How to Help Youth Athletes Handle Sports Stress

Stress in sports is a natural occurrence but not all of the stress is caused by external factors. Sometimes players are simply hard on themselves. Add to that the pressure from coaches and parents and the stress can cause a breakdown in confidence and performance.

There is an alarming stat in America that states 75% of children will quit sports by the age of 13. There are a few key reasons why they do.

– Not having fun – if they don’t enjoy it why would they stay involved?

– Not improving – if the coaches focus their attention on the “star” players and don’t help the other kids improve, why stay?

– Too much pressure – to perform, to win, to live up to others expectations.

– Playing time – goes hand-in-hand with some of the earlier reasons. Coaches want to win so the better players play more

– More interested in video games – our culture is changing. There is far more focus on technology than there has ever been and you need to find ways to use them to encourage more activity in sport.

Sports Stress and Performance

Stress is described as a feeling that is created as a reaction to an event. It is your body preparing for a challenge or situation with focus, stamina, strength, and alertness. Stress can be positive of negative depending on the source.

The event or situation that causes stress is called a stressor. Each person will react differently to a situation depending on their experience in life. The younger the person, the less likely they are to have acquired methods of coping with it.

Bad sports stress is called distress and is caused by negative demands. Too many demands on you and you hit stress overload which can cause a loss of energy and drive.

Unlike distress, eustress is the good type that comes from an enjoyable event but one that makes you work for it. This stress will exhilarate you and give you a burst of energy.

Stress Management and Kids

Kids are trying to concentrate on school work, friendships, dealing with a new girlfriend/boyfriend, a possible job and sports. Sports will take a chunk of their time and the better they get, the more time it will take. The more competitive, the more stress they will feel juggling everything in their life. How do you teach them to handle it?

The personality traits of your child will sometimes determine the sport they will play. Team sports in a lot of cases can help reduce the stress of accomplishing victory. Unfortunately it also comes with the stress of dealing with several teammates and competing with them for a starting spot on the team. An individual sport means you compete alone and are fully responsible for the end result. You are on your own to develop strategy and skills to play the game. The type of stress your child can handle will help determine the sports they should be playing and master.

Kids need to learn to win AND lose. Be gracious in winning and do not get an inflated attitude about their “star” potential and lose with grace and learn from the experience to do better next time. Learning HOW to win and lose is a critical skill they need to adapt to over time or it may cause them to quit or become “cocky.”

Being mentally tough means having a positive self image to compete and handle the jitters that will come with competition. Athletes who are able to do this will be able to boost their confidence and actually get an energy boost from it as well as motivation.

Can You Fix it?

1. As a parent, be aware of what the coach is doing and what happens in practice and games. Your child’s interest, especially early on, will be determined by how the coach treats them.

2. Have a conversation with your child often about how they feel about playing. Ask questions to determine their mindset and you can avoid problems sooner and stop things from getting worse.

3. Conversations with other parents when there are issues can help put things into perspective but do NOT just talk behind the coaches back and complain. Do not lay blame on anyone when talking to other parents of your child.

4. Talk to the coach to let them know you have concerns and sort it out if there is an issue but NEVER in front of your child. Be proactive and stay positive. The majority of coaches are volunteers so respect them for the time they have put in. Try to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

5. A cool technique I came across to handle sports stress is to include video games as part of practice. If the game is a sports game like Madden 2012, use a play in the game as a part of your offense or defence. Watch the play in the game, analyze it then use it with your team. The kids will get a kick out of doing what the Pros do.

Kids when taught to handle challenges and sports stress will be able to train, compete and even win and lose to build a positive experience. They will handle the peaks and valleys with more ease along the journey to adulthood and will remain motivated and will avoid the burn-out that will cause them to quit.

My name is Jacques Delorme and I run a youth nutrition blog at [http://fuelthehunger.com] where you can get all sorts of information on nutrition, exercise and motivation for youth athletes. Visit my site and feel free to leave comments and questions if you need more information.