4 Common Emotional Triggers in Young Athletes and How to Self-Regulate
Emotional triggers are situations that shift one’s emotions into a predictable state. People develop these triggers over time through repeated experiences that establish emotional habits.
Emotional triggers can cause both negative and positive reactions. However, today the 4 common emotional triggers of young athletes I cover are all on the negative side. These negative emotional triggers are hot buttons that parents and coaches will either reinforce or help mitigate depending on how they respond.
As I wrote yesterday, protecting a child from their emotions is not the right response. For example, attempting to cheer a young athlete up when they go overboard with their emotions after a loss or keeping the athlete from experiencing loss altogether. Protecting an athlete like this may keep them stuck in having a sore loser mentality. So instead of protecting the athlete from their emotional triggers, it’s better to teach them how to self-regulate their emotions.
Teaching Self-Regulation
Teaching self-regulation requires one first teach the athlete how to recognize their emotional triggers, then teaching them how to deal with those emotions in a more appropriate manner. With this purpose in mind, below are 4 common emotional triggers in young athletes, along with the behavior clues and the self-regulation lesson to go with them.
Emotional Trigger: Losing
Behavior Clue: Angry outbursts, unusual amount of crying or pouting, refusal to take responsibility after a loss
Self-Regulation Lesson: Three Methods to Help Athletes Who Are Dominated by their Ego
Emotional Trigger: Being Overmatched / Facing hard challenges
Behavior Clue: Lack of effort, giving up
Self-Regulation Lesson: A Logical Argument to Embrace Hardship over Comfort
Emotional Trigger: Training Fatigue / Pain
Behavior Clue: Whining, decreased effort, defeated body language
Self-Regulation Lesson: How Elite Athletes Become Elite – Learning to Endure Pain
Emotional Trigger: Criticism
Behavior Clue: lacking confidence
Self-Regulation Lesson: Three Basic Steps to Help a Young Athlete Who Lacks Confidence