Parents, Coaches, Teachers & Owners – “Building A Champion” Part 5 – Disappointing Mom and Dad
This is a repost from Tom Burgdorf”s series of articles. Follow Tom on Facebook and check his website gymnetsports.com
Can you remember when you were 7 or 8, in sports and your parents watched most of the competitions? “Just go have fun” they said, I wish that took all of the pressure off. In sports you are going to be in the spotlight sometimes where you “do it or don’t do it.” The coaches teach “stay in the moment” and eliminate all of the external things that are putting pressure on you. I wonder if Tiger Woods “stayed in the moment” the past 3 days? World’s greatest golfer and he cracked under the external factors. Most of the American golfers yesterday “gave it up.” These are professionals. These men deal with stress virtually every day and they let it get to them and it affected their performance.
Sports performances are just fleeting moments. Good one day and not so good another day. Prepare well, with some learning and you will have more good days than bad. Parents have to teach these lessons. Parents have to “live” these lessons. You can’t believe in these lessons and then act like these competitions are more serious than they really are. These competitions are “laboratories” for the development of your champion child.
Teach that sports performances can vary. Teach that the preparation can be controlled but that the performance cannot. Especially in a child. How many 3 foot putts were missed by the best golfers in the world over the past 3 days? And we expect, and are disappointed, when a 7 year old wobbles on a 4” beam 4’ in the air in front of a couple of hundred spectators? With a judge marking down every mistake the athlete makes? We have to teach “realistic expectations if we want a champion child.
Sports competitions are not about today, they are about the sum of many todays. Keep that in mind as we watch these incredible, soon to be champion, young adults. Build your champion!
Tom Burgdorf on Facebook (If you like “Tom’s style,” and you run a “for profit” sports gym, cheer gym, dance studio or sports program, consider becoming a member of his Elite 100 Sports Business Program. You can receive a sample of this program by e-mailing Tom@gymnetsports.com. This program is terrific for all year training of staff.)