Sports Psychology for Kids Articles

Build mental toughness for young athletes

How Do Young Athletes Develop Mental Toughness?

Quick Summary: How Young Athletes Build Mental Toughness

  • Start with the basics: Mental toughness isn’t a mysterious gift—it’s the result of developing practical skills like self-confidence and performance evaluation.
  • Self-confidence from within: For youth athletes, true confidence grows not just from praise or wins—but from learning to speak to themselves positively and believe in their abilities.
  • Reflect with purpose: A simple post-performance routine—“What did I do well? Where can I improve?”—helps young athletes focus on progress instead of perfection..
  • Mental training for youth matters: Just as physical fundamentals are taught early, the fundamentals of a strong mindset (e.g., managing mistakes, focus, goal-setting) should be introduced young.
  • Make it simple and doable: Young athletes benefit most when exercises are easy to understand, repeatable, and action-oriented—so they become habits, not just ideas.
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Good goal setting skills are importantly for young athletes to learn. In this article

Goal Setting for Young Athletes

Good goal setting skills are importantly for young athletes to learn. In this article, you will learn a strategy to teach your young athlete how to set good goals for their sport.

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Eli Straw

Eli is a sport psychology consultant and mental game coach who works 1-1 with athletes to help them improve their mental skills and overcome any mental barriers keeping them from performing their best.

He has an M.S. in psychology and his mission is to help athletes and performers reach their goals through the use of sport psychology & mental training. 

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