Young Perfectionists in Sports

Young perfectionists in sports have many good qualities and are often seen as a coach's dream team member/performer because they are always on time, show up when they are supposed to and are highly passionate and motivated. So why is perfectionism the number one cause of loss of confidence in young sports people which ultimately results in a loss of performance?

Without doubt the perfectionists fear of failure is right up there at the top of this negative list we are compiling. Couple this with the fact they often expect too much of themselves and set unrealistically high goals means frustration and disappointment as they fail to meet their targets.

It is of vital importance that coaches and parents of this type of youngster recognise the traits in their charges and deal with it accordingly in order to halt their slide into sporting failure. When fear of failure develops you will find the perfectionist will play it safe and won't take risks. Their performance is inhibited without their usual creativity and freedom of play. They are often stiff and nervous, and they end up playing badly resulting in progressively low levels of self confidence. These individuals must be taught how to deal with these failures in order to break the cycle of self destruction.

The first step should be to sit down with the youngster and discuss the goals which he/she has set for themselves, and gradually prune the expectations to achievable levels. Explain the reasons for doing this focussing on the confidence boots created by achieving a set target. Then propose a set of achievable incremental steps which will eventually reach the individual’s original target albeit later than planned.

They should then be encouraged to be realistic in their game and training performances, and stress the point that no one will play brilliantly every game nor are they expected to. They are at the end of the day a fallible human being and a young one at that. Bring the enjoyment and confidence back, and the rest will follow.

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