Parent Types at Youth Sports
by admin- Tags:
- Attitude
During every martial arts event we’ve always come across a couple of parents on the sideline who either motivate their kid to the core, or shout out inappropriate comments to make them feel even more uncomfortable. Very often, these words of motivation or discouragement uttered by the parents are not merely directed to their own kids but also to their teammates, referees and coaches. But have you ever wondered, how exactly this behavior influences your child’s performance? Have you ever wondered about how much you should actually be involved in the game? In case you haven’t, it’s high time you do, because you, as a parent, have a major role in child’s overall performance. Yes. Your words can either build or break your little one’s self-esteem. So it is better to choose your words wisely at any kind of sporting event.
It is undoubtedly true that parents do have a significant role in their kid’s sporting development. However, one should also take necessary caution in their behavioural approach, because as mentioned earlier, it might have a positive or even negative impact on your child.
According to a study by McCarthy and Clark-Carter in 2008, positive involvement of parents is indeed one of the most highly essential aspects in your child’s overall development. This further implies that when a child participating in a sport receives positive involvement of their parents, then they are likely to enjoy their sporting experience even more.
On top of that, with regard to child development, positive impact of parents can also help your kid develop several important skills like motivation, social interaction and most importantly self esteem. These are highly valuable skills that will facilitate the holistic development of your child. It is also likely to help them in their school work and co-curricular activities. Parents can effectively assist in their child’s development of skills by motivating them to ponder about the skills that they gain from sports. Parental involvement also plays a vital role in assisting the child to reach the standards of a professional. A recent study was conducted on children playing martial arts. Almost all of them suggested that their parents indeed have one of the most significant roles in their skill development. Coaches too suggested that there is a positive relationship between the support from parents and a child’s progress to perform their sport at a professional level.
Proper parental support can only be ensured when the parent does not get over-involved in their kid’s development. They should rather provide the exact emotional and tangible support that will pave way for their overall development. However, coaches have also suggested that certain parents exhibit certain detrimental traits while attempting to support their kid. While some of them over inflate the child’s ego, others provide inappropriate training advice and pressurize their kid. Such behaviour will only take a toll on your child’s self esteem. So while being supportive to your kid, you should not be too overpowering because that might pressure your child and mar their success in the sport. Considering these traits, we have listed a couple of common parental behaviours at a sporting event. Read on, to know how your persona can affect your child’s sporting event.
The motivators
These are the kind of parents who are much needed at every sporting event. They motivate their kids to perform their best, without pressurizing or overpowering them. They encourage their child to give the best shot without comparing them with others. These kinds of parents are the best from the lot, as they have a lot of positive influence on the child. Not only do they get a boost to perform better, but their self esteem too is commendably boosted with the positive parental support.
The over-doers
Yes. On one hand we have motivators who motivate their child to the utmost, and on another hand we have over-doers who end up overpowering their child and pressurizing them to rank higher. They are way too much into the game and take every possible measure to ensure that their child is ��the best’ in his sport. At times, they also give unsolicited advice to the coaches about improving their child’s performance. While on one hand, the effort taken by the parents to boost and motivate their child is indeed commendable, one should also take note that over-doing and pressurizing the child can end up having a negative impact on his performance. Instead of being motivated for good, he will always be under the pressure to live up to his parents’ expectations. Additionally, the child might also not be able to enjoy the best from the game due to this immense pressure. So, being too concerned about your child can take a toll on his self esteem and lead him to under-perform in his martial arts session.
The ones who constantly compare
Their child might win the annual martial arts tournament, but these are the kind of people who are never satisfied with their kid’s success. Instead of praising their performance and encouraging them to do consistently well, they would rather end up comparing the child to someone else. No matter how well the child performs, these parents constantly have this idea that they can still do better. Yes. We do know that setting goals and aiming big is going to help your child. But comparing him with someone else will only take a toll on his motivation. Instead of performing for himself, he will end up performing only to prove himself better than the other person. Competitiveness is essential in every kind of sport. But if you choose harsh words to pressurize the child instead of encouraging him for whatever little he has done, your parenting is definitely likely to break your kid’s will and confidence.
