In this week's vlog segment, I explore the difference between expectations and goals. Expectations act as burdens that you place on your young athletes before a competition, causing pressure, anxiety, and worry. Goals, if used correctly, act as motivators to help them become successful. Having goals for your children in their sports participation starts with [...]
I am so excited to announce that my latest mental training book, Train Your Mind for Athletic Success: Mental Preparation to Achieve Your Sports Goals (Rowman & Littlefield) is now available in hard cover and e-book. Train Your Mind is the culmination of a decades of work with athletes from top juniors to professional and Olympic athletes [...]
In my fourth of 12 vlog segments devoted to athletes and coaches, I show you the essential role that confidence plays in your athletic success. Confidence is so important because you may have all of the ability in the world to perform your best and achieve your goals, but if you don’t believe in that [...]
With Thanksgiving approaching, you’re either in your competitive season or preparing for it in the season and spring. Hopefully, you’ve spent the off season working out in the gym, putting time in on the field, court, course, track, hill, or whatever venue you train in for your sport, and hopefully working on your mental training [...]
Goal setting is a simple and practical mental tool you can use to maintain a high level of motivation in your sports participation. For some very elemental reason, people respond to goals in a very deep and personal way. The experience of setting a goal, working toward a goal, and achieving a goal has a [...]
In my third of 12 vlog segments devoted to athletes and coaches, I show you the immense impact that motivation has on your athletic success. Motivation is the foundation of everything that you do in your athletic life because without it, you wouldn't go to the gym in the early morning, you wouldn't put in [...]
In this week's vlog segment, I focus on how sport parents can help their young athletes to gain emotional mastery in their sports lives. As I'm sure you realize, emotions play an essential role in the lives of children both on and off the field. At practice and in competition, their ability to recognize and [...]
In my second of 12 vlog segments devoted to athletes and coaches, I show you why and how you should treat mental training the same way you do your physical conditioning . I describe three aspects of your conditioning that make them effective and without those elements you wouldn't be in the best condition you [...]
Some time ago, I shared with you my list of Dos for Sport Parents. In general, I much prefer to focus on the positives of behavior and, in that article, emphasized what parents can do to help their young athletes achieve their goals and have a great experience in their sport. At the same time, [...]
In this week's vlog segment, I turn our attention to what parents can do to support the healthy development of their children as athletes and as young people. I focus on the essential topic of how to build self-esteem in your young athletes. Self-esteem involves how children come to view themselves and whether they feel [...]
