How can my Child Improve? (Part 2 of 2)

As both a fighter and a coach, I can relate to the feelings of inadequacy and failure kids feel when berated by their parents. My teen years were filled with many inner conflicts with myself when I came face to face with my father. It took me a while to realize that him being hard on me was his way of saying that he cared for me. As a result, my relationship with my father grew stronger. Had I not came to this realization, I fear I may have said and done things I would have regretted. Negativity will only produce more negativity. 

Thank you for taking the Taekwondo journey with me, dad. 

Unfortunately, not every athlete/child will come to terms with themselves in this manner. This is why it's so important for coaches and parents to stay positive for their kids. They need their friends and their loved ones to support them when they are down. It sounds cheesy and it sounds like something people have heard before, but it is oh so true. I personally have felt feelings of depression whenever I didn't perform well and my father criticized me for not doing well, especially against other fighters I could have beaten. Every time this occurred I wished that someone was there to tell me it was going to be alright and that I did well.

If the children don't do as well as they had wanted, tell them all the good things they did. Starting with what went wrong will cause them to think negatively while giving them advice to improve. Afterwards, suggest things that they can try out to do better. Telling them things that they must do, have to do etc will make it feel like an ordeal for them. It will also cause them to think they are not doing things right at all which is almost never true. Some aspects may have been wrong or had room for improvement, but there are always parts that are good and that's what we coaches and parents must emphasize.