How do emotions affect kids’ competitive performance?
Have there been competitions where a bad officiating call mentally knocked your kids off their game?
There are six facts about competitive emotions:
- All athletes are emotional beings
- Emotions vary in intensity
- Emotions alter kids’ physiology
- Emotions affect athletes mentally
- Emotions impact kids’ actions and performance
- Emotions are mostly within athletes’ control.
All athletes experience a wide range of emotions, more so than all other living things. Learning how to manage emotions is key for success as an athlete.
When competing, kids will experience many emotions, including anger, calmness, happiness, sadness, disappointment and pride. Emotions exist along a continuum.
For example, anger can vary in intensity. Take, for instance, a golfer who misses a 3-foot putt. At one end of the spectrum, that golfer may feel slightly annoyed. On the other end of the spectrum, that golfer may completely flip out.
Emotions profoundly influence physiology, such as breathing, heart rate, muscle tension and blood pressure. When a young athlete reacts negatively to a mistake in competition, their heart will begin pounding, breathing will become shallow, muscles will tighten and posture will slump.
Emotions affect athletes’ minds. When kids are frustrated due to a mistake in a close game, they will have difficulty focusing, have unproductive or negative thoughts, feel increased pressure and become less confident.
Emotions impact kids’ level of performance in competitions. When they are overwhelmed by intense, unproductive emotions, their reactions become slower, their mechanics and technique less fluid, and their decision-making abilities become compromised.
In addition, they may feel less energized and prone to making more mistakes.
Competitive emotions are mostly within young athletes’ control. During a competition, they may experience a bad or unfair officiating call. However, how they respond to that circumstance and how they deal with their emotions is within their control.
For example, a bad call can cause kids to verbally lash out at the official, which will compound the problem. Conversely, sports kids can choose to take several deep breaths to calm themselves, re-focus their attention and regain their composure.
Since young athletes can’t prevent challenging circumstances from happening, learning how to manage emotions is crucial for dealing with mistakes and adverse circumstances and performing at peak levels.
Early in the 2024 WNBA season, the Indiana Fever suffered a loss to the Connecticut Sun after Indiana lost their composure late in the game.
With Indiana clinging to a 76-75 lead with 3:37 to play, Fever rookie Caitlin Clark turned the ball over and drew her fifth foul when she attempted to regain possession of the ball.
In addition, Clark was called for a technical when she shouted at the referees in frustration. From that point, the Sun took control of the game and beat Indiana 88-84.
After the game, Clark commented on her outburst late in the game. “Just the technical foul, I can’t get that. A little frustration of how the game was reffed. But it is what it is. That’s out of your control. I thought our team put ourselves in position to make some plays to try and win down the stretch, and the Sun always came up with big plays.”
To manage intense emotions, kids must first understand what they can and cannot control. For example, they cannot control the officiating, but can control their response to officiating calls.
Once kids know what they can control, they can develop strategies to manage their emotions effectively so they can focus on competing at their peak.
Emotions and focus go hand in hand. When kids focus on what they can control, they will better manage their emotions.
Ask young athletes to try brainstorming aspects of competition that they can and cannot control. This exercise will help them keep their perspective when they experience challenging competition situations.
Related Youth Psychology Articles
- How Sports Kids’ Emotions Affect Teammates
- How Parents’ Emotions Affect Sports Kids
- Helping Sports Kids Develop an Emotional IQ
Ultimate Sports Parent Workbook and CD Program
Every day, we receive letters from parents like you who want their children and teens to excel in sports. However, these parents can see fear, doubt, and frustration on the faces of their kids who struggle with the “inner” game of sports. But these parents have no idea how to help their kids overcome the worries, expectations and self-defeating thoughts that prevent their young athletes from feeling confident and successful.
It’s difficult for sports parents to watch their kids under-perform in sports and lose self-esteem due to fear, doubt and tentativeness. It’s hard to stand idle and watch.
The solutions are not obvious. However, you, as a parent, can learn how to respond to your athletes’ fears, doubts, and frustrations. You can develop happy, successful kids who are “mentally tough” in sports – and life!