As a sports mom, you already understand the importance of the mental side of the game. You already know how beneficial it is to build confidence in your athlete daughter. But maybe, your daughter isn’t quite on board with this yet. Maybe she doesn’t understand the importance and the advantage of training her mind like she trains her body. What can you do to get her on the same page?

Today, we’re talking about 3 easy tips to get your daughter on board with the idea of training her mind. These tips will help her understand that training her mind doesn’t mean anything is wrong with her, but in fact, it’s going to help her get to the next level. 

Why does mental training matter?

No matter what your goals are for your daughter, and no matter what your daughter’s goals are for herself, in order to level up in her sport, she needs to be training her mind. Training her mind will also help her grow in confidence and enjoy her sport even more. The physical side of the game alone can only get her so far.

It doesn’t matter how much physical talent an athlete has, what really matters is that she believes in herself. If she doesn’t believe in herself, then she doesn’t know how to handle pressure and nerves. And if she doesn’t know how to handle these normal aspects of competing and being an athlete, then she won’t be able to play to her potential.

It’s likely that your athlete isn’t being taught how to train the mental side of her game. Her coach probably isn’t teaching her these things, and if you expect her coach to be coaching both her physical and mental game, you might be waiting for a long time.

So, we have to fill this gap. The bottom line is that she needs to know how to navigate the pressures, mistakes, and disappointments that come along with athletics. If she doesn’t know how to do this, then at best, she might be okay at her sport, and at worst, she might walk away from her sport altogether.

Tip #1: Connect mental training to her goals

A great place to start this conversation is to ask your daughter, “what are your goals?” When the moment is calm and things are going well, take a second to ask her this question if you haven’t already.

She might not know exactly what her goals are, but this question will get her wheels spinning. If she doesn’t have goals to communicate in that exact moment, encourage her to think on it and ask again later. She’ll likely come up with something!

By having her communicate her goals to you, you both can be on the same page regarding the bigger conversation on mental training. She’ll be much more open to information and feedback from you when she knows and trusts that you have her best interest at heart. And as her mom, of course you do! But she might not know this as well as you do unless you communicate it to her in a way she can understand. Asking what her goals are and showing interest in her success will go a long way.

Once you both have a better idea of what her goals are, you can start to connect mental training to her goals. For example, you could say something like, “I’ve noticed that you dedicate a lot of your time to basketball, and I can tell you love it and want to go far. I’m here to help you and support you in your goals. And because you’ve said you want to play basketball in college, I think the mental side of the game is something that we can focus on together to help you reach your goals.”

She might not understand what the mental side of the game is, so be sure to give her some examples. “Sometimes, you tell me that you get really nervous before a game and it ends up impacting how you play. The mental side of the game helps you handle those nerves, which are very normal.” You can connect mental training to examples that she’s brought to you before, what her goals are, or something she’s struggling with and working through.

Tip #2: Show her examples of other athletes who use mental training

Your daughter probably has athletes that she looks up to and admires, right? If you’re not sure if she does, ask her!

Any athlete who has achieved anything of significance in their sport didn’t do it without training the mental side of their game. These days, you can easily find videos, interviews, podcasts, and articles online from athletes who share more about their training journey, especially the mental side. If your daughter doesn’t share any athlete inspiration with you, you can also seek out inspiration on your own by searching online.

Seek out those athletes and their stories, and point out the mental traits these athletes possess. It’s important to point out to your daughter that these athletes weren’t simply “born” with these mental traits, but instead, share with her that these traits can be trained. And most importantly, be sure she knows that athletes who utilize mental training aren’t “broken” in any way, but they’re relatable, and she’s not alone!

Tip #3: Utilize the resources I’ve created for her!

Inside and outside of the Elite Competitor Program, I’ve created several helpful resources for your athlete! To start, podcast episodes 56 and 39 are episodes where I talk directly to athletes.

In episode 56, I interview athletes who have been through the Elite Competitor Program. They open up about their experience in the program and how training the mental side of their game helped them in their specific sport.

In episode 39, I share in more detail about what mental training really is, how it can help your daughter reach her goals, and how mental training will ultimately help her as an athlete.

Any of the podcast episodes labeled “Athlete Tip” are good episodes for your daughter to tune into. She also gets an opportunity to hear from me, hear how I talk, and what I talk about to give her a glimpse into what the Elite Competitor Program content would be like for her.

If you find yourself struggling to explain mental training, or feel like you sound like a broken record, sharing these podcast episodes with your daughter can help take some of the load off!

Bonus Tip: This program isn’t only for her…

It’s for you, too! This is actually the secret sauce to our program. It’s not only for her, but you get to join her and learn how you can support her as her mom! 

Inside of the Elite Competitor Program, there’s your half of the program where you learn how to support your daughter, and she has her half where she learns the foundation of mental skills. The best news is that both of you have lifetime access to the program. This means that you don’t have to wait to jump in! If you’re ready to start doing your work, you can. Because when you start doing your work, you actually change the game for your daughter.

Athletes have a competitive advantage when they have moms and parents who know how to support the mental side of their game. So, don’t underestimate the power of you jumping into the program, whether she’s ready or not! She can jump in when she’s ready.

If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need much convincing on how helpful mental training can be for your athlete daughter. My hope today is that you’ve gained new ideas on how you’ll present this to your daughter in a way that’s really productive. If you haven’t already joined us, hopefully we’ll see you both inside the Elite Competitor Program soon!

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Helpful Links:

• Visit our podcast website for more on this episode.
• Join our FREE Training for Sports Moms – How to Strengthen Your Athlete Daughter’s Mental Game so She Believes in Herself as Much as You Do

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