Mind over matter: Confidence conquers

ALEXANDRIA OLTON

“I KNOW what I can do, so I never doubt myself.” If I were to ask you which famous athlete said this quote, whose name comes to mind first? Perhaps Muhammad Ali, LeBron James or maybe Floyd Mayweather. You wouldn’t be entirely far off… it’s Usain Bolt.

Famed for his, “To Di World,” victory pose, the Jamaican sprinter and eight-time Olympic gold medallist is undoubtedly considered one of the world’s greatest sprinters of all time. Why draw your attention to this decorated sprinter or to any of the aforementioned athletes you might ask? Well, it’s because they all share a distinct but crucial mindset that lends to their success… Sport Confidence.

At this point I imagine you’re thinking, “of course they’re confident, I would be too if I had their talent!” This, however, is the very common mistake we all make when it comes to confidence and particularly sport confidence. We often hear others say, “I feel confident about this competition,” or, “wow, they really look confident.” But if we’ve learned anything thus far it’s that feelings are fleeting and erratic and that’s certainly not something we want for our confidence levels. Throughout this article I would like for us to shift our thinking around sport confidence from a feeling or disposition and start thinking of it as a belief.

A quite simple definition of sport confidence is, “The belief or degree of certainty individuals possess about their ability to be successful in sport,” (Vealey, 1986). Additionally, there are two main categories of sport confidence: Trait Sport Confidence and State Sport Confidence. What’s the difference you might ask? Trait sport confidence tends to be a more global, stable, and unchanging confidence level toward sport in general. While state sport confidence can be learned and adjusted, and changes from situation to situation.

For example, an athlete might be very confident about their ability to participate in sport and be successful (trait) but might feel low in confidence during a particular competition because they are experiencing fatigue (state). This suggests that trait confidence and state confidence can exist at different levels at the same time.

I know I’m getting a bit theoretical here but stay with me, confidence is an incredibly complex part of sport psychology, but often something that is demanded of athletes from their coaches and even parents. “Be more confident!” or “He would do so well if he just had a little more confidence in himself.”

So how do we begin to THINK confidently instead of trying to FEEL confident? The importance is in understanding your sources of confidence. Where do I draw my confidence from and is it a sustainable source? Let’s take a closer look at some of the main sources available to athletes:

1) Mastery of skill – confidence levels increase when an athlete not only acquires a new skill but believes they are also progressing in that skill.

2) Performance accomplishments – confidence will increase if the athlete can demonstrate a skilled performance in competition or major events. It’s important to note that a performance accomplishment is not always defined by a winning outcome but instead determined by the athlete’s definition of success for that competition. For example, an athlete who is new to a sport and places in the top five of a competition may define that as a performance accomplishment. Additionally, an athlete who is training toward a major competition may use smaller events to practice technical adjustments and may define success by their ability to execute such.

3) Physical and mental preparation – Confidence will increase the more an athlete believes they are prepared.

4) Social reinforcement – Praise and approval by the athlete’s support network, particularly coaches, technical team staff and parents will aid in bolstering confidence.

5) Effective leadership – This is particularly effective in team settings and promotes confidence in team members. Good leaders make great athletes. We will certainly be coming back to what makes a good leader!

6) Environmental comfort: This is particularly important for athletes who are new to a sport. Athletes who lack sport-confidence will be helped if the working conditions are suitable. For example, confidence levels for a novice athlete will increase if they are observed and provided with helpful feedback when learning a new skill.

Reflect on what your source or sources of confidence are. Do you have more than one source? Is the source you rely on sustainable?

Feel free to submit any questions you might have about this topic or sport psychology to alexandriaolton@outlook.com.