Our brain tends to lean toward negativity.
“The brain doesn’t understand today the difference between protecting us from a lion or a snake and protecting us from emotional states,” said Debbie O ‘Connell, president, Live Positive and Golf Positive and vice president, LPGA Northeast section.
The brain tends to embrace negative emotional states like doubt and fear, anger and frustration, she said. These emotions all get in the way of athletic performance–and performance in non-sports activities. She gives three tips for overcoming this negativity.
Related Kids Sports Psychology Articles:
- How Toxic Sports Cultures Hurt Kids’ Mental Health
- The Link Between Sports Kids’ Mental Game and Mental Health
- Assessing Your Child’s “Mental Game”
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THE FOCUSED SPORTS KID (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
“The Focused Sports Kid” helps sports kids who get easily distracted and can’t maintain their focus in competition. In this program, you and your athlete learn concentration-boosting strategies to help young athletes develop laser focus during competition. “The Focused Sports Kid” is two programs in one. You get a manual and Audio program for parents/coaches, and a PDF workbook and audio programs for young athletes.
“We just completed the first ten tips, it has helped tremendously for (our daughter) and us. We’ve learned to keep our behavior and comments in check. She’s letting mistakes happen and not worrying about them, she’s now just moves on to the next play with the same attitude as before the mistakes. She’s playing more aggressively all game. Her coach even mentioned that whatever we are doing, keep doing because it’s working.” ~Scott, Sports Dad