You probably have a good understanding of how social approval can affect your child's performance and well-being. But the goal is to dig down and discover the specific type of social approval your child may be craving from others. As a parent, look for the following signs that indicate your child
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Youth Sports
Help Set Appropriate Goals
Your child's ability to set goals is critical to success in both sports and life! When Tiger Woods was a young boy, he set out to break all of Jack Nicklaus's records. Tiger reminded himself of his dream every night. As sport parents you must help your child set appropriate goals.
But simply
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Giving Kids Feedback After Competition
What you say to your child after a game is critical to helping them process the game productively. Start by making two positive comments about your son or daughter's performance. Ask what your player did well today. You want your child to feel confident about some aspect of performance. Ask your
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Five Mental Keys for Kids’ Mental Game
Parents must understand sports psychology and help children develop confidence, stay focused, and enjoy competition. Your young athlete will excel if you help your child:
1. Develop self-confidence
2. Focus on the process instead of outcomes such as scores or wins
3. Embrace a patient
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Parents’ Communication with Sports Kids
Positive communication is the most important skill you can possess as a sports parent. Your communication style influences how much satisfaction your child derives from sports. Supportive communication can help your child develop self-confidence. Negative communication can hinder your children's
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Applying the Mental Game to Practice
Young athletes should practice with intention and complete focus. Focused practice should mimic the level of focus that is required in competition. Your kids should mimic what happens in competition with the same level of focus. This requires a baseball player to use the same intensity and focus in
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Having Fun
All kids want to win unless they purely participate for the social aspect of sports. Winning is fun. However, kids don't always have full control over winning, but they do have full control over how much enjoyment they have in the moment. When kids are having fun and truly enjoying sports, practice
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Teach Kids to Trust Their Abilities
Young athletes must balance what we call the practice mindset and the performance mindset. Athletes who embrace a practice mindset have a desire to improve. They love to train and are most comfortable with their practice routines. Too much of this mindset, they may lose faith in their skills during
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