Coaching

Parents, we need to be their greatest supportive coach. It is our job to be the coach that we always wanted. Our actions shape their beliefs. We are the greatest influence on our children’s lives and in their development, stability, attitudes, likes, and dislikes. Children watch everything we do and learn by modeling behaviors and beliefs about our

When our body language is negative, we are demonstrating and showing that we don’t think the result is going to turn out like we’d hoped. We don’t have confidence or faith in our child.

It’s not what we get from winning; it’s who we become. A focus on the process means noticing how we compete, what we do when we play our best, and knowing our own recipe for success. The process is also about who we are becoming, what we excel at, and learn from. The process means addressing effort, teammates, other people excelling, how we handle

Mental toughness, grit, or resilience is two-fold. The first part is how we handle, deal, and cope with adversity and setbacks. The second part is how well we perform under pressure.

Worth repeating: The worst time to discuss” performance is on the ride home. We may want to talk so bad that it is like acid in our mouth—they need to know what we think. We have great points, and they need to know how they can improve. All true, but we just cannot share them on the ride home.

Let’s start with the end in mind. What is the goal of having our kids participate in sports? If the reason for playing is externally driven (such as a college scholarship,) then building mental toughness will be extremely difficult. Outcomes and external factors need to be the byproduct of sports, not the driver.

To define it in a healthy way for your child, emphasize that competition means against yourself, not anyone else. In this way you will be teaching your child not to compare themselves to others, which often results in low self-esteem. Teach them to have an audience of one and that is the only one that matters.

Why do you want your son or daughter to participate in sports? • What do you want your child to become outside of sport? • How much value do you place on academics? • How often do we discuss winning and expectations as opposed to the effort?

Tragically, most deaths occur on the descent of Everest. Research reveals that seventy-three percent of deaths take place on the way down the mountain. That’s when severe fatigue or the belief that “I’ve done it” sets in.