This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, from the "Parents and Coaches Working Together" collection, is an excerpt from the booklet "Confidence – How Parents Can Help Build a Confident Athlete." It explains how confidence builders know when and how to let go, covering topics such as encouraging healthy risk taking, not protecting athletes from failure, teaching them to stand up for themselves, and releasing them to the care of the coach.
Introduction
Excerpt from Confidence – How Parents Can Help Build a Confident Athlete, available on our site.
Confidence Builders Know When and How to Let Go
Your athlete will grow and learn more when it becomes their experience. Self confidence increases when the athlete feels in control.
If you want them to be confident, don't do things for your kids that they can do for themselves. It is essential for confidence building that the athlete learns to take care of and stand up for themselves. In order to be confident, the athlete has to take responsibility for their own actions and choices. They need to learn to be decisive and the only way to do that it is to let them make decisions for themselves. Stop trying to help make all their decisions or win the game for them from the stands.