Strict or high expectations can undermine and hurt athletes' confidence. Young athletes’ confidence is all about their belief in their abilities. Expectations, on the other hand, are judgments and demands that your kids place on themselves. Your kids' expectations are usually about wanting to win or
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Mentally Prepare for Competition
Hall of Fame player Hank Aaron attributed much of his success in baseball to his mental preparation -both before and during the game. He believed you should think about the mechanics of baseball when hitting. Instead, he believed that mental preparation and doing his homework was the key to becoming
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Don’t Worry About Things You Cannot Control
I tell my students to not spend any energy worrying about things you cannot control on the athletic field, court, or course. By worrying, you waste energy on irrelevant factors beyond your control. As a result you become upset or frustrated, lose your composure, and it affects you for several
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Why Kids Are Fearless
Why are kids so fearless? Kids play in the present moment. They have no fear of consequences. No fear of failure. No fear of injury. This is also the reason parents need to observe them! Why are adults - and some athletes - filled with fear? Most athletes fear negative consequences of their
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3 Mental Keys for Success
What are three must have keys to success in sports? (1) Learning, (2) Repetition, and (3) Trust in your skills. What most athletes don't get - and even coaches - is that motor learning does not happen overnight. A batting lesson, golf instruction, or coaching on technique must be coupled with
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Routine for Success
Some athletes follow a specific routine to help them prepare for a match or game. They eat the same pregame meal, arrive at the event 1 hour prior to competition, and engage in a precise warm up they have developed through trial and error. Other athletes prefer to jump out of the team bus or car and
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Do You Intimidate Yourself?
Intimidation is a massive mental barrier for many athletes. It often happens when you compare yourself to your opponent’s skills before competition. Most intimidation in sports comes from psyching yourself out, which I call self-intimidation. Your first task to overcoming intimidation is to be very
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Focus on the “Controllables”
Do you become distracted after arguing with an official about a bad call he made even when you knew the official was not going to change his call? You might have became upset or frustrated, lost your composure, and it affected you for several minutes to follow or even the rest of the
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