Developing Athletes Mindset
September 12, 2016 by admin
Filed under Canadian Sport Features, Sport Spotlights
Telling Kids They’re Talented Harms Them
PCA National Advisory Board Member Carol Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. She graduated from Barnard College in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1972. She taught at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Illinois before joining the Stanford faculty in 2004.
In this video, Dweck talks about how “parents play a key role in developing a child’s growth mindset.” Dweck’s research shows that conversations between sports parents and their children should focus on the process of sports, such as “concentrating, practicing, improving (and) capitalizing on mistakes.”
If conversations aren’t about the process, then they can fall into dangerous territory. Dweck says that telling kids they are talented harms them because they don’t think they have to work hard and are less likely to become equipped to overcome a setback.
Coaches Must Let Athletes Know That They Value Effort
PCA National Advisory Board Member Carol Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. She graduated from Barnard College in 1967 and earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1972. She taught at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Illinois before joining the Stanford faculty in 2004.
In this video, Dweck cites research of college athletes showing that those who thought their coaches valued effort more than talent actually performed better. Dweck emphasizes the importance of coaches being very explicit with athletes in letting them know how valued effort and practice really are. While many coaches may consider that obvious, athletes can just as easily assume that coaches value talent more, which can act as a disincentive for the less talented athletes to put forth maximum effort.
