7 Ways to Help Your Child Build Mental Toughness

Athletes can practice to get their bodies in the best shape for a game, but being prepared mentally is completely different. Fear of failure is real—no matter how old you are.

That’s why it’s important to help youth athletes build confidence. Not only does it improve their mental health, but it also impacts aspects of their lives outside of sport.

Sure, for some players things just come easier and their personalities exude confidence. But for (many) others, they struggle to believe in themselves. So along with instilling unshakeable confidence, you also want to inspire mental toughness in your child. And here are 7 ways to do just that.

Look to the future.

Everyone loses once in a while, but that doesn’t make it easy. Help your child put that last play behind them and focus on the next opportunity.

Focus on the positive.

Even after near perfect performances, it’s natural for players to dwell on one or two failures. Help your child focus on successes and how to learn from failures in order to overcome them.

Don’t punish every mistake.

Not every misstep needs to be addressed. Don’t step in until mistakes become a habit that needs to be corrected.

Don’t show disappointment.

Your job as a parent is to help your child build confidence—so encourage, support, and just be there for them.

Let them own it.

When young athletes can accept that they make mistakes, that is when progression starts.

Be the rock.

Emotions ride high during games, and coaches and players sometimes overreact to what is going on. Your job is to show your child how to handle both successes and failures maturely.

Repeat after me.

In the end, belief has to come from within. Create a mantra for your child to say over and over when times get tough. “Let’s do it,” “I believe,” and “I got this” are all powerful starting points.

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