While youth sports bring many physical and mental health benefits to children, they also can elicit worry and anxiety. Anxiety may manifest as a child who complains of a stomach ache before every Little League practice, or one who is overly self-critical of their performance on the track team. There are several approaches you can take to assist your child in working through sports-related anxiety.
Explain that these feeling are normal
Kids who experience sports-related anxiety may feel different from or isolated from peers who express only excitement about participation in athletics. Your child may feel some initial relief knowing that anxiety is a common experience, and one that they can learn to manage. For young kids, there are some great children’s books about anxiety like Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival and Wilma Jean the Worry Machine by Julia Cook. More specific to sports, Olympic medalist Laurie Hernandez authored a children’s book called She’s Got This about a young athlete who finds courage to continue her gymnastics routine after falling down.
Openness about mental health is becoming increasingly common among professional athletes. Most recently, tennis star Naomi Osaka and Olympic champion Simone Biles have withdrawn from major competitions to care for their mental health. The significance of this public acknowledgement of mental health challenges – including anxiety – cannot be underestimated. Help your child find athletes that play their chosen sports and have been open about pre-game worries and anxiety. Depending on your child’s age, you might share interviews that athletes have given to the press in which they discuss pre-game coping strategies. Youth benefit greatly from role models and may take comfort in the knowledge that their sports heroes take steps to care for their mental health.
Help them build body awareness
When children develop an understanding of what happens in their body when they worry, they become better able to gain control of their anxiety. You can help your child build body awareness using simple exercises. Ask your child about what they feel in their body when they are stressed or anxious. They may describe clenching their teeth, feeling light-headed, increased heart rate, shallow breathing, leg weakness, sweating, or other symptoms. You might say something like, “I see that you feel your worries in your belly. Let’s practice some exercises that help your belly feel better before baseball practice.”
Introduce Visualization Techniques
One skill set that can be valuable to a child who experiences anxiety prior to a sports practice or competition involves visualization. Depending on the nature of your child’s anxiety, you might help them to visualize stepping onto the playing field or imagining themselves having fun during the game. While building up visual imagery, encourage clients to imagine what each of their five senses might be experiencing (example: “I smell the grass. I hear the referee’s whistle. I see my teammates sitting on the bench”). Having a clear image of what they can expect to experience during their game or practice removes the uncertainty that fuels anxiety. This exercise is particularly helpful for kids who become most anxious on the way to their sports practice or game.
Target Relaxation Exercises
There are many benefits to learning relaxation exercises, and kids can use such exercises before, during, or after practices or games. A very common exercise, sometimes called “Belly Breathing,” encourages one to place their hands on their stomach before taking deep breaths in and out. Often when we ask someone who is anxious to take deep breaths, it is hard for them to do so. Having a hand on the stomach allows one to feel breaths going in and out; if the breaths are deep enough, one can feel the stomach moving in and out. Teach your child to slowly count while doing this exercise: they can count to three while inhaling, count to one while holding their breath in, and count to three again while exhaling. You may need to work with your child to find a rhythm that feels most comfortable for them. Children can learn to use this exercise whenever they feel anxiety spike, and it is important for them to practice it during calm moments to build up their comfort in using the technique.
Have uplifting conversations
You play an important role in helping children play sports in a fun and safe manner. Does your child’s anxiety spike on the car ride to practice? Keep conversations light or listen to some upbeat music on the way. Does your child tend to worry about the score of the game or focus on mistakes that they have made? Use language that highlights what your child did well, or parts of the game that the child appeared to be having fun (Example: “I think I saw you laughing on the bench while your team was batting. I’m so glad you are having fun on the baseball team”). You can set the tone for your child’s experiences in sports. If your conversations are centered around having fun, learning new skills, and teamwork, your child is less likely to become hyper focused on winning or individual mistakes.
Know when to find a sports psychologist
Some young clients, particularly adolescents, may experience sports-related performance anxiety that requires more specialized intervention. If a client is a high-performance athlete, one that has hopes to compete in the NCAA or the Olympics, a qualified sports psychologist could become a valuable part of the treatment team. Sports psychologists are trained to help athletes optimize their performance and can assist athletes in working through mental blocks. You can find a qualified sports psychologist through Division 47 of the APA (Sports and Exercise) or the Association for Applied Sports Psychology. You can also find child therapists and counselors that specialize in anxiety through the Hopscotch Provider Network.