The clueless ones
In every sporting event, you will always stumble upon a couple of parents who are completely oblivious about what is going on. These parents don’t love their kids any less, but they are somehow just not bothered about how they perform in sports. Such kind of behaviour too is also not recommended. All of us are busy with our lives. But as a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that the child encouraged and motivated enough during the sport. It is a part of parenting, to take some time out of your busy schedule and talk to your child about the sport he is about to perform. It is a part of your responsibility to motivate and encourage him to perform well. Laid back attitude from the parents give children an impression that they are not bothered at all. This affects their self-esteem and confidence level, breaking them completely.
The ones who think that their kid is never wrong
These are the kind of parents who scold the coach, if the coach scolds their kid or advises him to make his performance better. They cannot hear a word against their child and end up over encouraging them than they actually should. These kinds of parents too, have a negative impact on the child as they often end up over-inflating the child’s ego. The kids end up think themselves to be better than they actually are which makes them over-confident during the game.
Dos and don’ts for parents
Dos
Always encourage your child to develop an inherent self-awareness about the skills they have achieved during the martial arts session. This will boost your child’s self esteem and help them perform better in many other fields of life.
Try to put a lot of trust in the methods suggested by your child’s coach. If the same kinds of guidelines are given by both the coach and the parent, then the child is likely to be less confused about their techniques. They will end up focusing more towards better performance and also set goals to achieve the same.
Give them proper and consistent emotional support. This might seem quite obvious, but reassuring your kid that you are always there when they look out for you, will make them more confident.
Don’ts
Don’t become over-involved in the child’s sport. Although this might be your own way to show how much you care, be aware of the fact that there is one fine line between supporting them and getting over involved.
Don’t provide inappropriate advice about coaching. This might lead to a situation, where you and the coach have conflicting ideas about your child’s technique. If you disagree in some aspect with the coach, it is better to have a personal discussion with him, instead of being disrespectful in front of the child.
Don’t put too much pressure on your child to perform. Do not emphasize the significance of doing better than others and winning every tournament. No matter whatever the standard of competition is, your little one should always enjoy their sport. Additional pressure will not only take away the enjoyment but also act as a hindrance in their performance. Their confidence too might be broken due to this kind of attitude.
How martial arts boosts your child’s self esteem?
Self confidence is an ability to trust oneself and one’s inherent abilities. However, for that, one first needs to be aware of what and how exactly they are competent on a physical, mental and emotional level. For understanding this, it is highly essential for you to challenge yourself constantly and push limits to check how much you can actually take. Challenging and pushing yourself from time to time eventually helps in extending and improving your capabilities. Since martial arts, is an excellent way for self improvement of one’s mind, body and inherent soul, this training is an enjoyable way to gain self confidence.
As parents, you can always train your child to practice better by challenging their limits from a considerably young age. In this way, they learn to give their best in every kind of situation. If you are looking out to boost your child’s self esteem from a young age, enroll them at a karate class right from the pre-school years. These are the early and formative years that play a vital role in the development of their minds and bodies. This also boosts their self esteem and helps them to tackle the adverse situations of life, flawlessly.
Martial arts, involves a kind of progression, from one specific level to the corresponding ones. Each of the successive levels requires your child to perform a series of simple and complex moves. With every passing level they end up challenging their old self and performing for the better. The desire to perform better boosts their self esteem which in turn paves way for their overall success in life. Not only do they gain some amazing self defense skills, but with the support of their coach and the motivating words of parents they gain a different kind of confidence that plays a vital role in the long run.
By qualifying the different skill tests, your kids get a different sense of accomplishment. They learn to experiment with the different test strategies which further improve their agility, tolerance level and speed. Along with praise and good feedback from the coaches and parents, if the kids continuously progress in their martial arts skills, then their moves and techniques improve with time. This pushes and motivates them to perform better. Reaching every new level in martial arts can be a great milestone and this itself can be best achieved with proper parental support.
Being adept in martial arts also helps your kids to combat bullying. They end up defending themselves and being safer and better. Understanding themselves and improving their skills with each passing day, give your kids an amazing sense of self-motivation and self-reliance. Their attitude towards life changes and they have a positive attitude towards everything. Likewise, they also master the art of setting goals, being patient and tolerant while trying new things. They end up tackling the adversities of life flawlessly.
So as parents it is indeed essential for you to support your child’s martial arts training, in order to boost his confidence and motivation levels in the long run. With your consistent support and guidance he will gain better self-esteem to tackle difficult situations in life. Follow these tips to ensure better and consistent development of your child’s sports training.
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