5 Hacks To Build Unstoppable Confidence
In Youth Athletes
There is all sorts of controversy about kids sports these days.
Should we give them all trophies? Should we push them hard so they learn about how the “real” world works?
Parents and coaches are often confused by conflicting advice.
The video below is part of a 3-part series to help you assist kids playing sports to discover their self efficacy while creating lifetime belief programs that carry through to adulthood. This is the real benefit for kids sports participation and it’s well within your reach.
Whatever side you are on with regards to how much to push or not, these 5 tips work for everyone.
Here’s part 1:
Transcript: 5 Hacks To Build Unstoppable Confidence In Youth Athletes
Hack #1
Parents & Coaches: this one tip you’re about to hear, can single-handedly Transform your kid from nervous/timid to consistent confidence in competition. I’ll show you proof and tell you the tip in a moment, and To get all 5 confidence tips click the link below and sign into my list for the full series…
You are going to learn the secret thoughts of young athletes that they don’t tell their parents, from my experience in working with hundreds of them one-on-one world wide.Here is tip 1
Strategy #1.
Organize everything you do for your kid around skill acquisition and effort.
Every coach knows that athletes perform better when they improve their skills and so they set up regular practices with drills, exercises, and scrimmages to improve the skills.
But, the most common problem adults report to me with their young athlete is that they don’t perform as well in the game as they do in practice.
They lose their confidence in the games. Why is that?
Well, it’s simply because in practice, coaches and parents are praising things like hustle, determination, discipline, and anything they see in the athlete that shows an improvement in their physical skills. All good stuff.
But then what happens in competition? The coaches and parents then ONLY praise good performances and minimize the skills and effort.
And so the kid focuses on having a good performance because that’s what the adults are focused on… instead of just executing the skills and showing hustle like he/she does in practice.
What this does is it causes the kid to worry about and fear a poor performance. This causes nervousness, tension, tightness, timid play and other problems which make it harder to execute the skills and be focused on what they are doing.
Here’s an example of what to do:
Joanie is a 13-year-old soccer player but this story applies to any sport. With her parents in the stands and her whole team watching and holding their breath, at the end of a game, she misses a final penalty kick to the goal that would have tied the game and instead, they lose.
She looks around at her teammates and coach and they all have their heads down and the disappointment is everywhere.
She walks off the field in tears and approaches her parents who are both beaming with smiles and give her the biggest hug that a proud parent could give. Confused, she asks, “Why are you both smiling and so happy, we lost and it was my fault?”
Her Dad tells her: “We are so proud of you beyond words because of the courage you showed by volunteering to be the last kicker on the team. This game means nothing. The Fearlessness we saw in you when you went up there for that kick was the most proud I have ever felt in my life about anything. You were absolutely awesome out there. Everyone will forget about this game in a short time, but I want you to remember forever that you have this huge courage inside you and it will take you far in soccer and life. You’ve use it here and you will use this courage again and again…we are so proud of you for that.”
Do you see the power in this for confidence building?
Make sure you use it!