Do You Have Stable Self-Confidence in Volleyball?
Confidence can be an elusive skill for a lot of athletes.
It is one of the most important mental game components, and also one of the hardest to gain and maintain.
Confidence can also impact other mental skills.
For example, when confidence is fragile, it’s likely that you’ll be distracted easily and struggle to focus in the present.
For many volleyball players, confidence depends on their immediate play.
You may go into a match feeling pretty confident, but after a couple mistakes, your confidence tanks and it becomes hard for you to play through the rest of the match.
Or, maybe your coach or a teammate reprimands you for something and that smacks down your confidence.
You might also watch a team during warm-ups and wonder how you could possibly compete with them. It’s likely that changes the level of your confidence as well.
As a volleyball player, instead of having fragile confidence, a confidence that is easily influenced by other factors (mistakes, coaches, teammates, parents, etc.), you want to have a proactive, stable self-confidence.
Notice I said “SELF”- confidence…
Confidence starts and finishes with you, “the self.”
You don’t want anything else to influence your belief in your ability to perform.
To begin to develop proactive, stable self-confidence, you want take note of your strengths as a player and any recent accomplishments you’ve had while playing volleyball.
Write down your talents and abilities–and review them before competition. This simple task will allow you to begin developing a steady self-confidence.
Additionally, note some proactive self-confidence statements, or positive self-talk to use during a match.
After an error, rather than saying to yourself, “You stink, don’t set me the ball,” say something like, “You’re a great hitter, trust your skills.”
This will support the belief in your abilities as a volleyball player and help you continue to play through with self-confidence instead of frustration.
Having a stable self-confidence as a volleyball player can be extremely difficult.
Remind yourself how many years you have trained and competed before you step on the court and know your skills do not go away overnight or after a couple mistakes.
Let us know your challenges with the mental game of volley by taking two minutes to complete our survey:
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- How to Prepare for Pressure in Volleyball
- How to Develop a Champion Mindset in Volleyball
- Fragile Confidence and Perfectionism in Volleyball
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The Mental Edge For Volleyball Players
Do you over think your performance in games? Do you lose confidence easily after a couple of blow plays? Do you become so frustrated with your game that you can’t focus on the next play?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s a good bet that your mental game might prevent you from consistent performance in games…
“The Mental Edge For Volleyball” program is ideal for any club, academy, college, or professional volleyball players. In addition, volleyball coaches, instructors, and parents would also be wise to teach the strategies we provide in “The Mental Edge For Volleyball” to their players.
Sometimes I feel as if I don’t want to keep playing club volleyball and as a person who truly LOVES volleyball I have never ever met a team and coach who puts me down when I make a mistake rather than get me back up and help me improve. Every time I make a mistake my coach tends to take me out of the game and let the other girls play and I always break down crying feeling that I will never get better and I don’t know what to do anymore.
Remember that confidence comes from your skills and belief in your skills, not what others do or say.