Teaching Sports Kids to Embrace Failure
We just read a great Huffington Post blog-actually, a rant–called “7 Reasons Why You Will Never Do Anything Amazing With Your Life,” about the importance of embracing failure and taking risks.
In youth sports, these traits are critical. And it’s true, young athletes won’t be amazing unless they understand how to take risks and embrace failure.
In the blog, the author, Raymmar Tirado, named seven things that hold people back. And they all apply to young athletes. They’re all about being too tentative, worrying about what others think of them, and being afraid of failure. He also throws in some ideas about the importance of being curious.
In his blog, Tirado rants about the importance of failing. He says that people who are afraid of failing feel comfortable being mediocre, choose not to try, or think everything is too hard or complicated.
“Because as I fail, I learn, and then adjust my course to make sure my path is always forward.”
This is also true of young athletes. They need to look at failure as opportunities to learn. If your young athlete loses a game, they should not pound on themselves and shrink back in fear. They need to figure out how to improve and go for it.
In his blog, he advises people to stop worrying about what others think of them. While his writing may be a little over the top for young athletes, his message is loud and clear. Step up and be fearless!
“Because I will recklessly abandon all insecurities and expose my true self to the world. I will become immune to the impact of your opinion and stand naked in a crowd of ideas; comfortable in knowing that while you married the mundane I explored the exceptional.”
Of course, it’s easy for us to tell you that your young athletes need to be fearless risk-takers and they need to stop being afraid of failure. Truth is, it’s not that easy to change how young athletes think. That’s why we offer a program, “Helping Young Athletes Kick Perfectionism and Fear of Failure.”
In the program, we teach parents how to help young athletes feel more confident, perform more intuitively and kick their fear of failure. It’s a 7-day program, complete with CD and workbook for kids-and a separate CD and workbook for parents.
Related Articles on Kids’ Mental Game:
- Helping Young Athletes Embrace Mental Training
- Sports Kids Should Embrace the “If You Lose, Learn,” Attitude
- Teaching Athletes to Feel The Pain of Failure with “Growth Mindsets” [Podcast]
*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on iTunes
*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on Spotify
The Composed Sports Kid
“The Composed Sports Kid” audio and workbook digital download program for young athletes and their parents or coach helps kids cope with frustration and anger in sports. Help your sports kids learn how to manage expectations and let go of mistakes so they can keep their head in the game.
The Composed Sports Kid system is really two programs in one–one program to train parents and coaches how to help their kids practice composure, and one program that teaches young athletes–ages 6 to 13–how to improve composure, let go of mistakes quickly, have more self-acceptance, and thus enjoy sports more!