How many times have you seen your kids over-analyze and think too much when playing in a game? In fact, young athletes display classic traits of "perfectionist" kids who over-analyze and bog themselves down with too many details. They want to over-think their performance in the attempt to perform
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Tips for Sports Parents
Non-Verbal Communication with Sports Kids
How you communicate non-verbally with your sports kids is critical. To help kids feel more confident, be sure to smile when they look at you. Watch what you do with your arms and hands. Often, coaches are hugging their coffee mugs–suggesting they’re having a hard time waking up and aren’t really
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What Hurts Sports Kids Confidence?
Some sports kids have more confidence in certain sports skills than others. For example, an athlete may feel good about his shot in basketball, but lack confidence in his rebounding skills. This is common for many athletes. They feel more confident about their strengths and less confident about
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Athletes Who Seek Others’ Approval
Do your young athletes seek approval from their peers and coaches in order to feel confident? Kids today seek what we call social approval: They want to be accepted, respected and liked by others.
To help your young athletes who worry about what others think, ask them to first recognize that
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Kids Should Appreciate Their Own Talents
Sports kids today spend too much time making comparisons to their competitors or teammates. They focus on how others are performing, rather than concentrating on their own game. They do this in a number of ways and none of them are good news for the young athletes. When kids focus on others’
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Release Athletes to the Game
Often, parents get so wrapped up in the excitement of youth sports that the experience becomes more about the parents than the kids. Sports parents need to release their young athletes to the game. When sports kids approach middle school, and sports become more competitive, it’s time for parents to
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Kids Who Hold on to Negative Labels
When sports kids start calling themselves “losers,” “chokers,” “wimps” or other negative names, it’s a bad sign. These athletes have a little voice in their head that’s constantly putting them down. And, as we’ve said many times before, confidence is what sports kids need most to feel successful,
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Set Goals Void of Expectations
Helping young athletes set goals without expectations is a big challenge for parents, coaches and young athletes. Too often, kids confuse goals with expectations. They then set high expectations for themselves and get frustrated when they don’t achieve them. This hurts their confidence and
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