| Learning about oneself while enjoying the sport is one of the most important aspects of swimming. The swimming environment encourages learning and fun, helping your child to develop a positive self-image.
Athletes who find their self-worth through winning will go through tough times when they lose, and everyone, even Michael Phelps, will lose sometime!
It is not healthy for our children to compete only in those events where they can “win.” When the coach enters swimmers in new events, encourage your child.
All children need the experience of trying (and perhaps failing) so that they can learn how to handle defeat and develop improvement goals. They will learn that losing does not make tham failures as a people, a big step in building self-esteem.
It takes more that just encouragement on your part. When your child fails, you must show the same unconditional love and approval as when your child succeeds.
Don’t praise dishonestly. Children see through that. Just show love and approval for the child, not for the performance. Continue to encourage your child to take on new challenges.
"Failure is not falling down, it's staying down"
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