These days, children seem to be given every opportunity by their parents to experience success in sports and every other performance activity (e.g., school, the performing arts). Many young athletes receive extra help from personal fitness trainers, private coaching, and training camps. They are given the opportunity to develop every possible sports skill necessary to [...]
Being a ski coach is a tough job. There is everything you need to know about conditioning, technique, tactics, equipment, and, of course, the mind. There are the logistics of organizing training, travel, and races for a group of athletes, and adapting to the ever-changing conditions inherent in ski racing. There are also the not-very-fun [...]
Just a quick note that my latest parenting book, Raising Generation Tech: Preparing Your Children for a Media-Fueled World, is now available as an e-book for only $2.99 from all of your online booksellers. It is a great read for parents who are struggling with when and how much technology you should allow your children [...]
The conclusion of a sports season can be a time of excitement, relief, and suffering for parents of athletes. The excitement comes when your young athletes have just concluded a season that exceeded their (and your) expectations. The sense of pride and satisfaction can be palatable and reinforces why you have your children involved in [...]
The conclusion of a race season can be a time of excitement, relief, and suffering for parents. The excitement comes when your young ski racers have just concluded a season that exceeded their (and your) expectations. The sense of pride and satisfaction can be palatable and reinforces why you have your children in our brutal [...]
Fear of failure is the single most common cause of performance difficulties for the young athletes who come to me for help. Whether they experience low confidence and extreme negativity, pre-competitive anxiety, a preoccupation with results, or severe self-criticism, in most cases, when we dig deep enough, we discover a profound fear of failure at [...]
Please be prepared. I'm going to go on a bit of rant now. I just can't hold it in any longer. I see parents doing this constantly and it's killing me because they know not what they do and they are actually hurting their children's personal and athletic development. What am I referring to? It's [...]
I was recently interviewed by the Toronto Sun about a remarkable statistic: 26% of parents believe their children will be professional athletes. Remarkable because, as the article notes, the chances are actually infinitesimal.
According to a recent article titled, “Pediatricians to tweak ‘outdated’ screen time recommendations for kids,” the American Academy of Pediatrics, that esteemed organization charged with protecting the health and well-being of children, has decided that their recommendations of limited screen time—basically no screen time for children under 2 years old and only two hours a [...]
Here's a shocking bit of news (note ironic tone) reported in the Huffington Post today: A substantial number of tweens and teens wake up in the middle of the night to either check or post on their social media. Researchers indicated that this habit, found in more than 20% of young people surveyed, disrupted sleep, increased fatigue, [...]