Improving Self-Confidence With Mental Preparation
Parents, it’s important to recognize that confidence is the Number One mental game skill that helps kids perform to their potential.
And when young athletes learn how to build their confidence in sports, it can transfer to other areas of their lives.
When athletes have SELF-confidence, they derive confidence from their ability to perform well and execute the skills in practice and games.
Most importantly, you want kids to feel confident from the belief in the abilities and talent, not because others give them confidence.
Your job as parents is to help your young athletes foster their own SELF-confidence, and avoid doing things, unknowingly, to hurt it.
Unfortunately, well-meaning sports parents can inadvertently hurt kids’ confidence by pressuring them, imposing high expectations, or making comparisons to others.
You can also hurt their confidence by pointing out their past mistakes. In your efforts to help kids improve, parents will identify mistakes their athletes make in the hopes that they will avoid these mistakes or improve in the future.
However, when you point out mistakes, kids tend to lose confidence by thinking that they are not good enough.
As a matter of fact, if you point out mistakes often and make kids feel as if they are not doing well, this can lead to perfectionist behavior. You don’t want to do this.
You have to strike a delicate balance as a sports parent and it’s not always easy!
We find that kids rely too much on others–parents, coaches, teammates–for their confidence. Positive feedback from other people is always rewarding, but is not always present for kids.
Instead, you want to help your kids know that confidence must come from their own beliefs and talents, not what others think.
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- Help Sports Kids Who Worry About Disappointing Teammates
- Do You Try to Give Your Athletes Confidence?
- Helping Young Athletes Feel Confident Before Competition
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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!