Youth Sports Psychology

Why Sports Parents Should Avoid Harping on Mistakes

Kids Sports Psychology for Parents and Young Athletes

Dr. Cohn and Georgia Miller, CMPC discuss the challenges sports parents face with young athletes and how to make sports a better experience. Learn how to spot mental game challenges in athletes, what to say before and after games, and how to improve communication with young athletes. Related Kids Sports … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Improving Young Athletes’ Thinking to Boost Performance

Kids Sports Psychology for Parents and Young Athletes

It’s possible to speed up young athletes’ thinking and reaction time, says Dr. Ryan D’Arcy, a sports dad, professor and president of NeuroCatch, a medical device startup that evaluates cognitive function. For example, he recently used red light therapy to speed up a football player’s cognitive processing by 70 milliseconds. … Read Sport Psychology Tip

How Sports Kids’ Expectations can Become Pressure 

How Sports Kids’ Expectations can Become Pressure

Pressure is part of sports for young athletes. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find athletes who say they haven’t experienced some pressure. As sports kids become more competitive, pressure seems to increase and, for many athletes, that can be an overwhelming aspect of the athletic experience.Athletes respond … Read Sport Psychology Tip

Why Kids’ Identities Shouldn’t be All About Sports

Kids Sports Psychology for Parents and Young Athletes

Sports kids face a number of challenges when their identity is all about sports, said Dr. Becca Wallace, a clinical pediatric psychologist at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. Children often get overly involved in sports, leading to their identity being closely tied to their athletic performance. She offers tips for creating … Read Sport Psychology Tip