Helping Athletes Change their Thinking Changing old habits is hard to do for athletes. I agree with this statement especially when it comes to coaching the mental game. Old habits of thinking are hard to change for many athletes. Especially when they are well ingrained over several years (of practice). Athletes stay stuck in old patterns of thinking for many …
Sport Parent Communication Can Affect Athletes Last week, I worked on the skill of “proactive confidence” with one of my athletes… Part of this lesson on confidence is to discuss what things can undermine confidence, which I call “confidence killers.” I learned that out of six confidence killers for my athlete, his parents take part in two of them. These …
What To Do When Sports Parent Hurt Athletes’ Confidence Sports parents can sometimes hurt an athlete’s confidence. I’m sure they don’t do it on purpose, but the net effect is lower confidence for some athletes. Parents will try to motivate kids, but use a negative approach by punishing kids for poor play. For example, Steve found himself working with critical …
What’s The Real Mental Game Challenge? Do parents, coaches or athletes contact you about their lack of focus or confidence in competition? Often, the presenting problem may not be the underlying problem… Athletes and parents often don’t know the REAL mental game challenge. They just understand a lack of focus, tentative performances, and less than par performances. But as a …
Young Athletes on Their Mental Game How do you work with younger athletes (ages 8-12) and what tools are helpful when working with them? This is a question from a mental coach who completed my survey last fall. I’m sure you know how challenging it is to work with very young athletes on the mental game–if you have had the …
Help Athletes Be Successful with Mental Training Do your athletes feel excited to start mental training only to lose interest quickly when they don’t see immediate results in their performance? Unfortunately, athletes often want the quick fix with mental training and may lose interest when results don’t come quickly. How to help your athletes commit to mental training is the …