performance anxiety in kids

[Anonymous]

My 10 year old loves baseball and has since he was 4. He lives and breathes it.
He plays on a little league team and a travel team and while he's talented (mostly from years of playing) lately he has been crippled by performance anxiety.
He will hit anything in practice and yet he strikes out repeatedly in games, especially in critical situations (bases loaded).
This hasn't diminished his love of the game but it's really hard to watch and he does end up crying at times which is difficult (again, he's 10, not 5).

He's an anxious kid in general and we've seen a therapist for school-related anxiety in the past (last year). He is doing much better in school this year but we're not
sure it's the therapy that helped. It did give him some coping mechanisms but I think for the most part he just matured a bit. It was also $300/hour (thanks NW DC prices).

Any suggestions on dealing with performance related anxiety in kids? Thank you for any thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Visualization exercises help athletes, so if he needs to try to conquer performance anxiety, he could try that. I'm sure you could find some kid-appropriate scripts on the internet.

If this is a recent development, it may play itself out and temporary. It may be hard to watch, and he may get emotional, but it sounds like he's handling it. As a parent, you need to realize that bases loaded isn't a "critical situation." It's just a game. He's still enjoying himself overall. That's fantastic.

[Anonymous]

What about getting some private lessons with a coach to boost confidence.

[Anonymous]

10 yr olds may still cry if they make a critical error. Totally normal. Don't make it a big deal as long as he loves the game and wants to stick with it.

Second getting a private coach. My DS who does another activity loves his coach - sort of like the big brother he doesn't have: Very helpful and not just to improve his game.