How developing emotional intelligence can benefit young athletes

Emotional intelligence(EQ) is the ability to control, use and understand your emotions in the most beneficial way. This can help young athletes to relieve their stress during a covid pandemic and also it helps to deliver consecutively the best performance on the court.

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Everybody has emotional intelligence, it’s a framework that people need to work on. Just like in sports everybody knows how to kick a ball but only through hard work and constant training, then a young athlete can dribble, score amazing goals and impact a game with crucial passes. For reasons of establishing a high level of emotional intelligence, psychologists created the term Social-emotional learning(SEL). Young athletes can learn this from professionals, many successful sportsmen have outstanding levels of emotional intelligence. Bo Hanson, three-time Olympic medalist and now coach writes:

“For years we have marvelled at how the great athletes are able to ‘switch themselves on’ to create amazing performances with incredible consistency. We would describe them as being composed, mentally tough, having the right psychology, a great sports mind, emotionally controlled or simply determined or focused. The key to emotional intelligence in sports is the ability to control your emotions and create peak performance on demand.”

Question is, how can young athletes develop champion wise emotional intelligence? Well, now during covid times people have much more free time than ever. This can be a great opportunity to start on social-emotional learning.

Great team captains know how to influence others:

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The leader is defined by extraordinary emotional intelligence, a true captain is empathetic and knows how to build trust with other teammates. It is significant to constructively manage relationships in the team. Young athletes should focus on developing:

• Charisma. Strong confidence has an enormous influence on others. Build your confidence around your skills and personality. Reading biographies of the greatest athletes can help you to accomplish that goal. Become a role model for your team, this will win unbreakable trust. For example, Micheal Jordan was one of the most charismatic players that stepped on the court. People wanted to play and follow his leadership. Greatest of all the time said: “Confidence is looking in your opponent’s eye and knowing without a doubt that you’ve worked harder than them.” Hard work and dedication build your confidence not only in you but in your team as well. Never doubt yourself and believe in your work, this will positively influence others and make you a great leader.
• Control Fear. Social-emotional learning can benefit young athletes with the ability to manage their fears. Through social management and self-awareness, athletes can get more confidence, hence, skill to control fear. Sports performance mentor, Gary Grinham wrote a few pieces of advice about overcoming fears. “The most common reason for fear is the possibility of failure. Failure isn’t real, it doesn’t exist. Failure and success are two different ways of looking at the same thing. There is no such thing as failure, just a way to improve.” Learn from all the mistakes, wrong passes, goals that you couldn’t score and races you’ve never won. This will build your confidence and help you in the future to be less fearful before important games. Win like a champion, lose like a gentleman.

Empathy is the most crucial factor in sports.

Emotional intelligence can be described as a person that has a remarkable sense of empathy. This elusive term, allows people to read and understand others emotions. In addition, it lets you feel their feelings and fears.

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• Help your teammates with emotions. Every person has either positive or negative moods. People perform well when they are in a positive stasis. Jim Thompson, a founder of Positive Coaching Alliance wrote: “Every athlete — every person, really — has an emotional tank. When it’s full, like the gas tank in a car, you can perform really well. When it’s drained, you get problems. So if you’re going to be a leader on the team and help your team do well, you’ve got to be constantly looking for opportunities to fill the emotional tanks in your teammates.” In order to help you make your team feel more positive, try to: appreciate and compliment others, this will definitely boost your teammate’s confidence. Don’t criticize them, instead give a piece of advice, listen to what they have to say. Listing and understanding others emotions is a core aspect of empathy.
• Work constantly for yourself and improve the team. Spend time on both yourself and your team. After the winning game focus on analysis not only what you have contributed to that game but what your teammates did. If you have lost an important game, don’t put blame or point out mistakes. The empathetic leader understands others emotions and helps them to improve. This is crucial for a successful and winning team. Since most of us are all locked in the house due to the covid pandemic, spend this time analysing old games. See if your teammates need help with training or emotional support.

Final Thoughts

There was never a champion or a true leader without high emotional intelligence. Empathy is crucial for a successful team and with social-emotional learning young athletes can develop the right personality to be a charismatic leader. Read more or watch videos on how to become a pillar for your team.