Power Question #25: What's a feeling you want to bring into the next game?
Most pre-game prep is about plans. Make sure to do this. Watch out for that. Almost none of it is about state. That's a missed opportunity.
Why is this a power question?
Players play out of feelings as much as out of plans. A player who walks onto the field feeling calm and ready plays a different game than the same player walking on feeling nervous and small — even with identical instructions in their head.
Asking "what's a feeling you want to bring into the next game?" introduces the idea that state is something they can choose. They don't have to passively receive whatever mood arrives. They can decide ahead of time what they want to walk in feeling — and start practicing it.
This is meta-cognition, applied to soccer. It's also the foundation of the kind of mental skills work that elite athletes do constantly. The earlier your child starts thinking this way, the more natural it becomes.
What to do if you are uncomfortable asking the question
This one can sound new-agey if asked wrong. Don't overcomplicate it.
Just ask casually: "What's a feeling you want to bring into the next game?" If they say "What do you mean?" — give two examples: "Like — calm, or fired up, or focused, or just having fun." That makes the question concrete.
If they shrug and say "I don't know," that's okay. The first time you ask this question, almost no kid has a ready answer. The second time, they often do. The fifth time, they've started thinking about it on their own.
What you might learn
The answers can be revealing:
"I want to feel like I belong out there." "I want to feel chill — I've been getting too nervous." "I want to feel hungry — last week I was kind of going through the motions." "I want to feel like I'm playing for my teammates, not for the coach."
That last one is information worth sitting with. A player who notices they've been playing for adult approval and wants to shift toward something more internal is a player developing real maturity.
How you can probe for more if your player is interested
"What helps you feel that way?" — gets at the practical levers.
"What gets in the way of it?" — gets at the obstacles.
"How will you know you brought it?" — invites them to identify a signal.
A takeaway
Plans matter less than people think. State matters more. "What's a feeling you want to bring into the next game?" is the question that introduces your child to the idea that they can choose how to show up. That choice is one of the most powerful tools an athlete ever learns.
