Frustration Dr. Patrick Cohn, author of The Confident Sports Kid Series discusses how to help athletes who become frustrated during competition. In this youth sports psychology video by Dr. Patrick Cohn you’ll learn: How to help young athletes cope better with high expectations so they can reap the many benefits of improved … Read Sport Psychology Tip

When Kids’ Self-Esteem Suffers After They Lose

Youth Sports Psychology

Separating Self-Esteem And Winning in Sports Colton, a motocross racer, has lots of confidence. But he hates to lose. He hates to lose so much that it takes up to a day to recover after a losing, he says. Here at the Ultimate Sports Parent and Kids’ Sports Psychology, we … Read Sport Psychology Tip