News from the world of mental training – TAG Parents

FIRST SCHOOL, FIRST CLUB, FIRST COACH.
21.10.2022

FIRST SCHOOL, FIRST CLUB, FIRST COACH.

And we continue our series of articles. In the past, we focused on early childhood, so lets move on to the age when a child enters school, usually also a sports club, new important people enter his life, a coach, a teacher, classmates, teammates.

What makes this age around 6 to 10 years special?

• ATTENTION - intentional - 6-15 minutes, development in breadth, intensity, endurance compared to the previous period, it is still necessary to take this into account and to alternate activities - at school, at training...

• MEMORY - deliberate recollection of ideas from memory predominates

• PLAY- will gradually recede into the background, learning and entering school will come to the fore

• AUTHORITIES - increase in influence, new authorities, new rules, norms, boundaries enter the childs life

• EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE - self-regulation through inner speech increases, the child is already starting to control his impulses, learns endurance and patience

• SELF-CONFIDENCE - unstable, self-evaluation is still largely determined by the environment, non-objective, non-critical thinking prevails, which later recedes, so new people in the childs life and feedback from them can have a great influence on self-perception

 

And what should we think about in sports?

• TRAINING - all-round movement preparation should still prevail. Acquiring basic tactical skills necessary for participation in competitions - rules, principles of the game...In the previous article, we already mentioned versatile physical training and its inclusion in training in younger age categories, respectively so that children do not specialize in just one sport early on, but in the beginning they also engage in several at the same time.Times have changed and while the "older years" had versatile movement naturally, as part of free time - there were no mobile phones, xbox, we naturally spent time outside, playing chase, hide and seek, football, hockey, volleyball, today it is different. Children usually encounter movement only in training. They lack the basics, they can not do a somersault, they can not jump long, etc. That is why the emphasis began to be placed on not starting early with specialization in one sport, or do not forget about all-round development in training. So if you see during training sessions that the coach also does gymnastics, athletics, and other sports exercises with the children, that is great, they will definitely take advantage of it later on in the specific sport as well.

• EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE - strengthening the relationship to sports through positive experiences, joy of movement, variety, emotions, shared positive experiences with the coach and teammates.Connect experiences with emotions and build a relationship with sports in this way. Why? When a childhood memory comes to mind, we bet it is a memory connected to an emotion. Children react spontaneously, rational self-regulation begins later when their nervous system matures. They express needs through emotions. And that is why we will rationally justify the usefulness of exercise and why it is good for them to do sports for free. Lets let them experience it. Thats why it is nice if you, as parents and coaches with young children, place your bets more on experiences and fun during training, a pleasant environment instead of drills, shouting, pressure on performance and results. 

• SELF-CONFIDENCE - positive appreciation of process and progress, not victory at all costs, appreciation of attributes other than victory (creativity, effort, good ideas...) If we want to build self-confidence, positive self-worth, the child must feel that he is doing well, that develops, improves, progresses. And many times the results of the match do not say anything about it. Losing does not have to mean that the child did something wrong, that he is not up to it, that he is incapable. But if the measure of success is only the result, children have exactly such feelings. I have failed, I am incapable, I am not fit for what I am supposed to strive for. 

In the next article, we will look at what is meant by positive appreciation, because that is not what is usually meant by it - uncritical praise for everything. And we will also explain one more phenomenon, which has been aptly named carcoaching.