How young is too young?

Last week we ran another of our free Q&A sessions (email info@condorperformance.com to attend the next one).This time for some local tennis coaches and one of the questions was 'how young is too young to start work on the mental side?'


The answer we gave on the day was 'our youngest private client is 8 years old' which is true but could imply that is the minimum age of performer we will work this. Earl Woods began working on Tiger’s mental game at about the age of three – where he would famously try and distract his son during his new backswing (Harder Practice) and play games like 'see the putt' (classic visualisation).

The great thing about sport psychology is the ideas need to be simple to be of any use and therefore the only factor that determines the minimum age to start work on the mental side of sport / performance is the creativity of the sport psychologist teaching the mental skills. I often think of mental toughness like speaking a second language. Imagine you spoke English and Japanese from a young age and you knew thinking in Japanese would make you perform better under pressure. Now, who do you think is more capable of actually learning a second language – a 3 year old or a 23 year old? The obvious answer is the 3 year old. Tiger Woods' father knew this.

This is no minimum age to start improving the way you think and do things – which in a nutshell is all we, as sport psychologists, are trying to do. Cheers, GJM