How Overuse Injuries Can Undermine Your Mental Game That’s the message from Robert Weil, a sports podiatrist and host of the Sports Doctor Radio Show. He recently was a guest on our Ultimate Sports Parent podcast. It’s important to understand the pressures that lead to overuse injuries, he says. First … Read Sport Psychology Tip
It’s Easy to Assume Young Athletes Want to Win Games That’s not what the research reveals, says Bill Eckstrom, CEO of Ecsell Sports and Ecsell Institute and co-author of The Coaching Effect. He recently chatted with us as a guest on our Ultimate Sports Parent podcast. Ecsell Sports conducted focus … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Every Athlete Experiences Rough Spots or Slumps Many times, young athletes get in trouble when they focus too much on their most recent disappointing results. This trap is called being mentally “nearsighted.” They focus too much on their recent bad results or performance slump. They tend to expect to be … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Turn Negative Comments into Motivation What fuels your sports kids’ motivation? Wins, personal bests, rewards, awards and compliments are positive ways young athletes are motivated. When kids’ coaches, teammates or parents believe in kids, they will feel that extra spark and “go for it. But what if others don’t believe … Read Sport Psychology Tip
What Parents Need to Know About Concussions New concussion rules and regulations can build respect in young athletes for their opponents. In addition, the rules don’t hurt kids’ other mental game skills. That’s the word from Thomas Heiden, who played college hockey at Notre Dame and has coached many different … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Help Athletes Be Less Self-Critical Are your sports kids critical of themselves? After every mistake or bad game, do they put themselves down? When kids criticize themselves excessively, they experience fractured confidence, low motivation and underperformance. The criticism also creates a loop: they perform badly…they criticize themselves…their confidence and motivation … Read Sport Psychology Tip