Young Athletes Should Imagine Success

As a youth sports coach, you have plenty of responsibilities. These include logistics, motivating your team, teaching the fundamentals and showing them how to be successful on and off the field. It can be difficult to juggle these various tasks, but if one thing determines success over any other, it is your ability as a coach to instill mental toughness.

The term ‘mental toughness’ is one of those hot phrases thrown around by sports writers and journalists in an effort to explain the success and shortcomings of the local clubs. But the idea is more applicable to youth sports, when talent often gives way to effort and perseverance. Teaching mental fortitude will help young athletes build strong character. Here are a few ways to accomplish that goal.

Give a demonstration

Some high school coaches use a technique pioneered by sports psychologist Tom Hughes to show the power of psychology in performance. In this test, a volunteer athlete holds his or her arms straight out to the side and the coach attempts to push the athlete’s arms down as the athlete tried to resist. Then, the coach tells the athlete to think negatively, that the athlete has not performed well, and so on , and to resist the coach’s downward pressure a second time. In most cases, the athlete’s arms give way more more easily. Finally, the coach will tell the volunteer that in fact he or she has performed excellently, has made a difference and has made the team better. This third time, the athlete is almost always able to hold his or her arms against the coach’s attempt to push them down.

What this demonstration shows is the power of mentality. Even the suggestion of poor performance can cause an athlete to be less physically capable.

Hold a visualization

Another valuable way to help your athletes become more mentally strong is through visualizations and imagery. Athletes at every level benefit by imagining themselves in the heat of action, performing well and succeeding. Emily Cook, Olympic aerialist, described the benefits of not only seeing herself, but taking in all the sensory details by holding the visualization on the course itself.

 "You have to smell it,“ Cook told the New York Times. "You have to hear it. You have to feel it, everything.”

By using these techniques and recommending your team try them through your sports team website, you can build your players’ confidence, skill set and ability to succeed.