Progress Recognition Toolkit — For Parents

1

Praise Pattern Audit

Check every phrase that sounds like something you actually say to your athlete — after games, practices, or when they need encouragement. Be honest; this is for your awareness only.

Your Pattern

Trait Praise

0

Outcome / Generic

0

Progress Recognition

0

Check the phrases above to see your pattern.

2

"What I Noticed" Practice Builder

The video's practice assignment: identify one specific improvement, name it explicitly to your athlete, and ask if they've noticed it too. Fill in the fields below to build your exact words before the conversation.

Athlete's name

Area of progress

What specific thing have you noticed? Describe a behavior, not a result. "You recovered faster after mistakes" not "you played better."

Compared to when? A timeframe makes the progress verifiable — something they can look back on and confirm.

Say this to your athlete

Then ask

What to listen for

Whether they recognize it or not, you've just anchored something specific. That specificity is what separates credible feedback from praise they can dismiss.

3

The 4 Saboteurs — My Commitment

These are the four patterns most likely to undermine progress recognition. Check the ones you're personally at risk for, then write your commitment for this week.

Praising when they know they struggled

Saying "great job" after a game your athlete knows went poorly. Even when well-intentioned, this teaches them your feedback can't be trusted — it doesn't match what they experienced.
Generic praise without specifics

"Good job," "You were amazing," "So proud of you." Warm and loving, but no evidence is attached. Your athlete can't build confidence on praise they can't verify.
Comparing to others

"You were the best one out there" or favorable comparisons to siblings or teammates. Creates performance climate, not mastery climate — confidence built on comparison collapses when the comparison shifts.
Only noticing athletic performance

Missing progress in resilience, composure, attitude, leadership, or team contribution — the dimensions that build lifelong character and compound long after athletic careers end.

My commitment this week:

Based on what you checked above, write one thing you'll watch for — or do differently — in your next interaction with your athlete after a game or practice.