Mental Toughness in Youth Baseball

As a parent, you undoubtedly want your child to have fun while playing youth baseball and to play to the best of his or her abilities. You can achieve these goals, at least in part, through practice and honing physical and playing skills. However, the right mental skills and mindset are just as important but often overlooked. It is as necessary for your child to develop “mental toughness” as it is for him or her to develop physical toughness.

What, exactly, is mental toughness you may ask. Mental toughness is something all the best players

have. It is that elusive thing that keeps them from just giving up when the going gets tough and that allows them to perform at their fullest capability no matter how bad the game looks or what other issues are weighing at the back of their minds.

Mental toughness isn’t something that most young players just innately have. Instead, it is something that be developed and honed with time and experience. You can help to promote the development of mental strength by encouraging your child to keep going after a loss, when a game is going poorly, or even when he or she is frustrated and discouraged over a difficult to learn skill or some other challenge.

Fortunately, participating in sports, in and of itself, can help a child to develop this all important skill. In fact, sports of all types, not just baseball, have been shown to increase discipline, positivity, and endurance, so you may want to encourage your little one to take part in other character-building sports as well.

Remember, too, that developing mental toughness isn’t something that should be focused on just during game time. No, practices, training, exercising, and even making healthy food choices can all provide opportunities to hone mental strength.

So, what are the characteristics or markers of a mentally tough young athlete? Some include:

l  Having confidence in oneself and one’s abilities without being cocky

l  Being intrinsically motivated to play and practice.

l  Focused on the game, practice, or other task at hand.

l  Always keeping the outcome of an action in mind.

l  Staying cool, calm, and collected under pressure.

l  Having control over oneself and one’s actions.

l  Being positive.

l  Refusing to give up.

No child or no person for that matter can be perfect all the time, so don’t be discouraged if some of the above traits are missing in your child. In fact, knowing what you need to work on can be a great thing, as long as you and your child actually work on those skills/traits thereafter!