Changing Beliefs for Perfectionists Athletes who are perfectionist can struggle with low confidence in both practice and competition. Perfectionists demand a lot from themselves about the quality of their performance. They have high expectations. This can lead to self-doubt when these athletes do not perform up to their high standards. Perfectionists also have a hard time transferring the … Sport Psychology Article…
Solution to Feeling Intimidated During Competition Today, I’d like to cover another big confidence destroyer and the solution: Athletes who make comparisons and thus feel intimidated. If you compare yourself to your opponents, you are prone to feel intimidated. Most of the time, you’ll compare yourself to athletes who you think are better than you. This putts your … Sport Psychology Article…
How to Maintain a Steady Level of Confidence Last week, you learned about confidence-booster 1: Managing strict expectations… On tap this week: confidence-killer 2: self-doubt. For some athletes, confidence is fragile and goes up and down depending on immediate results such as the last play, shot, race, or routine. And this is a big problem for athletes… One … Sport Psychology Article…
How to Manage Strict Expectations Last week, I wrote to you about confidence-killer #1 in sports: Harboring strict expectations… Athletes who maintain very high expectations (demands) easily lose confidence when they don’t perform up to their expectations. Strict expectations also can lead to judgmental thinking and self-doubt. Even worse, athletes become frustrated when they fail to perform up … Sport Psychology Article…
How to Improve Your Confidence In any sport, confidence is the #1 mental game skill that helps you (or your athletes) succeed. How you prepare before competition, react to mistakes, cope with adversity, and internalize others comments, can make or break your confidence. And if you’re a coach or parent, you play a critical role in helping your … Sport Psychology Article…
In this week’s sports psychology podcast, mental game of sports expert, Dr. Patrick Cohn, answers a question from a soccer player who wants to know how to get focused for big games. Learn ways to prepare mentally to play with confidence, focus, and composure! Many athletes want to know how to get ready for the big game, but … Sport Psychology Article…