The Missing Piece in Youth Sports Development (with Dr. Jonathan Jenkins, sports psychologist)
The Missing Piece in Youth Sports Development (with Dr. Jonathan Jenkins, sports psychologist)  
Podcast: Healthy Sports Parents
Published On: Wed Mar 11 2026
Description: Youth sports development often focuses on skills, reps, and results. But there’s a missing piece that determines whether kids actually grow, last, and enjoy the journey.In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Dr. Jonathan Jenkins, Team Clinical and Performance Psychologist for the New England Patriots and Behavioral Sport Psychologist for the Boston Red Sox, to talk about the mental side of youth sports that too often gets overlooked.They dig into what kids really need to thrive, motivation versus willpower, why independence at practice matters, how fundamentals lead to confidence and flow, why resilience and finishing strong matter more than early success, and how parents can support their kids without making sports feel heavier than they need to be.They also break down the four pillars from Dr. Jenkins’ new book Mentality Wins:Focus. Learning to direct attention and filter distractionsFlow. Playing freely without overthinkingFinish. Responding to mistakes and setbacks with resilienceFlourish. Keeping identity bigger than sportThis conversation is for parents who care about development, not just performance. About raising confident, resilient kids, not just better athletes. And about making sure youth sports actually serve the kid, not the other way around.--------FROM OUR SPONSORS:Brite Legacyhttps://britelegacy.com/--------New episodes every Wednesday.---------Get your Healthy Sports Parents gear:https://www.healthysportsparents.com/shop---------Get your Weekend Playbook:https://www.healthysportsparents.com/playbook-----------Follow us on social:https://www.instagram.com/healthysportsparentshttps://www.tiktok.com/@healthysportsparentshttps://www.facebook.com/healthysportsparentshttps://www.threads.net/healthysportsparents Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.