How High Expectations Lead to Pressure in Young Athletes
A recent NCAA poll of more than 21,000 current college athletes shed some interesting light on how pressured these athletes feel about making it big.
The data, from NCAA’s GOALS Study of the Student-Athlete experience, and just reported in USA Today, revealed:
- About 26 percent of Division I men said their family expected them to compete in the pros/Olympics.
- About 22 percent of DII men’s families expected them to compete in the pros/Olympics.
- About 13 percent of DI women reported their family expected them to be pro/Olympic athletes.
- Approximately 9 percent of DII women said their family expected them to compete in the pros/Olympics.
But here’s the reality, as reported by USA Today:
About 3 percent of NCAA athletes end up playing professional sports. Only .9 percent of NCAA football players compete professionally, while 35 percent of D1 football players’ families expect them to play professionally.
It’s fair to assume that these athletes feel tremendous pressure to make it to the pros.
Here at Kids’ Sports Psychology and Youth Sports Psychology, we have lots to say about high expectations—no matter how well-meaning or goal-oriented you think they are.
When parents place high expectations on young athletes, especially young kids, the kids often strive to be “perfect,” and take on perfectionist qualities that hurt them.
Perfectionists are often too hard on themselves, and blast themselves for making mistakes. When they don’t live up to other people’s expectations, they get frustrated easily.
And, as the USA Today story points out, a number of factors that are out of kids’ control can hurt their performance—bad weather and equipment that fails, for example.
They can’t be perfect all the time!
Rather than placing high expectations on young athletes, help them focus on the process—one stroke, pass, or shot at a time.
Help them establish mini-goals, which are obtainable goals that allow them to focus on the process. They might include, for example, concentrating on communicating well with teammates, or executing good passes.
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- Goals vs. Expectations for Kids
- The Pressure of Expectations for Kids
- Why Adults Shouldn’t Heap Superstar Expectations
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