Empower your athlete on game day.

I can almost guarantee everyone that reads this article can think immediately of a situation where a parent of an athlete overstepped or made a scene on game day… and it may even involve you. While most parents are attempting to come from a good place it’s imperative to realize that you may be doing more harm than good! I’ve spent some time going through surveys of high-level athletes, and the NUMBER ONE stressor they have identified from their youth sport experiences were either parents or coaches.

I get it, you want to do your best to help the kid on game day! Long speeches or complicated technical instructions are most likely just going to hurt their performance. If you are going to lay on some motivation before the game your best bet is going to be something along the lines of “get out there and do your best” or simply just giving them a pat on the back. Leave the coaching to the actual coaches. Your next point of attack can be actually having a good time at the game! Clap and cheer rather than yelling at the refs. Stay off your phone and stay engaged. Believe it or not, your athlete notices these things!

As soon as the game is over, give them the option to talk about the game and how they played or not! This is NOT the time to break down every play as they are most likely physically, cognitively, and emotionally spent. Give them space to wind down and sleep, and if they are analytical and want to go into details they will let you know!

At HansenAthletics we frequently hear that our athlete’s confidence levels have improved drastically since they started working with our coaches. Our coaching effort and points are aimed at fostering confidence through reinforcing our athlete’s behaviors that include overall effort and interest in learning and improvement. You don’t need to yell, scream, or beat down athletes to achieve a high level of performance!

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