Building Confidence In Young Athletes1

Dr. Joan Steidenger, a licensed clinical and sports psychologist who works with athletes at all levels and a certified consultant to the Association of Applied Sports Psychology, discusses the challenges female teen athletes face and how parents should address them. Many female teens drop out, she says.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Kirk Mango, a three-time Hall of Fame Athlete, National Champion, and author of “Becoming A True Champion.” Sports kids too often think, "I want it now." But becoming a true champion, he says, requires commitment and responsibility. He explains how parents can help impart these values and improve kids' experiences.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Danny Cullinane, a coach and a sports parent who lectures in sports development. He says pressure is the Number One mental game challenge sports kids face in the UK, and discusses how those involved in sports development help kids thrive. Mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn provides commentary.

Brian Swarz, a coach, ref and umpire gives tips for parents about how to best build confidence during games. Patrick Cohn, a mental game expert, provides commentary.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Steve Siebold, a former professional athlete (top 500 tennis player), a mental toughness coach to professional and amateur athletes, and the author of "177 Mental Toughness Secrets of The World Class" about what builds confidence in sports kids.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Diane Stoler (drdiane.com), a neuropsychologist, about how parents can help "train" athletes' brains to reduce performance anxiety and boost performance.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Kristin Carroll, vice president of corporate and consumer marketing for Active Network, about a recent survey that provides details about what motivates kids to participate in sports. Some interesting surprises!

How can you teach your kids to be winning losers? Lots of ways, says Frank J. Sileo, PhD, a psychologist with more than 16 years’ experience working with kids and families and the author of Sally Sore Loser: A Story about Winning and Losing. He gives tips about how to help sports kids make the most of losing.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Gary Avischious, founder and head coach of CoachingSchool.org about how he integrates the science of play into his practices and how it boosts his young athletes' performance. Mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn provides commentary.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Hal Wissel, a basketball coach who has worked for numerous NBA teams, is founder of Basketball World, and author of Basketball: Steps to Success, about how to build confidence in young athletes. His tips--for basketball shooters--apply to all sports kids.

Ultimate Sports Parent interviews Dr. Robert Goldman, a Psy.D. psychologist, criminal defense attorney and author of "No Room for Vengeance," about his unique strategy for ending bullying. We need to teach our children how to resolve conflicts in a more transformative manner, and he tells how to do this.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews holly, the sports mom to a high school''+ swimmer who abandoned his dream of being an Olympic swimmer because he was bullied by a coach. The family took on the system and changed USA Swimming's code of Conduct to address bullying.

Lisa Cohn of Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn about why it's so important for young athletes to learn how to hone their focus. He explains how destructive distractions can be, and tells how the new program, "The Focused Sports Kid," helps parents and coaches teach kids how and what to focus on in sports, and how to refocus when they're distracted. For more information, visit http://www.youthsportspsychology.com/youth_sports_psychology_blog/?p=1575

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews sports mom Kim, who successfully took our advice and found ways to communicate with a coach about how he hurt her son by humiliating and yelling at him. When the coach changed his behavior, Kim's son broke team records. Mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn provides commentary.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Anthony Ross, an Australian sport psychologist and former All-American tennis player, and director of SportParentSupport.com, who shares his research about how parents' childhood memories of sports can affect their behavior as sports parents. He provides tips for helping sports parents get a handle on their emotions and improve their kids' experience.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Joe Dinoffer, president of Oncourt Offcourt and sports dad to a tennis player who suffered an injury that took her out of tennis when she was a top player. When this happened, she was being homeschooled and her parents had bought a bigger house to accomodate her sports career. Should parents plan for such injuries? What can parents do when injuried derail sports kids?

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Gary Simmons, author of "Gymbag Wisdom," and a sports performance specialist. He says that the best athletes who come to him had lots of unstructured play. Mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn provides commentary.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Tony Acosta, who coaches 10- 11-year-olds in Australian rules football, about how he used Kids' Sports Psychology resources to beat a formidable opponent and win a championship.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio interviews Brenda, the mom to a skater who admits she struggles with nervousness, high expectations and perfectionism while watching her daughter skate. Her daughter tells her this undermines her skating. Mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn provides coaching to improve Brenda's sports parenting.

Ultimate Sports Parent Radio gets tips from Barbara Hopewell, sports mom to Summer Sanders, a swimmer who won four medals at the 1992 Olympic games. Summer wrote a book about her parents called “Champion are Raised, Not Born: How My Parents Made Me a Success." Mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn provides commentary.