Building Confidence In Young Athletes1

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Missy Clark, head trainer and owner of North Run Show Stables, Warren, Vermont, about the pressures and dangers her young athletes face. Clark, who trains some of the nation’s top young riders, describes one top performer who excelled at the sport’s “mental game.” Leading sports psychology expert Patrick Cohn explains why some kids excel during games or competitions.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Loren Seagrave, co-founder of Velocity Sports Performance--and a well-known speed and sports performance coach--about the factors that undermine kids’ confidence in sports. Coach Seagrave, who has worked with Olympic and World Championship medalists and Collegiate All-Americans, focuses on the role coaches and parents play in boosting kids' confidence. Leading “mental game” coach Dr. Patrick Cohn explains the difference between “practice” self-confidence and “performance” self-confidence.

Why and how do parents un-do a coach's lessons during the drive home from a game? How do parents undermine teamwork during the drive home? Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Brian Gardner, successful youth hockey coach and Program Coordinator of Student Involvement, Maryville University of Saint Louis. Gardner explains how well-meaning parents make these mistakes. Mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn tells parents what's best for young athletes during the drive home.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews mental game coach Patrick Cohn, Ph.D. and Wendy Bruce Martin, a former gymnast and 1992 Olympic Bronze Medal winner about how, as a teen, she dealt with others' jealousy of her success. Now a sports mom, Wendy also tells how she deals with others' jealousy of her own talented sports kids, who are also gymnasts.

Sports mom Julia Dreyer and mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn tell why young athletes should not focus on their competitors' strengths before and during competitions. They explain what kids should focus on, instead.

What should parents do if their child's or teen's coach favors certain players? In this episode of Ultimate Sports Parent Radio, mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn and Dony Wilcher, program director for Showtime Athletics, give helpful tips.

What should a parent or coach do when a young athlete worries too much about what the coach thinks of him or her? Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn, basketball coach Dony Wilcher (program director for Showtime Athletics) and sports parent Brad Tibbett about this common problem. Cohn and Wilcher provide tips.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews leading "mental game" coach Dr. Patrick Cohn, along with Coach Les Harrison, founder of Showtime Athletics, about how playing time affects confidence in young athletes--and what parents should do if their athlete isn't getting enough playing time.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews coach Dony Wilcher, program coordinator for Showtime Athletics, and "mental game coach" Dr. Patrick Cohn about fear of failure in teen and child athletes--and what coaches and parents can do about it.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio (www.youthsportspsychology .com), which aims to instill confidence and success in child and teen athletes, interviews sports parents, youth coaches, trainers and others about sports parenting. Leading sports psychology expert Dr. Patrick Cohn provides tips for sports parents and coaches about how they can help young athletes boost their "mental game" in sports.