Health, Hope and Happiness

It sounds like Dr. Steve Graef is addressing an important issue in youth sports: the behavior of parents on the sidelines. Maintaining decorum and promoting sportsmanship among parents is crucial for creating a positive and supportive environment for young athletes. Parents play a significant role in shaping their children's attitudes towards sportsmanship. When they exhibit negative behavior, suc...

It's disheartening to hear about instances where sportsmanship isn't upheld, especially considering the importance of teaching and modeling it from the outset of a player's athletic journey. Sportsmanship encompasses more than just the actions on the field; it's about respect, integrity, and empathy towards opponents, teammates, coaches, and officials. The prevalence of social media and instant sh...

Mental health among teens is such an important topic, and having students from different high schools sharing their viewpoints can provide a broader perspective on how different communities address these issues. Mary Kreitz's experience in clinical work likely helped guide the conversation in a productive and empathetic direction, while Jacki Power's dual perspective as both a teacher and a parent...

Absolutely, fostering a culture of good sportsmanship within a team is crucial for creating a positive and respectful environment, both on and off the field. Coaches play a pivotal role in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of their players. By emphasizing values such as respect, integrity, and empathy, coaches can instill in their players the importance of fair play and graciousness in victory a...

Dr. Steve Graef's insights into differentiating between anxiety, sports pressure, and typical adolescent behavior in student-athletes can be invaluable for parents. Here's a summary of the guidelines he may provide: Open Communication: Encourage parents to establish open lines of communication with their student-athletes at all stages of their sporting journey, from Little League to high school. T...

The pressure on athletes can be immense, and it's crucial to address not just their physical well-being but also their mental health. Providing tips on balancing different aspects of life and recognizing when to seek help can make a significant difference in athletes' overall well-being. It's encouraging to see efforts being made to support athletes in all aspects of their lives. 

Coaches today are being asked to do more than worrying about the X's and O's of their sport these days. One area that coaches are paying more attention to is an athlete's mental health. Today, coaches may monitor the unprecedented scrunity and pressure athletes face playing sports. Some of this pressure is due to social media. What warning signs should a coach be looking for to see if an athlete i...

How do parents manage their child from experiencing sports burn out. Burn out for many kids begins at an early age of competing year round or trying to play all the sports their friends play. As children grow older, pressure may build to compete year round. And for many parents, with multiple kids, parents will experience burn out getting their children to all of their activities. In this episode...

Many athletes today are experieincing sport burn out at earlier and earlier ages. One statistic smentioned is 45% of youth athletes quit their sport beacuse of burnout and 70% of kids quit sports by age 13 due to burn out. One contributing factor is athletes from a young age are playing sports year round include summer/fall leagues or AAU. Playing more than one sports in some cases can contribute...

In the latest episode of Ask Dr. Steve, Dr. Steve Graef discusses how coaches at all levels can tell if an athlete is experiencing burn out. Today, athletes are participating in their chosen sport 365 days a year with taking little time off. If an athlete plays multiple sports, this may help alleviate burnout from one sport or the other but burnout from practicing may occur. This is a great listen...

While most parents are supportive of their athlete and only want the best, many parents unwillingly place too much pressure for their athlete to perform well in the " big game or must win game." This pressure can lead an athlete to have performance anxiety. Oftentimes as well, parents have internal nervousness before their athlete plays a big game. This episode of the Health, Hope and Happiness po...

Many athletes experience performance anxiety, especially leading up to the big game or must win game. Athletes often experience nervousness, butterflies and other feelings waiting all day to play a game at night. In this episode of the Health, Hope and Happiness podcast, Dr. Steve provides tips for athletes to deal with nerves and performance anxiety. He also discusses how athletes can block out t...

During the season, many coaches will place undo pressure on players to perform for the "big game" or a "must win game." This additional pressure on athletes may cause some performance anxiety in practice that translates into the game. Coaches may also feel anxiety themselves in calling or managing the game. In this edition of the Health, Hope and Happiness podcast, Dr. Steve Graef addresses how co...

In this episode, Columbus, Ohio, based sports psychologist Dr. Steve Graef discusses how a coach can create an inclusive team culture. Many athletes come from a diverse backgrounds and bring multiple perspectives to a team. Dr. Steve discusses how coaches can create and embrace the diversity. He also talks about how an athlete can the diversity of his teammates and create team bonding activities....

In this podcast episode, Dr. Steve Graef discusses body imaging and how extreme muscle or weight gain/losses during a session affect an athletic and their performance. What toll do these extreme's take on an athlete'ss mental health and view of themselves? Dr. Graef discusses educating oneself on why a coach may ask an athlete to make a shift in season. In addition, he offers advice to coaches bri...

C&A's Trauma Specialist Mary Kreitz discusses a growing concern as many individuals are dealing with loneliness, especially adolescents. Mary discribes loneliness as feels of when social needs are not satisfied, which is different for each individual. Mary states it is ok to spend time alone or have feelings of loneliness, but if those feelings last for long periods of time, that can be concer...

Athletes often enjoy playing more than one high school sport. Typically, an athlete is not playing multiple sports in the same season but rather a running cross country in the fall and track in the spring. Or, playing football in the fall and basketball or wrestling in the winter. Oftentimes, coaches want athletes to work out year round for their sport. In this episode, Dr. Steve discusses how coa...

In this episode, Dr. Steve Graef discusses how coaches, athletes and parents can utilize multiple social media platforms for the positive and the affects negative social media comments can have on teams, athletes and even parents. Dr. Steve discusses how coaches can advise parent groups on running booster pages to use the various channels and how athletes can use social media for positive recruiti...

In this episode, Dr. Steve Graef discusses how coaches navigate having a two sport athlete. In the episode, he discusses the role an athletic director can play in helping coaches work together during the summer/off season and being understanding if conflicts appear during workouts. He also gives great advice for coaches when in-season. For students, one the key components to being a successful two...

This episode discusses how special senior season is for athletes. Sports psychologist Dr. Steve Graef discusses how coaches can include seniors on making decisions to make the season special for all players - starters and reserve players. For a seasoned coach, Dr. Steve discusses how to continue and be energerized every year for a new senior class. For athletes, all the hard work from youth throug...

Communication is one of the critical aspects of any sport. Whether it's before, during or after the game, effective communication is the basis of any successful team. As athletes interact with each other, it becomes even more essential for coaches to master the art of conveying their messages to athletes of various physical and emotional levels during those developmental stages. In this episode, D...

The intiative podcast focuses on parents who place too much pressure on their chlld to perform in athletics. Dr. Steve Graef, a Columbus-based sports psychologist, offers advice for coaches to help athletes minimize the pressure they place on themselves; tips for the athletes to control the elements within their means; and parents to set boundraies at the outset of the season to how to handle disc...