How to Develop Mental Strength in Young Athletes

You’ve got mental strength or you haven’t some people often wrongly assume.  Mental strength or mental toughness can be developed with self-awareness, from experiences, coaching or psychological support.  The upside then is an individual or a group of individuals are likely to make smarter decisions which goes on to positively influence their levels of performance and well-being.   

Today, I’m joined by three guests, John Fletcher, Natalie Henderson and James Maurice where we consider how you can develop different parts of mental toughness with youngsters so that they can go on to thrive, so that they can overcome obstacles and challenges more confidently and play their sport or live their life more fearlessly.

Key Learning Points:

• Consider how you frame different situations? Do you look to take the learning from them or do you get caught up in negative thought patterns and the blame game. 
• Players don’t know how much you know until they know how much you care.  Treating players as individuals is vitally important.
• A psychological safe environment and culture is conducive to developing mentally tough individuals.
• Sports psychology sessions can be fun and engaging for players and coaches.

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To Listen to the Full Podcast Episodes

Podcast Ep027: Natalie Henderson –  How to Develop Mental Toughness with Young Footballers

Podcast Ep039: John Fletcher – How to Develop Fearless Athletes

Podcast Ep049: James Maurice – How Does Sport Psychology in Elite Football Academies Help