I have asked dozens of basketball players this very question. Before I tell you what almost all of them said, ask yourself that question and see what you come up with….
Confidence is considered one of the best predictors of sport success. A confident athlete is more likely to play his best. So as mental tools go, it is a pretty important one to have.
Unfortunately, most athletes’ confidence tends to go up and down like a roller coaster.
In this article, I will address that situation and tell you what you can do to overcome that and maintain a consistently high level of confidence.
So first let’s consider some important sources of confidence. One thing that gives us confidence is having coaches, teachers, parents or other important people in our lives commenting on our success and telling us we did a good job.
Another source of confidence is when we work on something and achieve success, and in particular, when we see our own efforts as having brought about that success. A third source of confidence is the knowledge that we put in the hard work to get ready for competition. Most Olympic athletes talk about the confidence they get from feeling they left no stone unturned in the months and months of preparation that preceded the Olympic Games. So let’s say you have a pretty good history in all three of these factors. Then it’s safe to say that your core self-confidence is relatively strong. So far so good …. But enter the dangerous “confidence feedback loop.” For example, you hit three baskets in a row. You’re hot. And you are feeling pretty darn confident. Each made basket tells you that you are a good player, and that becomes your feedback loop.
But what if you miss three shots in a row (or in the case of one NBA rookie, 10 shots in a row)? With each successive missed basket you might start to doubt yourself. Because the immediate thing you experience is the missed basket – and THAT becomes your immediate feedback loop. Even NBA stars can struggle with confidence. Few guys would seem to possess the confidence of a top athlete like Vince Carter, NBA All-Star and former Rookie of the Year. One season a number of years back, Carter returned to the rotation following a five-game absence due to injury. It was clear during the first few minutes of play that his game was suffering, his shot flat and off the mark. He missed a number of baskets until he finally banked one in off the glass. I got to speak with him after the game and asked him about it. “Well, I had my mom and my agent and everyone telling me not to try to make up for five missed games right away, and just to take it easy, but I kept thinking about that and couldn’t help myself, so I was pretty hyper for the first few minutes although after a while I settled down. Thank goodness for that three-pointer I shot going in, even though it was off the glass, or else I would have really felt embarrassed.” So although a seasoned athlete like Carter can have all the benchmarks of strong confidence, he allowed the immediate feedback loop to dominate his thoughts, and his game.
The immediate feedback loop looks like this: missed shot leads to negative thoughts or feelings, which then challenge confidence. Typically athletes try to replace a negative feedback loop with a positive feedback loop by trying (often harder) to make the next basket. If they do, there confidence returns, but only till they miss another shot. The main problem with this strategy is that is makes your confidence dependent on your performance. The mentally tough athlete does the exact opposite. He makes his performance a function of his confidence. He interrupts the feedback loop in order get off the confidence roller coaster (up and down) and instead he finds a deeper sense of confidence which rests on the foundation of the three factors mentioned at the start of this article. So here’s the deal. Don’t get seduced by the immediate feedback loop.
If you miss a shot, take a moment, re-group, and remember everything you have done to be a successful athlete. (Even the most successful athlete misses shots). Relying on making that next shot produces momentary confidence. Relying on the solid foundation that produces confidence over time helps you activate that foundation to achieve a more consistent confidence. So how did most athletes said they would play if they had unlimited confidence? Nearly every one said they would be more aggressive … meaning that even if they made a mistake, or two, or three, they wouldn’t revert to a more tentative style of play. As a top European footballer once said, “When you’re confident, you’re not afraid to make mistakes.”
Another source of confidence is when we work on something and achieve success, and in particular, when we see our own efforts as having brought about that success. A third source of confidence is the knowledge that we put in the hard work to get ready for competition. Most Olympic athletes talk about the confidence they get from feeling they left no stone unturned in the months and months of preparation that preceded the Olympic Games. So let’s say you have a pretty good history in all three of these factors. Then it’s safe to say that your core self-confidence is relatively strong. So far so good …. But enter the dangerous “confidence feedback loop.” For example, you hit three baskets in a row. You’re hot. And you are feeling pretty darn confident. Each made basket tells you that you are a good player, and that becomes your feedback loop.
But what if you miss three shots in a row (or in the case of one NBA rookie, 10 shots in a row)? With each successive missed basket you might start to doubt yourself. Because the immediate thing you experience is the missed basket – and THAT becomes your immediate feedback loop. Even NBA stars can struggle with confidence. Few guys would seem to possess the confidence of a top athlete like Vince Carter, NBA All-Star and former Rookie of the Year. One season a number of years back, Carter returned to the rotation following a five-game absence due to injury. It was clear during the first few minutes of play that his game was suffering, his shot flat and off the mark. He missed a number of baskets until he finally banked one in off the glass. I got to speak with him after the game and asked him about it. “Well, I had my mom and my agent and everyone telling me not to try to make up for five missed games right away, and just to take it easy, but I kept thinking about that and couldn’t help myself, so I was pretty hyper for the first few minutes although after a while I settled down. Thank goodness for that three-pointer I shot going in, even though it was off the glass, or else I would have really felt embarrassed.” So although a seasoned athlete like Carter can have all the benchmarks of strong confidence, he allowed the immediate feedback loop to dominate his thoughts, and his game.
The immediate feedback loop looks like this: missed shot leads to negative thoughts or feelings, which then challenge confidence. Typically athletes try to replace a negative feedback loop with a positive feedback loop by trying (often harder) to make the next basket. If they do, there confidence returns, but only till they miss another shot. The main problem with this strategy is that is makes your confidence dependent on your performance. The mentally tough athlete does the exact opposite. He makes his performance a function of his confidence. He interrupts the feedback loop in order get off the confidence roller coaster (up and down) and instead he finds a deeper sense of confidence which rests on the foundation of the three factors mentioned at the start of this article. So here’s the deal. Don’t get seduced by the immediate feedback loop.
If you miss a shot, take a moment, re-group, and remember everything you have done to be a successful athlete. (Even the most successful athlete misses shots). Relying on making that next shot produces momentary confidence. Relying on the solid foundation that produces confidence over time helps you activate that foundation to achieve a more consistent confidence. So how did most athletes said they would play if they had unlimited confidence? Nearly every one said they would be more aggressive … meaning that even if they made a mistake, or two, or three, they wouldn’t revert to a more tentative style of play. As a top European footballer once said, “When you’re confident, you’re not afraid to make mistakes.”
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