Kids Sports Psychology articles and tips for sports parents, young athletes, and youth coaches to improve mental performance and consistency.
The Importance of Rewarding Effort Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Ray Lokar, a lead trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance who has coached youth sports for more than 30 years and is the director of basketball4all.net. In this week’s Ultimate Sports Parents Podcast: Locker talks about the importance of being big … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Setting Effective Goals in Youth Sports How do you help sports kids set goals that don’t create high expectations? Wait a minute, you may ask. The whole process of setting goals creates expectations! Read on to understand the critical difference between setting goals and creating high expectations in youth sports. … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Sports Parents: Dealing With Bullied Kids A fuming sports mom recently asked us what to do to help her daughter, a talented athlete who was passed up for a slot on the Varsity Team and is now being bullied by the girls who made the team. “I have noticed my … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Setting Goals in Youth Sports It’s a great idea to set goals for sports kids. Goal-setting helps improve kids’ motivation and commitment, helps them stay focused on what to accomplish, helps them assess their strengths and weaknesses, and track their performance. But who should do it–the parent, the young athlete, … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Reasons Why Sports Kids Don’t Believe in Themselves For a number of reasons, many sports kids don’t believe in themselves—and that’s bad news for them, their teams and their coaches. Here are just a few causes: When kids don’t believe in themselves, they hurt their performance and enjoyment of sports. … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Encouraging Kids to Play Sports Just how can sports parents encourage kids to take part in sports and support them—without pressuring them? That’s a good question, and the answers are not so obvious. Read on to get tips from Olympic fencer Tim Morehouse, who says his parents knew just how … Read Sport Psychology Tip