Learning the mental skills of soccer is as important as the
physical. Perhaps even more so.
While most kids won’t go on to need their physical
skills in their 40’s or 50’s, they will need the mental
skills.
These skills include:
* Learning to deal with failure
* Setting goals
* Working as a team
* Good sportsmanship
* Drive and determination
Just as practice is designed to teach the
physical skills, it should be designed to
teach the mental ones too.
Here are four tips for teaching kids the
mental game.
1) Use praise when someone shows an example of
a mental skill you want them to have. Pointing out
poor examples is not effective.
2) At the beginning of each practice, choose one trait
you’d like to bring out. Design a drill to focus on it.
3) Incorporate goal setting into your program. Teach
your team how to set individual and team goals.
4) Teach them the traits necessary to accomplish the
goals. Setting a goal of going to the State Championships
is fine. The real challenge is what will it take to accomplish it?
100% attendance at practice?
Extra ten minutes a day working on skills?
Focusing on effort even when tired when conditioning?
Being mentally tough is not a matter of luck or genetics.
It’s all in how you coach and how you play. Practice it
every day.
