Who Is Really Influencing Your Athlete?
- Jeff Becker
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
We hear this all the time: “My kid just doesn’t listen to me anymore. “I’ve told them this a hundred times. “They tune me out.”
If you’ve ever felt that, you’re not alone. It doesn’t mean your child doesn’t care; in fact, the opposite is usually true.
The truth is this:
Influence has nothing to do with how much you talk. Influence has everything to do with how you make them feel and how you make them think.
Your athlete is always being influenced by someone. The question is who.
Today’s Athletes Are Being Raised on Influence, Not Role Models
Social media, TikTok trainers, highlight culture, comparison, and constant evaluation.
There is always another voice in their head:
“You should be further along.”
“You’re falling behind.”
“Everyone else is better.”
So when a parent says, “Just believe in yourself,” it’s competing with:
200 edited highlights a day
The pressure to perform
The fear of letting people down
The constant noise of comparison
This generation is growing up inside performance noise, not guidance. And if we don’t help them build a voice inside that knows how to stay grounded, confident, and steady…The world will choose a voice for them.
Influence Comes Down to Two Things:
How you make them feel: If they feel judged or corrected every time they perform, they stop listening — even when the intention is love.
How you make them think: If every mistake becomes an evaluation, they start believing their identity is their performance.
If You Want Support — We’re Here
This is what our JBMP team works on every day with athletes:
Building inner confidence
Learning how to manage pressure
Developing healthy self-talk
Finding calm when moments get big
Creating a voice inside that supports them, not tears them down
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yes. My kid needs this,” then here’s your next step:
Not to commit to anything. Not to sign up. Just to talk. To understand. To support.
Because your child is being influenced — every day. Let’s make sure the influence shaping them is intentional, healthy, and rooted in who they are, not what they produce.
Who Do You Think Has The Most Influence On Your Athlete
0%Parents
0%Coaches
0%Peers / Friends
0%Social Media / Internet
You can vote for more than one answer.
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