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What’s the true cause of your athletes match failure? Is your child non-athletic? Do they possess flawed strokes?  Or do their match failures stem from mental or emotional deficiencies? Take the below quiz to see if a lack of mental, emotional training is keeping your athlete from the results they deserve.  All the Best, Frank

DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING?

Understand mental/emotional training is the practical application of finding solutions to common pitfalls. We often hear, “My child has trouble closing out a 5-2 lead”, “My child plays terrific in practice but horribly in matches”, “My son can’t beat a moonball, pusher”, “My daughter can’t handle cheaters!”, “My son has trouble focusing for the whole match!”

Essentially, the mental component consists of the X’s and   O’ of strategy. The emotional component refers to the athlete’s ability to navigate through performance anxieties that many athletes see as challenges. Often, these two component are intertwined.

Parents are often hesitant and a bit unclear about the role of mental or emotional training. This type of instruction involves more than simple fundamental stroke production. Developing the “hidden” skill set within your child’s game is crucial for peak performance. It is a myth that only children with abnormal behavioral problems need mental or emotional guidance.

Do we have to change primary coaches to begin working on these issues?

No, not at all! A mental training coach can assist your primary coach and become a part of the team. In fact, the most intelligent coaches will encourage their players to seek out such training. It’s a win-win situation for both the client and the professional.

Is a lack of Mental/Emotional training holding your child back from getting the results they deserve?

TAKE THE QUIZ

The following questions can be used to determine whether your child is in need of mental/emotional training. Good Luck!

• My child plays incredible on the practice court but often falls apart in matches. Yes/No
• My child avoids playing full practice matches most week. Yes/No
• In matches, my child’s focus is only on winning versus actual performance goals. Yes/No
• My child doesn’t apply proper change over and between point rituals in matches. Yes/No
• My child is unorganized in planning their weekly training schedules. Yes/No
• My child has not yet developed his/her secondary strokes. Yes/No
• My child has super high expectations and expects to perform perfectly every match. Yes/No
• We haven’t yet put together our entourage of hitters, teachers, and trainers. Yes/No
• My child hasn’t developed plans or patterns to beat moonball/pushers. Yes/No
• My child hasn’t developed plans or patterns to beat hard hitting baseliners. Yes/No
• My child has problems managing their stress, anger, and mistakes. Yes/No
• My child hasn’t yet developed their groups of proactive patterns. Yes/No
• We do not understand or utilizes periodization training. Yes/No
• My child has trouble dealing with external and internal distractions. Yes/No
• My child doesn’t spot mega points and mini mega points. Yes/No
• My child doesn’t know the difference between a positive mega point and a negative mega point. Yes/No
• My child lacks confidence in his/her abilities. Yes/No
• My child has trouble coping with cheaters. Yes/No
• In matches, my child’s mind often wanders to the past or the future. Yes/No
• My child’s training has primarily focused on stroke mechanics. Yes/No
• My child wants to win so badly it affects his/her performance. Yes/No
• My child freezes under stress and plays “Not to lose” instead of playing “to win.” Yes/No
• My child words, “I want to be a pro”, don’t match his/her actions. Yes/No
• My child doesn’t know how to spot the opponents tendencies in match play. Yes/No
• My child hasn’t spent time identifying his/her mental game strengths and weaknesses. Yes/No

ANSWERS: If you or your child checked “Yes” to any of the above questions, you may want to consider mental and emotional training.

Peak performance under stress is not reserved for the gifted few, it’s the “software’ that needs to be developed along with the athletic hardware. Simply put, being mentally or emotionally tough under stress is a learned behavior.