*Posted in an article written by Dr. Patrick Cohn
Parents, what type of mindset do your sports kids have before a game?
Do they tend to play cautiously at the beginning of a game or come out of the gates swinging?
When kids try to ease slowly into a competition, they often find themselves behind early in the competition because they’re being too cautious. When they play cautiously, they often make mistakes early in the game, panic, then make more mistakes.
Many athletes fail to regain their composure after a slow start and never rebound from an early deficit.
What’s more, with a slow start, kids set the tone for their performance and have a tough time flipping the switch. A slow start often translates into a slow finish. It isn’t easy to go from zero to one hundred in seconds. It’s hard to overcome a lack of momentum.
Young athletes can’t depend on luck to determine their intensity level at the start of a competition. If kids rely on luck, they will usually feel emotionally flat or mentally scattered and may not be able to snap out of that emotional state. The goal is to set the tone early in a competition, during the warm-up.
If sports kids want to play aggressively to start a game, they should mentally prepare to be firing on all cylinders during warm-up.
If they want to play with confidence, they should activate a confident mindset during warm-up. Sports kids should pay attention to their competitive mindset during warm-up so they can perform at their peak from the start of a competition.
When athletes are energized during warm-up, they mentally and physically fuel their performance.
They will have momentum when the competition begins, and they will have a mental edge over the competition
Early in the 2022 NFL season, two-time Pro Bowler Demarcus Lawrence matched a career-high with three sacks in one game.
Lawrence helped the Dallas defense overwhelm New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in a 23-16 victory.
With Lawrence’s leadership, the Cowboys sacked Jones five times, recorded 12 quarterback pressures, and pressured Jones on 40.5% of his dropbacks. After the game, Lawrence talked about his mindset heading into the game: “The energy was up, my body felt good today, so I attacked it.”
The two important words are “energy” and “attack.” Lawrence’s energy was high due to his preparation during warm-up.
Lawrence prepared his body and mind as soon as the game started. He used the word “attack” to remind himself to play aggressively from the game’s first snap.
For sports kids to play at their peak, they need to decide how they want to play, how they will prepare to play, and how to fuel their mindset before the competition starts.
Before warm-up, they should identify one word that summarizes how they want to perform, such as “poised,” “confident,” or “attack.”
They should use this cue word during warm-up to remind themselves of the mindset they want to take into the competition.
Help kids increase their intensity to an optimal level that will help them focus and start strong!
Until Next Time,
Coach Nye
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