When a Young Athlete Experiences an Abnormally Long Losing Streak
When a young athlete goes on an abnormally long losing streak parental intervention is necessary. A parent must not sit idly by and let their child continue with the same routines and think losing will turn to winning over time. Losing streaks may not last forever, but that doesn’t mean that winning is what will end it. It’s just as likely that quitting will end the losing streak if it goes on for too long without an intervention.
However, the only intervention is not artificially facilitating a win. Yes, winning is ultimately the goal, but winning is not the only outcome to creates success in this situation. On the contrary, the first step to address an abnormally long losing streak is to figure out the specific lessons to teach. There must be a set of circumstances that is causing the losing streak. Your job as a parent is to diagnose those circumstances and use them to teach:
- Perspective on what’s important and what’s not
- How to manage frustration
- Overcoming self-doubt
- Not to blame others
- Personal responsibility
- How to move on and not dwell on the past
- Resilience
- Leadership under adversity
Next, you must find out if the child wants to dedicate him or herself to the sport.
If yes, focus on the things that are under the child’s control and help them make gains. It may be that they need more strength, speed, technique, or mental skills. Be very specific about what gains they need, create a plan with a goal progression, and get their buy-in to execute and track their progress on the plan.
In addition, as they execute this plan help the child develop a love for the sport by focusing on being a fan of college and pro athletes, sportsmanship, camaraderie, and the process of getting a little better each week.
Ultimately, after addressing those things you must evaluate the environment. Do you need to change it to prevent a losing mentality from settling in? Being a member of a losing team for more than a couple of seasons is unproductive. Especially if there are no clear signs of a turnaround in process.
At some point you must consider moving the child into a winning environment. But don’t ignore the risk that the child may sit the bench on a winning team. The only situation that justifies sacrificing playing time for winning is when the child’s current team puts them at risk of becoming complacent with losing.
In summary, parents must consider how to complete these five steps when their child is facing an abnormally long losing streak:
- Diagnose what lessons your child must learn from losing and create a plan to teach those lessons.
- Find out if your child is truly dedicated to the sport enough to do extra training to get better.
- If yes, focus on what’s under your immediate control to provide extra training: strength, speed, technique, or mental skills.
- Get buy-in from the child on executing the training plan.
- Evaluate the child’s team and school environment, then decide if you must make an immediate or long-term change.