Playing more tentative after some rough collisions

[Anonymous]

DC is a rising U11 who primarily plays defense on a top travel team. They looked great for the first part of the season, but the last couple of games they seemed to hang back and not engage when they should have, which was weird to see after they way they played the first 2/3 of the season. I’ve been sort of scratching my head, but now remembering that they had a couple of really rough collisions in those earlier games where they had to come off the field for a bit. I’m wondering if DC is now feeling worried, even subconsciously, about getting hurt.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed this in their kids? If so, was a little break from soccer a good thing, or was it better for them to keep playing and sort of work through the fear? We haven’t firmed up summer plans with regard to soccer, other than a little bit of camp and no Super Y. If there’s a particular thing that can help with this, DC could use summer to work on it — or take a break, if that would be better.

[Anonymous]

P.S. none of the collisions involved a concussion or DC’s head in any way. More like knee and ankle banged up, wind knocked out of them, etc.

[Anonymous]

Certainly! Getting hurt sucks. Most of competing is between the ears and if your brain is saying don’t do that cause you got hurt last time that slight bit of hesitation is enough to make the player a step slow. It can also make you more prone to getting injured again. Playing with that mindset can become chronic and hard to reverse.

I knew one kid who was playing at a high level, then took a very hard tackle that resulted in some partially torn ligaments and the kid was never the same. Unfortunately the kid was being pushed by the parents to play and the kid’s reduced performance over time finally led to the player losing their spot on the team.

[Anonymous]

My daughter has been clocked a few times at U11. She is a bit smaller, she hangs back significantly more now and light foots the challenges. The girls are really starting the pre-teen growth spurts at U11, a lot of girls are 3" taller and a lot are 8" taller and 40lbs heavier on all the teams now. I am hoping the summer break will help her reset and adjust her strategy a little. I think with some drills and time, this will improve.

[Anonymous]

Daughter just went through this. Took almost the entire season to get back to normal. Even then we're going to take it easy over summer and focus on running and perhaps a short camp. Being in a good headspace is as important as the training.