When you see your female athlete losing interest to work on her goals, what do you do? Do you try to push/motivate her? Or do you stay still and let her figure it out on her own?

As a parent, we can see our daughter's potential and capabilities, so whenever we notice her pulling back, what is the right thing to do?

In today’s episode, we have the same kind of question from one of our ECP moms. We’re going to discuss how you as her mom can help encourage them. And we’re going to share the three key things an athlete needs to excel. 

Pushing for Motivation

What do we mean by “pushing” our female athletes? 

These pushes could include reminding them of their goals whenever we notice them pulling back. We tend to question them about their actions. And sometimes, we even call them out. 

Moms do all of these actions in hopes of getting their daughter’s motivation back. And I’m not saying that it’s wrong, but every athlete is different and they’re going to be motivated by different things. There’s no one way or trick to getting their motivation back. And as much as you want to help them, no one can motivate an athlete better than themselves.

Motivation is fundamental, and it should come from your daughter. Yes, there are other external things we can do to help motivate them, and we'll talk about that later. But, in the end, your daughter's passion for her sport stems from her inherent desire, her ownership of her sport, and her happiness.

There are three key things that athletes need to excel in their sport. 

• Enjoyment 
• Ownership
• Intrinsic Motivation

These things should ignite from within the athlete and not from the external factors that push them.

Being Her Support

Focus on being her support

If you’re worried about her not getting inspired, remember that your role is important as her support. It is the coach’s job to inspire and push her, so take that load off your shoulders. 

Let the coaches do the pushing. You can help set her up with the skills that she needs to succeed mentally by getting her into programs like our Elite Competitor Program, that make sure she has mental skills to navigate these negative thoughts.

You have to be the soft space for her to land.

Most of the time, your daughter just needs a place where she can feel that she can be herself. A place of love regardless if she quit her sport or not. A person that helps her to see that her sport is just what she does and it's not who she is. 

Be that place where she feels comfortable. 

When our athletes feel comfortable, they feel supported, and they feel seen. They would feel that they don't have to perform to get your love. And they actually perform better knowing that they have that unconditional support from you.

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