Building Confidence
Confidence is that secret weapon that all athletes seek to add to their competitive arsenal. Athletes understand that confidence is the key to perform optimally and unlock their potential. The conundrum is this: Athletes believe that performing well aids their confidence but also that confidence is a requirement to perform well. Is it possible to build confidence in the off-season and maintain it through the ups and downs of a long competitive season?
Athletes can learn physical skills from other athletes, but they can also learn mental skills (i.e., confidence building) from the examples of successful athletes? Tori Waldner is a 6-5 junior on the Penn State women’s basketball team. Waldner, who plays forward and center, saw limited action in her first two years for the Lady Lions. Waldner had 32 blocks last season but was unable to break into the starting line-up.
In order to realize her goal of starting for Penn State, Waldner decided to stay at Penn State for the summer to work on her game instead of going home to Georgia. Waldner trained with intensity and focus through the summer, “I think I’m a lot more confident because of the work I put in over the summer. Just having a ball in my hands every day… confidence comes from being able to do things over and over.”
Coquese Washington, head coach of Penn State’s women’s basketball team, was impressed with Waldner and rewarded her by naming Waldner a starter this season. Washington credited Waldner’s hard work as the reason for her increased confidence and improved play, “She put in a lot of work over the summer. She was in the gym all of the time. Her shot got better and she worked on some things defensively. The work that she put in has caused her confidence to get higher. The more confident she’s been with herself, the more productive and consistent she’s been.”
Washington identified confidence as the determinant of how well players perform in good and bad times, “I think the biggest thing is it comes down to self-confidence, how strongly you believe in who you are and what you can do when you don’t play well, make mistakes or there’s adversity.”
Back to the mystery, if confidence in sports is necessary for successful performance and successful performance builds confidence, how can an athlete with low confidence build the indispensible skill to play better? Waldner demonstrates a great way to develop confidence despite limited game action… preparation and hard work. Physical repetition habituates techniques so those skills become well-learned or second nature. These technical habits allow athletes to focus on playing instead of over-analyzing their technique. Pushing your physical limitations in practice allows a player to play at a higher level for longer periods of time during games. Confidence boils down to “putting in the work” instead of waiting for your performance to shine.
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Related Sports Psychology Articles
- How to Perform Under Pressure with Confidence
- How to Build Confidence Like the Pros
- How to Grow Competition Confidence
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