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Worried about athlete pressuring himself too much?

P Peninsula10+ posts
My son has been described by coaches as having 'natural talent' & being a dedicated athlete. Obviously, I think highly of him as my son but he is also often remembered by players & parents from other teams for his performance on the field.

I am concerned that he is putting too much pressure on himself & worried that he might 'psych himself out' if this keeps up.

I understand the importance of always striving to do better but it seems that my kid is never happy with how he performs.


He has had 'no hits' his last 2 games & told me last night he is in a slump. In 3 ab's yesterday, he said he was 'outmatched'. He struck out, grounded out or flied out. Two days ago it was a walk & 2 fly outs, one he said came close to a hr but was caught.

I know little about baseball but is it considered a slump to go 2 games without an offical hit, even though you are connecting with the ball?


His team is doing poorly (5-10) & he is discouraged about that. He told me that this is the year he is supposed to do well if he has any hope of being noticed by colleges. I thought Senior year was more important?

Any advice on how I can get him to lighten up a little? He does not seem confidant in his abilities lately & he was never like this before.

He was doubting his speed yesterday & I had him go to the PG site & look at profiles, hoping to give him some confidence. Many of the players ranked 7 & above had 60 yard times higher than what he ran at the beginning of last year. It didn't seem to help.


Any advice? How can I help him?
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TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
The good athletes are never fully satisfied with their own performance--if they go 3 for 4 with three home runs the good ones will tell you they should have been 4 for 4 with 4 home runs

It is this desire to succeed that drives the good ones to be as good as they--

I think you worry too much---let the kid do what he has to do without your fretting as you do
Last edited by TRhit
W Will1,000+ posts
Many times parents put pressure on the kid and it seems here you are trying to take the pressure off. If not getting a hit in 2 successive games is the worst thing that happens in his life he will be very fortunate. I always tried to put things in perspective with my players. did not always work but you try. There is a fine line where you get on a player and when you go the other way. But you are his father and that is tougher than a coach.
rz1rz15,000+ posts
As long as that pressure does not...

1. Affect home/family life
2. Affect school work
3. Affect physical/mental health

I see situations like this as nothing more than a competitive athlete pushing to be the best he can be. You hear the same stories with the "academically gifted" kid. IMO, those three "lines in the sand" are where parents should dig in and if crossed, they need to figure out how to re-focus the kids mindset. Until then, let the challenge take it's course because it is a "life lesson".
Last edited by rz1
Coach_MayCoach_May10,000+ posts
Some players show it some don't. Some hold it inside and some wear it on their sleeve. Every player that aspires to be the best he can be and really wants it puts some level of pressue on themselves. You never want to see a kid satisfied with results. You always want them to strive to improve and do better each time out. What you have to try and get them to understand is to be satisfied with the effort put forth.

Learning to have balance in all of this is key. Its a game and its something he cares a lot about. But it is not life. One thing I always did with my hs teams is take them to the Ronald McDonald Home in Durham and have them spend a day with the terminally ill cancer patients. Playing video games with a 9 year old kid that will probably never make it to the hs years. Those kind of things put an 0-6 "slump" into perspective even for a 17 year old kid.

Can you want something so much that you "fight" yourself? Can you want to do good so bad that you are incapable of performing at your best? Yes I believe you can. So put this thing called baseball in perspective. Go out and just have fun playing the game and let the cards fall where they fall. You give 100% effort in your prep and your game performance and you look in the mirror and you know you gave your best that day. And then you go back to life and thats way more important.
P Peninsula10+ posts
I'm a Mom, not a Dad so I probably do worry too much. Dad is at work so many odd hours he only see the kids after school on his day off so I do the worrying for us both I guess.


He hit a nice home run today but when I asked how the game went (it was a tournamnet held too far for me & all his young siblings to attend) he just said 'I went one for 3'

Later when I asked whether they were strike outs or ground outs etc is when I found out that the one hit was a home run.

I guess I will breathe a sigh of relief if the experts here are telling me that this is normal Smile It isn't affecting our home life or his health so thats a good thing.

The team itself was mercied (sp?) 17-7, their third one this season, so I am starting to think that the pressure he is feeling is probably more due to the fact that he believes Junior Year is so important for his future & the season has been unremarkable.

Don't know what to tell him about that either.
NIC15NIC15100+ posts
What your son is feeling is completely normal. It shows he cares, and is not content. One key thing for him, and it seems he has it already from you, and that is to be supportive of him, and being a positive reinforcement on the home front. When he comes home down about a performance, always sandwich that negative around a positive. You seem to be doing a great job! Tell your son to keep his head up, and keep banging away. Also to me this is why Baseball is better than any other sport, in football, you have a full week to sit back and dwell on performances, with baseball every day is a new day, no time to look back or dwell. Remind him that hey, tomorrow you are going to tear the cover off the ball.

Best of luck

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