How Coaches' and Parents' Expectations Hurt Athletes
Youth coach Doug Donaldson says he knows intuitively when one of his young athletes feels pressured by a parent’s expectations. And he also knows the problems such well-meaning expectations can create in young athletes.
For example, one of his player’s mothers wants the child to play goalie in Lacrosse. But when the mother isn’t listening, the boy says he wants to play defense. “It’s a real quandary for him. He’s looking for Mom and worrying about what Mom thinks.”
Donaldson says he can sense when his young athletes are driven to do something to meet their parents’ expectations. They feel pressured. “This affects their passion and their interest,” he says.
How do parents’ and coaches’ expectations affect kids’ passion and interest? Not in good ways. Not in ways that improve their mental game–or performance.
Read more… How Coaches' and Parents' Expectations Hurt Athletes at Youth Sports Psychology
posted by Dr. Patrick Cohn at
6:01 PM
4 Comments:
Hi Patrick, yes it's a really interesting subject and quite a popular topic especially work on parental pressure. The parent's really do believe they are trying to do the best but often do more damage than good. They end up living vicariously through their children and push too hard, when the children just wants to and should be having fun.
Good article and that is so true that the child athlete's wants and needs are often not taken into account. The parent has their agenda, the coach has their agenda and often the child is stuck in the middle. I've discovered working with child athletes that I always have two clients, the child and the parent.
I believe the hardest part of being an athlete is understanding the difference between realistic and unrealistic goals. If a child athlete can get realistic goals from their support system, be it their family, friends, or coaches then it will create a environment in which the athlete can flourish. From experience I know that its rather difficult to succeed when you are consistently under pressure to be great. Sometimes in order to reach greatness you have to know that sometimes you can fail.
Many people are into sports nowadays. And I think it's great that many people are now sharing their views on it online.
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