FROM FEAR TO CONFIDENCE Part 2

Confidence is generally considered the TOP predictor of performance success.  Here is Part 2 of my post on this ESSENTIAL characteristic that EVERY athlete needs in their mental tool box!!     For Part 1 click here.

Some of you had asked how you go about developing feelings of confidence, while others wanted to know how to restore your feelings of confidence when they get undermined due to things not going so well.

Regarding the first question - how we achieve feelings of confidence in the first place - a big part of that simply comes from doing the work. There is no substitute for that.  

A famous (and VERY old) joke tells of a tourist visiting New York City, who asks a local, "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" (the well known concert venue where all the big names have appeared). The local replies, "Practice, practice, practice."

It is typically the case that the best players are the first ones to the gym and the last to leave. They have a great work ethic!

Golf champion Aaron Baddeley put it this way: "Once you have (put in the practice) and you have (mastered) your mechanics, you have to be able to walk out there and trust your mechanics."

Most athletes are at various stages of learning and getting better. Still, most have been playing their sport since grade school, and whatever level you have reached at the present, you want to be able to trust yourself to be able to play at THAT level in competition, and particularly in big games like going into the State semi-finals and finals.

It can help to kind of "go inward" and ask yourself how much you trust yourself. If you aren't completely satisfied with the answer you give yourself, try to figure out what is keeping you from trusting yourself - and THAT is what you need to work on.

When I work with an individual athletes on-one-one, we are able to go deeper and more into detail on this than I can offer here. But I can offer this one additional thought that I think can help right away. If you can accept that you may likely make mistakes - that you are not perfect - this will help you stay confidence when things seem to slip away from you. When you aren't expecting perfection from yourself, you are better able - after missing a play - something like, "I missed that ... but that happens sometimes. I am here to play for myself and my teammates, and the the thing that I CAN control is to be giving my best effort at all times."

The important thing is to have a mental image of your strengths and who you are as an athletes, in order to help you zone in on your feelings of confidence and keep the door open to playing at your best level.

Finally, you might also consider the comments made by New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning after he led his team to a come-from-behind victory against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII: To be down 4 points with just 3 minutes to go, knowing that you HAVE to score a touchdown - that is EXACTLY where I wanted to be - just the kind of thing I have dreamed of for myself!"  

Of course, it is easier to make a statement like that having won the game!!!  But I suspect that Manning genuinely felt this regardless of the outcome. Ultimately, confidence athletes feel that they are able to succeed in the performance, whether or not the outcome goes in their favor.