Importance of mental preparation in sports

The amount of energy we put into taking our kids to sports and having them spend hours after hours of time working on the physical skill is very time consuming.  Most coaches know very little of how to teach the mental part of the game.  My suggestions to parents is to find someone who can teach the mental part of the game to your children.  In my opinion, the difference between a good athlete and a great athlete is the amount of mental preparation one has done before, during and after the game.