Kids’ sports psychology articles for sports parents, young athletes, and team coaches to improve performance.
Embrace Mental Training For some athletes, mental training is an untouched avenue to improve sports performance. Many athletes do not understand mental training and may be skeptical about its value. Learn how parents can help kids embrace mental training. Even if you as a parent understand the importance of mental … Read Sport Psychology Tip
What Happens When You Focus on Winning Genma Holmes, a parent to three athletes aged 15-20, says one of her biggest youth sports psychology challenges over the years has been dealing with coaches who are so focused on winning that they undermine young athletes’ confidence. Genma’s 16-year-old son was part … Read Sport Psychology Tip
The Effects of Sideline Coaching Too often well-meaning parents live through their children and expect their kids to take on their own dreams and goals. As a youth soccer coach in Portland, Ore., Sue Mak confesses that she found herself too emotionally involved at times in her son’s athletic experience. … Read Sport Psychology Tip
How to Help Your Sports Kid Achieve Their Goals Too often, sports parents set goals for their kids that are different than the kids’ goals, says Dony Wilcher, a popular basketball coach and program director for Showtime Athletics, a youth sports organization in Portland, Ore. It’s important to help sports … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Kids Who Take on A Positive Attitude A number of factors can influence whether a young athlete lives up to his or her potential in sports. As a sports parent, Brad Tebbutt of Portland, Ore. faces a classic challenge: His 12-year-old son, Jordan, doesn’t play basketball to the best of … Read Sport Psychology Tip
Sports Kids Who Focus Heavily on Their Competition Julia Dreyer’s two teen girls, successful equestrians who ride English and Western events, struggle with a common problem: Rather than focusing on their own strengths before a competition, the girls concentrate too much on their competitors‘ assets. “When they focus on a … Read Sport Psychology Tip