ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ธ.ค. 2018
- Learn the mental aspect of wrestling on and off the mat. Mental Mondays offers Ben Askren's perspective on the many technical, tactical, and psychological aspects facing wrestlers, coaches, and parents.
Focus on the Task Ahead
Ben Askren addresses a question he received last week. How to handle pre-match nerves and specifically when it involves a youth wrestler. Pre-match nerves are a common occurrence in youth wrestlers and are generally negative towards performance. Ben has spoken numerous times about what makes for a good performance. Good performance come from being focused on the task ahead of you and not all of the extras. When you’re nervous you are only concerned about all of the possible negative outcomes and various things that could go wrong. You aren’t focused on what you need to do in order to be successful and that’s a problem.
Wording Choices Can Make All the Difference
When we are talking about nerves in relation to youth wrestlers we have to realize that kids are heavily influenced by their environment. More specifically, how their parents are thinking and acting. This could be very overt things like telling their child “You better win or I’m going to be really mad!” or “Look at that kid he looks like a wimp, you better not lose to him!” Telling that to a child is only going to cause stress and anxiety. This can have a very negative effect on the way the child performs because all they are thinking is I’d better not lose. This might not be the intention of the parent. 99% of parents are going to want whatever is best for their child. What they don’t realize while trying to motivate their child, they have done almost the opposite. There is a more common and far less overt way Ben sees parents affect their children this way. When a parent is talking to another parent and don’t realize their child is listening. They will often talk about upcoming matches and who they think might be tough. Parent's do so not realizing their child is overhearing them and begins to worry about the match more than they should.
Parent's Set the Emotional Tone
The other non-overt way parents can affect their children can sense their parent’s emotions. If a parent is nervous or tense a kid can tell and that will translate to that child’s own emotional state. As a parent if you can’t stay calm, control yourself, and be what your child needs in their corner you can’t lie to yourself just because you want to be there. You need to make an honest assessment of yourself and find someone else who can provide a more calm and productive environment during a match. Kids get nervous it's common and okay but, don’t add to their stress. If you can’t provide the right environment for your kid to succeed find someone who can. Help your athlete learn over time that being nervous is going to adversely affect their performance. Being as calm and focused as possible is going to lead to the best results and an overall positive experience. Help them learn to handle those nerves and how to work around and through them.
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Mental Mondays is hosted by Ben Askren. Ben Askren, World Champion and Olympic wrestler, joins RUDIS from the T-Row & Funky Show in an official partnership as a content provider for all things RUDIS. - กีฬา
As a parent of a 7 year old beginner wrestler, one thing that helped me to avoid being a complete douche is having competed myself. Parents that haven't stepped out there and done it themselves tend to be the worst for toxic behavior. Especially at the lower ages, wins and loses literally mean nothing. I use Pokemon as a reference for my son. Every match and you get XP, regardless of the outcome, so every possible outcome is positive and constitutes progress. When Ash goes into battle, his only intention is to do his best. If he wins, he thanks his opponent for a great battle. When he loses, he does the same, and he's openly thankful about the opportunity to learn. Before and after each match, I tell my son I love him and I'm proud of him for giving it his all, and then we eat ice-cream. Parents need to stop treating youth wrestling like dog-fighting.
Wild youth wrestler appeared! ... Go Jack!
I have a 12 year old son who has wrestled for 4 years now. When he first started wrestling and we became wrestling parents we made a lot of these mistakes. We were actually more nervous than he was. Our son has grown so much as a young man in wrestling and my wife and I continue to learn ourselves as parents of a wrestler.(the reason im watching this video) Our son trains at AWA in greenbay and last season being his first full year round of training he has become a total different, and better wrestler. If you are a new parent watching this video, trust me this guy is on point. Bad coaches make bad wrestlers and parents are the first line of coaching. If you are unsure of something watch some youtube videos or reach out to the coach or other parents. The wrestling family is very open to helping each other.
I go onto trackwrestling and look up my sons' opponents all the time...but I never talk about it w/ my son. My wife, on the other hand (although she is a great wrestling mom in other ways) wants to talk about it all the time, so I really need to constantly remind her how bad doing so is.
Question on goal setting. Our club does wrestle offs. We have a 10 year old that goes back and forth with a teammate. He came home before the first tournament and says so and so is probably going to beat me. Of course we question that and ask why to which he doesn't really have an answer. Sometimes I think if the other boy says I'm going to beat you he believes it. So we had(made) him write goals and he writes basically that he wants to win everything. Not really our idea for what he should be thinking but obviously he thinks we want him to win everything. We told him he needs to have a winning mind set and that is how he interpreted it. We just want him to think along the lines of if he works hard enough he can achieve his goals. How should the I'm going to lose mind set be addressed? On a side note we have an 8 year old who believes he can win anything and often does. Also the 10 year old won his wrestle off last week lost this week and we're back to square one it feels.
I love it Ben.. keep it up.. one question?
You mention kids under5 through7 shouldn't compete? I dont have children however this is a powerful notion. Where should i listen to hear your process on this topic?
Have a great week ! #topsnappodcast
Is there any way the mental Monday’s could be released on the podcast on the Rudis feed?
Hi Ben. Do you think it is ok for me to go over different moves and getting her to be aggressive first before the matches? She won state her first year of wrestling and trying to get her to be a 2x champ. I always tell her win or lose we will still love you. Love the videos Ben and kick Lawlers ass
@Jesus is Fake you need help, I hope you're in a better place, you seem so filled with hate
Ben Ass Crane pls prove all these talks when you fight Roel Romero or Jacare Souza or Robertv Whittaker or GSP. Dare u ?
Rusdayati Idrus fight GSP? You stupid?