30 June 2023
Helping You Gain A Mental Edge
How to Help Kids Enjoy Their Youth Sport Experience
Can sports psychology coaching help my child enjoy their sport more?
Most parents face this challenge from time to time and can struggle encouraging their children in sports. At some point it’s pretty inevitable that something happens and your child or children don’t want to go to train or compete.
So how, as parents, can we help them get over that?
One helpful thing is to understand why. Have they burnt out and done too much? Is it lack of motivation? Is it that their interests have changed? Or are their coach or you, as parents, putting them under too much pressure?
Once you have worked out the cause then you’ll be better placed to find a solution. Sometimes the best and only solution, though very difficult for parents, is for the child to walk away from the sport for a short time or for good.
Below are 2 quizzes that parents have found find very helpful in finding the cause of their child’s unhappiness.
If you ask your child or children to take the quiz and you also take the parental quiz (without comparing notes). Then go on to discuss both results. It should open up a nice conversation and help you get a better feel for why your child chooses to play sport and where things have gone off course.
Click on the links below to find out more:
New podcast episode to listen to:
You may also find listening to our latest episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness helpful, where I share a short yet very important extract from episode 122, where Professor Camilla Knight chats to me about the wellbeing of sporting children, communication between children and parents, parental stressors, as well as touching on self-care as a parent.
A throwback episode for sporting parents:
This episode, #049, is a one which may interest, young footballers, football coaches, parents of talented footballers and sports psychologists. Where James Maurice, HCPC Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, and a member of the Sport Psychology team at Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club joined me to discuss typical challenges that young academy footballers have at different ages and how best to support them. We also provide guidance to upskill coaches and parents to ensure that the youngsters experience in football academies is a positive one.
A blog to improve your understanding of how to help your children who play their sport fearfully
Hockey players of all ages and abilities can often get in their own way before playing a match. Their heads can be full of self-doubt, unhelpful expectations of themselves and their team-mates. They may even choose to focus too much on the opposition.
What then often happens is a “slow start to the game” where they are very tentative. They play within themselves, fearfully.
If this sounds familiar to you, this blog written by my colleague Olivia Scott is set up to help you with 3 tips that you can implement immediately so that you get the most from your talent.
A blog supporting gymnasts who focus too much on others.
Many gymnasts worry about the quality of other gymnasts they compete against and can easily be intimidated which is quick way to destroy confidence.
In this blog I share 3 tips to overcome this common challenge.
Other helpful resources for parents
Sports Psychology Resources for Youth Sport (Blogs, Podcasts, Video’s)
Child and Youth Motivation for Sport Quiz
Parent Motivation for Sport Quiz
Sport specific resources from our Sports Psychology library to help you
3 WAYS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WORK:
Best Wishes
David Charlton
Online Sports Psychologist | Mental Performance Coach who supports many highly motivated athletes, young and old, developing their skills or who are already highly skilled so that they gain a mental edge and get the most from their talent across the globe from USA/Canada to Great Britain and Ireland to UAE, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, using ONLINE Video Conferencing.
Managing Director – Inspiring Sporting Excellence
Host of Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast
Founder of The Sports Psychology Hub
Author of The Mental Edge
With over a decades’ experience supporting athletes, coaches, parents and teams to transfer their skills from training to competitive situations, under pressure.
T: +44 7734 697769
