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“Being hard on yourself” is worn like a badge of honour in youth sports, but what if it’s actually hurting performance?

In this episode, Mariel Anderson and Jordan Owens unpack a powerful and often misunderstood topic for sports parents... especially hockey parents:

The difference between healthy self-reflection… and destructive self-talk.

Inspired by a conversation around Olympic coach Shawnee Harle’s “unpopular opinion,” they explore why many parents and coaches mistakenly praise athletes for being overly hard on themselves and how that can spiral into what they call the Doom Loop.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

• The difference between constructive self-evaluation and confidence-killing self-criticism
• What the “Doom Loop” is and how it impacts the body physiologically
• Why negative self-talk tightens muscles, speeds up the heart, and destroys clear decision-making
• How to help young athletes call a timeout on spiraling thoughts
• The powerful 5-step Neutralizer technique to reset the nervous system mid-game
• How deliberate breathing (and a simple tongue placement trick) restores control
• Why nervous and excited feel the same in the body and how to reframe it
• How parents can validate emotions without reinforcing mental spirals

If your athlete:
✔️ Gets stuck in their head
✔️ Beats themselves up after mistakes
✔️ Struggles with nerves before games
✔️ Loses joy because of pressure

This episode gives you practical tools you can teach immediately even before tonight’s tryout.

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