It’s common for children and young athletes to excel in training yet underperform in competition, showing only “60% of their ability” on match or competition day. This gap between practice and performance can frustrate the child as well as parents and coaches. Our resources explore why this happens and provide practical strategies to help young athletes transfer their training success into confident, consistent competitive performances.
Sports Psychology Tips: Focusing on the Process as a Team Does your team’s focus waver when they go ahead? I’ve been approached by many individuals and coaches in my sports psychology consulting over the years because they or their team were unable to finish the job when they were on top or ahead. In football, …
Cricket Psychology Tips: Mental Preparation for Bowlers in Cricket Many bowlers get in their own way costing their team runs As a bowler, you’ll be well aware of the pressure that is on you to take wickets and keep the run rate down if you are to help your team and reach your potential. Out …
Sports Psychology Tips: Focus on the Process Do you pay too much attention to the score or result? It can be very difficult to get away from the score, the leaderboard or results. After all, that’s why people often play their sport, for the competitive element – right? You play to win, you hate getting …
Sports Psychology Tips: 8 Top Personality Traits of High Performance Athletes How much of being a top athlete is about your personality? From a young age, I was always interested in what makes an athlete successful. Is it about talent or genetics? Is it more psychological and about what character traits they have? Could it …
Cricket Psychology Tips: Control the Controllables An essential element of Mental Toughness is “control” So far, the recurring prominent themes in previous entries have revolved around the lockdown, coronavirus and the implications that this has had on athletes. However, now I want to move away from focusing on that ‘C’ word to focus on the …
Sports Psychology Tips: I Must Work Harder Are you being effective in the way you train or practice? Many athletes tell themselves “I must work harder”, they often hear from coaches “To achieve your goals you must work harder” or parents tell they’re children “your head went down you’ve got to keep trying till the …
Rugby Psychology Tips: How to Instill Self Belief and Self Confidence in a Young Rugby Player Having self-belief in your ability to play rugby can make a huge difference One of the biggest difficulties for parents is how to instill self belief and self confidence in young rugby players. As a child it’s very difficult to …
Cricket Psychology Tips: Batting with a Quiet Mind Do you often over think when batting? In July, I received a fascinating email from a batsman from Manchester. He went on to say: ‘I’m 19 years old and have ambitions to professional cricket but I have some serious worries about making it. When I am batting …
Cricket Psychology Tips: Why Play Cricket in Fear? Being fearful in cricket is very common I’ve been lucky enough to support a number of cricketers who have experienced a range of psychological challenges with a common theme – FEAR. Watching cricket on the TV as I do regularly, in every match this challenge is highlighted. …