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Hi Maniac Sports Parent: You May Be: 'Swing It! Vol.116 December 19, 2013 |
Are You a Maniac Baseball Parent?
MERRY CHRISTMAS to my baseball friends: Most Likely Not There is something about youth sports that can bring out the worst in normally calm, cool and responsible adults. The competition itself amps up our emotions and desires to protect our kids from harm and embarrassment. Watching our kids play sports is stressful. “Little league baseball is a six inning nervous breakdown waiting to happen.” Folks should be able to take a couple of hours out of their busy lives and enjoy watching their children play with their friends and other families. What Makes Great Sports ParentsHere are a few tips to make sure you don’t become maniac baseball parents and coaches.• Avoid getting too emotional and worked up over the winning and losing. The kids finish the games and want to know where we are going to eat for dinner. Tell your kids how much you enjoyed watching them play. • Never coach from the bleachers. The ‘bleacher-creatures’ are notorious for taking over the coaching roles from the coaches. Remember the more rubbish coaching you feed your kids from the bleachers (and dugout) the more mind clutter you put in the kids heads. Yogi Berra said, “Your cannot think and try to hit at the same time.” • Avoid the PGA (post game analysis). Proactive Coaching LLC did a study over three decades with hundreds of athletes. They asked the athletes, “What is your worst memory from playing youth and high school sports?” The overwhelming response was, “The ride home from the games with my parents.” • What did the study show was the favorite parent response from athletes? “I love to watch you play.” • Refrain from measuring the amount of post game praise to your kids on the performances. Example: Big game with several hits and a win equals = large amount of praise. Or • No hits, strikeouts, dropped fly ball and only played three innings with a loss equals= no praise and some scolding. This is a slippery slope. Basing your post game praise on performance measures is going to lead to a very bad ending for everyone in the family. When success starts to become fleeting for the athlete you will see kids looking for the exit—especially with no praise from parents at all.
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