You've come to the right place if you're looking to improve your parenting strategies. Be a better fan gear sports dad or simply not yell at your kids during sporting events.
You'll find some great ideas to help lead the way in being a more positive parent.
If you're a sports dad, then you'll know how tense and high anxiety games can make you. But being more positive isn't about what happens on the pitch. It's about seeing the bigger picture. Then make the most of every situation. So have a read of these 5 tips, and see what you think…
Don't constantly criticize your kids
This is one of the easiest ways to be a better sports father. Yet also one of the hardest things to do when your child is messing up. If they're not doing well, it's natural for us to want to point it out so that they can improve. But when we do this, we often make them feel bad about themselves. We are losing our opportunities to motivate them in a positive way. How about encouraging any small improvements they make? S ysomething like: "Thank you for trying your best", or "I'm proud of how hard you worked today".
Watch other teams
When you’re watching your own team, it’s easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and feel like everything is going wrong. But when you watch other teams, it helps put things into perspective.
You’ll see that every team has their ups and downs, so if your son or daughter is playing well in one game but not so well in another, then that’s just life! You can even talk about how other teams deal with these situations and what they could do differently next time.
Watching other sports can also help your children learn about different sports too, which can be great for their development!
Learn the game
If your child is playing in a team sport, try to learn as much about their role as possible. This will
help you understand why they might be feeling frustrated with their performance or why they need to do certain things during games. Learning about individual sports like tennis or swimming will help your child if he or she is an aspiring athlete.
Tip: try to speak to their coach about how things are going for them at training sessions or games. They might be able to give you some advice on how best to support your child when they're under pressure from other players or if they feel like they aren't doing well enough yet (which may be very common in young athletes).
Be their biggest fan
Did you ever hear the saying "You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar"? Well, it's true.
Your kids want to be as good as they can be, and they want to make you proud. If they know that they're not going to be criticised when they make a mistake, or if they don't play well today, then they'll be more likely to try harder next time. And if you're there cheering them on and telling them how great they are no matter what happens, then there's nothing stopping them from being their best!
Be a positive role model on and off the field/court
If you want to be a better sports dad, you can't just be a positive role model during games. You have to be positive all the time. That means being positive in how you talk about other people and situations, and it also means not getting frustrated when your child is making mistakes or doesn't perform as well as they'd like to.
Being a positive role model can help your child develop good habits that will last long after their sporting career ends, so it's worth spending some time thinking about how you want to act in front of them.
Being a sports dad is not easy.
You have the added pressure of being the only parent in the crowd—if it's not your child, then you know that a thousand other people have a vested interest in seeing them play. Plus, you have to support them when they make mistakes, rather than neglecting their performance in favor of your favorite team.
Still, most sports fanatic dads will agree that being a one isn't all bad. Watching your child succeed on the field is one of the greatest joys in life, and it's definitely worth enduring all the hassle for.
So there you have it – five tips to help you be a more positive sports dad. You know what though, these tips can apply to any parent out there going through the same thing. The most important thing is to understand that it's all about setting an example for your kids and being their biggest fan.
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