How Parents Can Help Support Their Athletes During The Coronavirus Sport Shutdown and Isolation Period
A conversation with Mental Skills coaches, Brian Alexander, MA, CMPC www.athletementalskillscoach.com and Ami Strutin-Belinof, MA, LMFT, CMPC www.atrainpeakperformance.com. Check out their free mental training App, WellU Mental Training and Podcast www.wellumentaltraining.com.
We are creatures of habit and our freedom and structure has been disrupted so we need to be socially and emotionally aware. We can’t take emotions away from our children but we can help them work with them and tolerate the feelings that come with them too. Stages of grief and loss connected to self-identity and sport expression apply here.
For Coaches Staff and Parents Supporting Athletes During Coronavirus
(Ref: USOPC Sport Psychology Team)
#1 Allow them space to grieve
#2 Stay Present and State the Truth – Do not exaggerate or embellish the unknown
#3 Listen Eyes and Ears, Don’t Fix them
#4 Be Willing to Witness Uncomfortable Struggle they are going through
#5 This is Not About You – seek your own support if needed and model behavior self care and rules
#6 Reach Out to them, Don’t Wait to talk about it (daily check-ins)
#7 Do Small Acts of Kindness – the little things in each others company
#8 Show You Care; Be in This Together – Empathy
Creating Structure throughout the day:
Create a structured daily routine you can model that includes:
- Regular wake-up time
- Meal times
- Family times
- Physical activity time
- Nature Time
- Mental Training/Mindfulness Time
- Reading/School Work Times
- Total Disconnect Time
- Regular Go To Bed Time
Some mental training tools and resources that parents can recommend to their kids at home such as:
- meditation/mindfulness – Calm, Healthy Minds, Headspace
- Mental training – WellU, Woop
- Strength training – Bridge
- Schedules/Reminders – Notifications connected to organized daily calendar items
- Note Taking Gratitude – 3 things Your Grateful For and Why (The Five Minute Paperback Journal)
Books:
Mindset by Carol Dweck
Grit by Angela Duckworth
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
The Mindful Athlete by George Mumford
Couple more ideas to add:
- Adding in things like 5 min journal time – add to daily gratitude practice in journal
- A creative new skill you learn to challenge you, guitar, planting something – How does it impact the mental state to learn new hobbies?
- Focus on being creative with 30 min of skill work – What kind of skills to work on? Sport skills?
- 30-40 minutes of work-out routine or physical activity to get heart rate elevated
- Create and work on building a timeline of the lifespan of your sport – interesting idea…
Related Content:
Goal Setting During the Coronavirus