The Top 10 Things to Avoid During Tryouts

Hi Everyone, thanks for checking out this week’s newsletter. Below you'll find:

• Performance Concept of the week

  • The Top 10 Things to Avoid During Tryouts: And How as a Parent to Support Your Athlete Through Them

• Action plan

• Resource of the week

• Things to Explore

• Got Questions?

Performance Concept of the Week

The Top 10 Things to Avoid During Tryouts: And How as a Parent to Support Your Athlete To Avoid Them.

Tryouts can be equally if not more stressful on parents of competitive or high performance athletes than the athlete themselves. Rather than spend time worrying (which won’t help your mental health) here's a top 10 list of things athletes should avoid during tryouts, along with tips on how you can support your child through this critical process.

Remember the key is to support them, not eliminate these problems. The resilience they will build by going through adversity and being armed with the right mental tools for their toolbox is critical!

** Key Point for this Article - In life we do more of what we talk or think about. So the best way to support your athlete is not to shed light on these 10 things to avoid, but focus on the support piece by reminding your athlete what to do more of!

1. Overthinking Performance

What to Avoid: Athletes often get caught up in overthinking their performance, leading to hesitation and mistakes. Focusing too much on the mechanics or technical skills of the game can cause paralysis by analysis.

How to Support: Encourage your athlete to trust their training and let muscle memory take over. Remind them that they've prepared for this moment and to play naturally (this is building their self-esteem & confidence).

2. Fear of Failure

What to Avoid: Fear of not making the team can paralyze athletes, causing them to play too conservatively or tentatively. This mindset can negatively impact their performance.

How to Support: Foster a confident and activated mindset in your athlete. Help them focus on showcasing their skills without fear of mistakes. Reinforce the idea that competing with energy, intensity and focus is key.

3. Negative Self-Talk

What to Avoid: Negative self-talk undermines confidence and increases anxiety, leading to mistakes. Phrases like "I can't make this shot" or "I'm not good enough to be here" are detrimental.

How to Support: Encourage positive self-talk (affirmations) such as “I got this”, “I am ready for this”, and “It is my time”. Boost their self-confidence with supportive and uplifting language. When you hear negative self-talk, challenge your athlete and ask them why they think that, and what proof they have of it!

4. Comparing Themselves to Others

What to Avoid: Constantly comparing themselves to other players can lead to decreased self-confidence and increased anxiety.

How to Support: Help your athlete focus on their own performance and personal goals. Remind them that everyone has a unique journey and to concentrate on their progress.

5. Focusing on Outcomes Instead of the Process

What to Avoid: Being overly concerned with the result of the tryout (making the team) can increase pressure and decrease performance by causing them to freeze.

How to Support: Emphasize the importance of the process over the outcome. Encourage a next-play mentality, focusing on executing skills and strategies effectively. By focusing on the process if you are good enough, you should make the team!

6. Lack of Preparation

What to Avoid: Not being mentally prepared for the tryout, such as failing to visualize success, practicing relaxation techniques, or developing a pre-game routine.

How to Support: Encourage your athlete to develop and refine their mental preparation routine. Skills like visualization of success, practicing relaxation techniques, and sticking to a pre-game routine to enhance their sense of control and calmness.

7. Inability to Manage Stress and Anxiety

What to Avoid: Failing to manage stress and anxiety can result in physical symptoms like increased heart rate and muscle tension, hurting performance and increasing mistakes. Stress gets a bad reputation. The reality is a little bit of stress is important to help your brain and body get prepared to do hard things and in this case compete in tryouts.

How to Support: Encourage your athlete to use mental skill techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, and progressive muscle relaxation to manage stress. Help them recognize psychological symptoms and encourage open communication about their feelings. Simply put, remind them to breath!

8. Loss of Focus

What to Avoid: Allowing distractions to interfere with present moment focus can lead to mistakes, or as coaches would say “mental mistakes”.

How to Support: Help your athlete stay focused by encouraging them to have a refocus cue(s) to get back on track when distractions occur. Encourage them to stay present and focus on the task at hand.

9. Unrealistic Expectations

What to Avoid: Setting unrealistic goals or expectations can lead to disappointment and increased pressure, negatively affecting performance. This is possibly the most important one on the list.

How to Support: Guide your athlete in setting achievable goals and focus on consistent improvement. Reinforce the importance of consistency in performance to show coaches their reliability.

10. Inadequate Warm-Up and Routine

What to Avoid: Not having a proper warm-up routine or failing to follow their usual pre-competition routine can disrupt mental and physical readiness. Many athletes only do the physical routine and then wonder why there is no mind-body connection when they start to compete!

How to Support: Encourage your athlete to develop a consistent pre-performance routine. Ensure they have adequate time to warm up and stick to their usual rituals to enhance focus and readiness.

Summary

Supporting Your Athlete

With the stress that is brought on by tryouts, your athlete’s wellbeing may be challenged, let alone their performance. By supporting them through the process you can help them build the resilience all competitive or high performance athletes need. They key is you need to support, not direct. Here are some general tips to help you be their best supportive ally:

• Be Positive and Encouraging: Maintain a positive attitude and provide encouragement before and after tryouts regardless of the outcome.

• Listen and Communicate: Be an active listener and provide a safe space for your child to express their thoughts and feelings. If they are a competitive or high performance athlete they already know if they played well or not, they need someone to talk to, not be told what to do!

• Stay Involved, Not Overbearing: Show interest in their progress without adding pressure. Balance involvement with giving them space to grow.

• Promote a Healthy Lifestyle: Ensure they get enough rest, proper nutrition, and time to relax and recharge.

By avoiding these common pitfalls and providing the right support, you can help your athlete navigate tryouts with confidence and perform at their best.

Action Plan

This week’s action plan includes a bit of reflection by you the parent. Go through the list above again and pick the top three (3) factors that you think will impact your athlete the most.

Then - Talk to them about those factors and let them build their own plan to deal with them!

Resource of the Week

Breath work and breathing techniques are one of the easiest and quickest ways to help athletes find their focus and calm. Check out our breathing and breath work guide.

Pre-Season Mental Performance Tune-Up Offer

Book a free 20 minute intro appointment to discuss how F365 can help personalize a mental performance package for your athlete prior to the season!

Things to Explore

• Read: Our Reading Library

• Download: Resource Guide Series

• View: Previous Weekly Performance Concepts

Got Questions?

Do you have a question, or want to know more about a topic. Let our team of experts help you. Ask your question here by clicking the button below. We will post answers to questions within future newsletters.

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