If your athlete is on their phone before a game, they’re not “just relaxing.” They’re training distraction. Scrolling floods the brain with stimulation. Comparison. Highlight reels. Notifications. Mental noise. And then we expect calm focus when the whistle blows....
Your child doesn’t just want to win. They want to make you proud. They feel your reactions. They hear your tone. They notice your silence, even when you think they don’t. When they freeze in games… Get frustrated… Shut down in the car afterward… It’s rarely because...
Most parents think they’re helping. Many are simply reducing discomfort. Protecting from failure. Fixing mistakes immediately. Blaming coaches. Chasing teams and selections. It feels supportive. But under pressure, those habits often show. Athletes hesitate. They look...
Imagine an ice cube in a room at –5°C. You turn up the heat. Nothing happens. –4°C. –3°C. –2°C. Still solid. At –1°C, it still looks exactly the same. If you didn’t understand physics, you’d probably think your effort wasn’t working. Then the temperature hits 0°C. And...
Most parents don’t interrupt development because they don’t care. They interrupt it because the plateau is uncomfortable. There’s a stage in youth sport where improvement becomes less visible. Games look messy. Confidence fluctuates. Results don’t reflect the effort...
The way athletes talk to themselves matters more than most people realize. Self-talk influences confidence, performance, and resilience. Young athletes often experience nerves, frustration, comparison, and pressure. That’s normal. What matters is how those feelings...
