Empathy is a powerful confidence builder on youth sports teams.
That’s the word from Dr. Conor Hogan, author of “The Gym Upstairs: The Neuroscience of Future Champions,” and a coach who helps young athletes improve their mental and overall performance.
A team’s empathy can help individual players cope with pressure, he said during an interview on our Ultimate Sports Parent podcast. “If there is a strong base of empathy, it can transform team members into feeling cooler when the pressure is on,” he said.
But if a team shows empathy for its players, and “really has empathy down,” the players truly look out for one another. They understand what it feels like to be in a teammate’s shoes.
Building this type of empathy can help young athletes on the field. They can use empathy, for example, to be tuned into a player’s body language and decide how to help out during a play.
Listen to the podcast with Hogan on Spotify:
Related Articles on Kids’ Mental Game:
- The Value of Listening and Empathy in Youth Sports
- Create a Sports Culture that Includes All Kids
- Helping Young Athletes ‘Wing it’ During Games
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*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on Spotify
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