Sports Parents and Mental Performance

Tips For Parents Supporting Their Childs Mental Game. With Video at Conclusion!

As a mental game coach, my emphasis is typically on addressing the mental training challenges faced by athletes, coaches, and teams. Nevertheless, a crucial and often overlooked demographic is sports parents, who play a pivotal role in an athlete's mental game development and success in sports.

In my one-on-one mental coaching sessions with young athletes, I closely collaborate with their parents. Aligning parents with the principles of sports psychology is essential for fostering the adoption and commitment to mental toughness training among my students.

When parents are well-versed in "mental game" strategies, young athletes can accelerate their learning process. It's imperative that parents convey supportive messages consistent with our goals, avoiding conflicting instructions. Additionally, parents should be aware that unintentional pressure and expectations can impact a young athlete, necessitating an understanding of how these dynamics may unfold.

In essence, parents must grasp the fundamentals of sports psychology. It's observed that, unknowingly, parents can unintentionally hinder the mental coaching process with their children. Despite good intentions, they might inadvertently undermine an athlete's confidence.

Our experience indicates that parents' expectations for their kids may be perceived as pressure, affecting young athletes negatively. High expectations imposed by parents may not necessarily boost confidence; instead, they can lead to frustration when athletes fall short of self-imposed ideals.

In my coaching sessions, I educate parents and athletes about the distinction between confidence and judgmental expectations. Identifying expectations that hinder performance and undermine confidence is a key aspect of this process.

In their efforts to be supportive and boost their child's confidence, parents may inadvertently express expectations that the child interprets as pressure. It's crucial to recognize the difference. For instance, a seemingly supportive statement like, "You should be able to have a dominate game today as you have done it before against this team," might inadvertently create pressure for the child to meet parental expectations.

I emphasize the importance of focusing on one shot or one play at a time, rather than fixating on the overall score or performance. The score becomes relevant only at the end of the game and should not dictate the athlete's performance in the moment.

This example illustrates why parents also need to familiarize themselves with mental training. Sports parents should understand themselves the mental game lessons that are taught to the children participating in mental performance training, ensuring alignment and avoiding conflicting messages.

Video Conclusion

About 10 Minutes in Length.

Stay resilient,

Coach Dave

Call or Text Anytime 503-351-3812

Founder Flow State Mentality

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