Parents: Help Young Athletes Improve Focus Video
In the new video series “Sports Parents Success Tips,” Dr. Patrick Cohn answers your youth sports psychology and mental training questions that deal with sports parents and the mental game challenges their sports kids have. Visit Peaksports.com and click on contact us to submit your question for Dr. Cohn to answer in his mental game videocast or podcast.
Here’s the question Dr. Patrick Cohn answers this week in Sports Parents Success Video 8: Sports Concentration Tips For Young Athletes:
Do your athletes focus too much on the outcome, score and statistics when they compete?
Dr. Cohn talks about the pitfalls of focusing too much on the outcome and why you want your athletes to have good mental preparation, including on how to focus on the process rather than thinking about the outcomes.
What’s the problem with focusing on the outcome?
Watch the video below to see what tips Dr. Cohn gives to sports parents to help their young athletes focus on the process.
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Want to learn more about how to help kids boost their focusing skills?
We’ve got a great program for you called “The Focused Sports Kid: A 7-Day Plan for Boosting Concentration and Success.”
The Focused Sports Kid is a 7-day focusing plan for sports parents and young athletes that helps kids overcome distractions that can hurt kids’ performance in youth sports.
The Focused Sports Kid is two programs in one. There’s a manual and CD for parents/coaches, and a workbook/CD for young athletes.
In addition to learning how to identify their distractions and deal with them, young athletes learn about how and why to focus on sports-specific “performance cues” that will help them feel more confident and excel in sports. Parents/coaches also learn about these all-important performance cues and why they should help kids focus on them.
What are parents and coaches saying about our program?
“The resources that you have available on your website have been wonderful. I am slowly learning [and hopefully] in time that a sound mental game may be more important then the actual physical part of the sport that your child plays. Yes you have to have the talent but the mental game is what sets apart as a very good athlete compared to an elite athlete. As a parent, you need to find the time to teach yourself and help your child understand the Psychology of sport. All the hard work on the ice/field could eventually pay off and not just in sport but in every day life. Thanks again.”
~Darren, Sports Dad
“I read your report and prepared a one-page summary for my team. I asked the team to attend a 10am training session on Saturday before the final on Sunday. (I told parents) they must obtain the one-page summary handout from me and ask a parent to read it to them until they understood what it meant…My boys succeeded! We beat a team that no one could beat during the year, that was coached by a former professional player that had sons of former Professional players in the team and as a result of believing in themselves, they won. In my humble opinion , I look beyond the game and hope the kids have learned a lesson in life that you really can do almost anything if you put your mind to it. We salute you and the wonderful work you do.”
~Anthony (Tony) Costa, coach