Youth Sports Learning Materials

November 30, 2023, Sports Psychology In-Class Notes Youth Sports - - - - - The psychology of young athletes o Different lines of development  Start at a low level and develop.  Physical development  The type of physical body development  Moral development  Emotional development  Being able to regulate, identify, and manage your emotions.  Being able to cope as you grow older.  IQ  Kinesthetic  How you control your body and your bodily control  Cognitive Involvement/sport participation in sports develops at around 12 years old. o Trying to find their specialization. Reasons for participation o For every 10 kids who start a sports season, 3 to 4 of them discontinue before the start of the next season.  They want to have fun, improve their skills, be active, o If a kid has a low perception of their athletic ability, they are quicker to drop out, kids who see themselves as good athletes persist. o Are kids withdrawing from a team or program or sports all together? Implications for participation o Most kids want to have fun, it is cool to be there. o Gives kids a sense of worth and confidence. o While we are teaching kids things like goals over winning there are 4 questionswho participates and who doesn’t  Has the child developed an interest in another sport or activity?  Does the child’s withdraw appear to be permanent or temporary?  Did the child have a part or a choice in the decision to withdraw, or were they cut from the team or injured, did they have control or no control?  What effect does the withdraw from sport have on the child’s wellbeing? Children develop differently at different ages, development is not one thing, what aspect of development are you looking at. o What age are we dealing with, and how do we support them in all aspects on their development. Children and Stress o Qualities to limit burnout for kids in programs Skill development- provide instruction so they feel like they are getting better.  Set it up, the kids are having fun- some free time.  Affiliation- allows the kids time to connect with each other.  Excitement- make sure there is variety in how you practice- come up with games not just training.  Fitness- Teach them how to monitor their fitness.  Success- they have a chance to improve and meet their goals- feel more confident. o The Affiliation motive.  Kids enjoy sports because it gives them a chance to be with friends and make new friends. o Appropriate challenges  Give them a sense of mastery in easy tasks, then things to do that are right at their level so they don’t get it every time, then a challenge.  When a child is learning to talk- if they come close you congratulate them, then you raise the bar.  Want to balance not constantly under or over challenge. o Burnout  Kids have state anxiety.  Situational sources of stress in sports  Losing a game  Event importance  The type of sport- individual sports more stressful  Elite junior competition  Feelings of inadequacy and failure  Their identity is more tied up in their performance.  Sometimes kids are pushed too far.  How do we teach kids to cope with stress  When you give them advice, advice uses concrete or physical coping strategies. o Put your worries in a “bag”- visual imagery. Fun strategies  o Play games.  Be positive and assure them they are going to be okay. Coaches and Parents o Children have needs different than adults. o Coaches  Can offer technical instruction you don’t get from parents.  A coach who encourages technical instruction, players have more selfesteem.  Create an environment where kids are not afraid to try out new skills. o Coaching coaches  - Many do not understand many of the facets of sports psychology and do not want to admit it. o Parents  Help them understand their role.  What their role is when they have a child who is an elite athlete  Parents play a huge role.  Positive or negative  There are phases for elite athletes.  Entry or initial phase- trying different sports.  Investment phase- your talent is recognized-put all your effort into one sport.  Elite performance excellence phase- you are in a sport in which you are recognized for being talented and you are practicing a lot.  Excellence maintenance phase- there are considerably high demands placed on the athlete.  Parents want to look out for the well-being of the child in general. Character Development o The social learning approach.  Kids learn how to act based on observational learning or modeling.  Reinforcement and social comparison o The structural developmental approach  You try to understand psychological growth and development regarding thoughts and judgements interacting with environmental experiences to shape moral reasoning.  What we except from you at different ages- sports facilitate this o Social-psychological approach  You start to focus on the mutual interests of everyone.  People start to define good sporting behavior because it supports everybody. What are things we can do to foster character development. o We want kids to become resilient. o Social competence- skillful with people o Autonomy- capable on your own o Optimism and hope- want kids to know they will be successful  - -