It is really not an easy job to get involved in any sporting activity unless you are passionate about it.
To become a sportsperson, you would have to practice hard on and off the field regularly and your confidence level should not go down when you fail to perform up to the mark.
As an adult sportsperson, you can show such mental toughness but if your teenager, who likes to play a particular game, fails may not necessarily be an equally determined and dedicated individual and he might even decide not to play that game again in his life.
Being a parent, you know the strength and weaknesses of your teenage child and if you think that he got the skills to play a particular game but lacks the required grit then all he needs is an encouragement and proper guidance from your side.
Remember, if you want to groom your child, you would have to do some sacrifices and spend a good deal of time with him till he becomes confident and mentally strong. Let us go through some of the methods through which you can encourage your teenager:
Know your teenager’s likings
If your teenager likes to plays two or three types of games then first identify his skills in all those games. Then ask him which game he likes the most. Since children don?t stick to any particular thing for a long time, they also tend to change their interest frequently.
Therefore, it is possible that after sometime, he might decide to play any other game. Let him play whichever game he wants and don?t interfere in his decisions. Meanwhile, you simply observe his commitment level in all those sporting activities and see whether he is capable to handle the pressure of particular game or not. Then after a month or two, tell him about your observations and which game do you think would suit him the best. He might not agree with your opinion but you can encourage him by offering proper assistance and expert guidance on the particular game selected by you.
However, make sure, your teenager plays that game because of his interest and tell him that he can decide not to play it if he don’t like even after proper coaching and practice.
Infuse optimism in your teenager
A person with positive and optimistic attitude never feels dejected in spite of failure and keeps on trying unless he gets success.
But teenagers can’t endure intense pressure of the game and when they are expected to perform well, they feel nervous and fail in their attempts.
So, you should tell your teenager that it is not possible to be a performer all the time and in spite of hard work, many good players fail in their efforts because either their opponents outplay them or due to some of their minute weaknesses.
You can also give examples of many great players of the world who failed many times but were never in the low spirits because they were optimists and they knew that soon they will get back their rhythm and start perform again.
Spend some money on your teenager’s training
Take your teenager to some expert coach so that he may get proper training on the particular game.
For this, you would certainly have to spend some money but your child understand that you are ready to do everything for him and your support will motivate him to practice well and become a dedicated player.
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