As sports counselors in Orlando, we know performance anxiety can happen at all ages. While the young athletes are first experiencing it, the older adolescents and teens are learning how to deal with it. If your teenage son or daughter is an athlete and you feel as though something may be off, dive a little deeper. Have you noticed a change in their motivation, drive, or a sense of burnout?  These can all be symptoms of performance anxiety and something easily resolved by seeking help from a sports counseling specialist.

For teenagers, you might notice it when simple discussions that involve their sport get immediately directed somewhere else. This is because their sport has become an anxiety trigger. Why would they want to embrace a topic that fosters anxiety? Oftentimes, what fosters performance anxiety in teens in sports is the worry of not performing and being viewed as a failure.

This can also be seen often with those athletes who are trying to play collegiate athletics. They may be worried about not earning a scholarship, being recruited, or not living up to the expectations and pressures perhaps you, the parent, have placed on them. This makes them want to dissociate and turn away from their sport in fear of not being good enough. So, how do you address this with your teen?