In today’s world, proving oneself (in particular, young adolescents) to be mentally sharp and mentally tough, can be a tall task to complete. With the many distractions that we are all forced to face on a daily basis, it would appear that we have grown “soft” as a society. Nothing can be closer to that truth, than with our young people. Discipline in youth sports is what suffers greatly, when mental clarity and mental toughness are ignored.
As youth coaches, this should be of major concern to us, as the world of competitive sports depends greatly on a player’s mental acuity in order to athletically perform at a high level. Hello everyone! Coach Paul here! In this blog I am going to touch on four proven methods for coaching mental toughness in youth sports. Let’s do this!
Goal Setting
In the course of our lives, how many times have we been instructed by our parents, teachers and other authority figures, to set ambitious goals? How many of us took that advice to heart and applied it? Well for those of us who came up a bit short in that endeavor, your chance to redeem yourself, is at hand!
Now that you are a vested (or soon-to-be vested) youth coach, goal setting should be front and center, in your game plan to create a strong and disciplined athletic unit on the field/rink/court. As you begin to develop a rapport with and gain respect from your young players, you can begin to encourage them to set specific, challenging but achievable goals that are related to both their personal and athletic development. This will help them focus their efforts, stay motivated, and develop resiliency in multiple areas of their lives.
For example, a two-pronged goal setting plan that you should support, could be:
*Read two chapters of a favorite book, each day (personal performance)
*Practice puck handling for an additional 30 minutes each week (team performance)
Visualization
Have you ever created a vision board containing photos of material things that you want in life? A brand new car? Your dream home? A vacation destination? Fine jewelry? Did you find it to be effective? Hopefully you did.
In the realm of youth coaching, visualization can be utilized in a different way. This method involves athletes picturing themselves performing a skill in their given sport(s) or achieving a goal in their minds. This idea may seem to be rooted in some type of metaphysical “mumbo jumbo”, but it does work if applied correctly.
Once these things can be firmly visualized, then this process can be taken a step further, by youth athletes employing deep meditation and focus that can potentially bring those things to fruition. Visualization can help young athletes build confidence, reduce anxiety, and improve their mental clarity. A youth coach can even take part in this practice as well.
Self-Talk
We have all heard that popular saying “garbage in, garbage out.”, right? So much of our waking hours are spent dealing with negative attitudes from others (and from ourselves, for that matter). This scenario can turn into a massive cancer (figuratively speaking), for young athletes and their coaches.
For athletes, negative thoughts and words directed AT them and/or BY them, can erode any and every type of confidence that you may have previously instilled in them. It is a progress killer, to be sure.
So how do we, as young coaches, assist in this issue? Teach young athletes to use positive self-talk as a way of regulating their emotions, staying focused, and building their self-confidence. Help them to develop a set of positive statements that they can repeat to themselves during practice and competition. These mantras can create positive energy flow throughout your team’s season, which can provide mental stability, whether your teams wins or loses.
Stress Management
Let’s face it. Each one of us doesn’t have enough fingers and toes to count on, to tally up how many young athletes deal with massive amounts of stress in a given hour. It is a dire problem, but as a youth coach, you are in an optimal position to help those other adults who are influential to the kids whom you coach. As Hillary Clinton once stated, ‘It takes a village!’.
Encourage young athletes to identify the sources of stress in their lives and develop healthy coping strategies, such as relaxation techniques, deep breathing, and mindfulness exercises. This will help them manage their anxiety and perform at their best under pressure. You can also solicit assistance from counselors, religious leaders, teachers, fellow coaches and of course, parents. The goal is to alleviate or remove entirely, the high level stressors from a young athlete’s life. Keep in mind that it must be done in such a way, as to allow the child to refill that sudden void with positive influences and ideas.
Conclusion
These four action items, are vital to the mental stability of each young player on your team. As a coach, you want to take an even-handed and fair approach to molding your team into one that is not, in a manner of speaking, a shrinking violet. Be a foundation that young athletes need, to break through their mental barriers.
If you would like to leave a comment about this post, please do so below. I always appreciate the correspondence! Thanks for reading and take care of yourself!