You and your children probably love
youth sports and thoroughly enjoy taking part in them. For parents
they provide some extra time to bond with younger ones, while also
help foster strength in the parent/ child relationship. We’ve
compiled a list of things to ensure you do to keep things positive –
take a look below.
1. Continue to teach important
skills.
Most young children cannot pick up a
skill after only one demonstration. Repeat yourself often. Talk about
different situations in which the particular skill might come into
play. Then, practice those skills time and time again until it almost
becomes second nature to the child.
2. Focus on the positive parts of
the game.
It is much easier
to remember what went wrong rather than what went right in life. This is true for adults as well as children.
Think about your job. What do you remember from last week? Is the
first thought that pops into your head something negative or
something positive? Employers, for example, tend to miss the vast
majority of the good things going on in the office because they only
see the bad. With sports, constantly work to see the good. Look for
opportunities to praise children. For each criticism that you hand
out, you need to say at least four positive things as well. This
helps to build children up rather than making them feel like they
will never be successful.
3. Be specific in your praise.
Children are more likely to remember a
specific compliment rather than a generic statement. For instance,
saying "Your batting form looked great out there today" is
more likely to resonate with a child than simply saying "Great
hitting!" However, coaches are more likely to be specific when
it comes to corrections and not to compliments. This is one of the
reasons that children remember more negatives than positives.
4. Make a big deal over a success.
Kids react to animation. Your tone of
voice, your facial expressions and your gestures are all important.
When something good happens, get animated! Rewarding your child or
the team after special occasions can be a great way to showcase
positivity. This can be done with away days to a pro match, custom baseball jerseys or maybe with a meal out with the whole team.
5. Enjoy yourself.
I have coached for a long time, but
there is one player that sticks out in my mind. He was not a
particularly emotional player, but if he found himself getting worked
up, he would repeat a particular phrase to himself. While I can't
remember the exact language, it had to do with the fact that having
fun is the ultimate goal of the game. When pressed further about his
mantra, the player told me that to him, having fun was learning and
growing as player. When coaching children, it is important to impart
knowledge to them. This is part of the fun of the game.
6. Laugh often.
The player that I mentioned above had a
hard game one time. He was pitching, and he gave up a lot of walks in
the first inning, to the point that the other team scored five runs.
When it was our turn to get up to bat, the entire team seemed down.
The pitcher walked up to me and smiled, however. He kept things
positive and made a small joke about what had happened on the field.
It quickly lightened up the atmosphere and the rest of the team got
their heads back into the game. As a coach, it is important to be
able to laugh. The kids need it and the adults need it as well.
7. Don't make assumptions.
Kids may not be familiar with the
language that you are using. As you give directions, keep it simple.
Make sure your players understand what you are asking them to do.
Also, teach skills in several different ways so that children are
able to get a better picture of what you are saying to them.
Disclosure: This is a contributed post.
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