Being a mom of a champion is a lot of work. It requires a lot of time and effort, but in return it brings incredible pride and joy. On the eve of International Mother’s Day we tell you how to help your child win the highest titles together with an experienced children’s coach.
Professional squash coach, leading coach of the children’s academy of Moscow squash club
The desire to play sports should come from the child.
Both in joy and in sorrow
The role of a mom in the upbringing of an athlete is hard to overestimate. The main thing you can give your child is support. Mom is the first of all others should support all endeavors, desires of the child. But it’s not just about encouraging words.
Of course, the most valuable is moral support. Mom should always be near and do not let the child to give up, give up sports or give up.
Do not forget that on the shoulders of parents lies the organization of the training process, along with the coaching staff. Mom should help the child to organize his time, she is responsible for the child learning to manage his time, his focus of attention.
It is especially important to help build sports into everyday life: the child should have time to do his homework, go to school, play with friends and play sports.
The role of the mom is very strong when a young athlete fails. This happens due to the fact that the connection with mom in children is a little stronger than with dad, no matter if it is a boy or a girl. When a child fails at something, you can’t hear or feel such consolation from dad. Only mom in such cases can help to get back on their feet and not lose confidence.
How to do not need
One of the biggest mistakes of parents is the demand for quick results and constant victories. You have to realize for yourself – there is no such thing. There are ups and downs in sports. You can’t be a winner, but you can always be someone who gives their best, who focuses on giving their all, all their energy for the sake of the result. It’s important for moms to focus on just that.
Another mistake that so many moms make is discussing and judging. It can be about coaches, opponents or even teammates. Don’t allow yourself to speak negatively in front of your child or in a situation where there is even the slightest chance that you will be heard. Children sense this, and they begin to treat those partners about whom parents speak ill too. It’s a kind of toxic influence of the parent on the child.
An important point is tournament and competition ethics, or rather the lack thereof. Not knowing how to behave in competition is the real vice of moms of young athletes. Do not be overly emotional, keep yourself in control. When a mom reacts nervously to events during the tournament, the same lack of control is transferred to the child, he also stops controlling his emotions. This leads to poor performance.
In the end, the biggest frustration a mom can have is the desire to be realized through her child.
When a mom closes her gestalts through a young athlete, this is probably the most damaging aspect of children’s sports. More often than not, it happens subconsciously, but know that this is the most losing approach to a child’s athletic career.
How to instill a love for sports?
The easiest way is to let him try playing different sports. It is important that he forms his attitude as he goes along and wants to prove himself. Another important point is his own example. This is the best tool to help instill a love of activity.
Do not forget to be interested in what is happening in the training process: it is important for the child to feel your interest and care. Mom should know with whom the child is training, how he communicates with the coach and partners, what is the atmosphere in the team.
It is bad when mom starts to show interest only when there are some problems.
Mom should have a positive, trusting attitude to the coach and she should show it. Kids depend on this a lot, and they develop the same positive-trusting attitude towards the coach and the sport in general.
I really like the analogy of the doctor, nurse and patient relationship. That is, the doctor is the coach, the nurse is the mom, the student is the patient. The doctor conducts the appointment, decides what diagnosis to make, how to treat. The nurse mom creates all sorts of conditions that will ensure successful treatment. The patient trusts the nurse, the doctor, he follows all their instructions. When the nurse begins to introduce certain adjustments, there can be several variants of events. Imagine that there is no trusting relationship between the nurse and the doctor, respectively, the patient sees this and begins to doubt himself.
A mom should definitely know how to behave at competitions, how to communicate with the child after a defeat, how to motivate him, how to talk to the coach. This is one of the most important parts – one of the small bricks on which a very large structure can be built.