Prevention of Injury in Youth Sports

Injuries are common in youth sports.  With proper training, many injuries can be avoided. The facts about injuries in youth sports: 48% of young athletes have at least one injury during an athletic season.  65% of these injuries are minor. … Continue reading

3 Tips to Prep for a Test or Big Game

Worried about your mathematics test or football game against your biggest rival?  What is the best way to prepare for the event? Here are three tips for performing your best on the big day. 1. Get a good night’s sleep.   Make … Continue reading

Managing Mistakes

Teaching Children and Adolescents to Manage Mistakes We want our children and teenagers to perform well, and so do they.  However, the pressure of perfectionism can lead to the fear of making mistakes.  When there is so much pressure to … Continue reading

Productive Positive Thinking

How do you make positive thinking work for you? Gabriele Oettingen, of New York University and the University of Hamburg has been researching positive thinking and motivation.  In her book, Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation, she states that … Continue reading

Prevention of Stress in Children’s Sports

Excessive stress, injury, being burnt out, along with other negative aspects of youth sport can be avoided. Here are some simple ways to avoid putting too much stress on athletes and creating problems. The thrill should be competition, not winning. … Continue reading

Children in Sports – Benefits

There are many benefits of a young child’s involvement in sport.  Through sports, children learn physical skills, gain an appreciation of physical fitness, and grow emotionally and socially. Learning Physical Skills Young athletes learn both fundamental motor skills and sport-specific … Continue reading

Introducing Children to Sports

Many parents come to me with questions about their children’s involvement in sports.  When should children start sports?  What sports should they do?  When should sports get competitive?  Expert Frank Eksten of the Franciscan Sports Medicine Institute in Indiana answers these … Continue reading

Supporting Your Child Athlete – 5 Tips

Parents want their child to have confidence and enjoy their sport, but they don’t want to over-praise.  How can you best support your child in sport? Here are a 5 tips for supporting your child athlete: 1. Encourage self-motivation. Motivation must … Continue reading