Sports Psychology: Sturdy or Fragile Confidence?

For some athletes, self-confidence goes up and down like a roller coaster, changing direction with every bump and turn in the road.

Over the last 15 years, I have worked with athletes who possess both high and low levels of confidence. What allows one athlete to have a brick wall of confidence and another athlete to have a Lego wall of confidence?

One explanation is self-image. Confident athletes have a positive athletic self-image. For example, when I asked Masters' Champion Larry Mize about what makes a great putter great, he said that great putters believe they are the best putters in the world.

The most confident athletes in sports do not just have tons of confidence. They also have sturdy levels of confidence built on years of success, instead of fragile confidence based only on the last failed or successful performance.

Anyone can feel confident for a few fleeting moments during practice, but enduring self-confidence is the mark of a champion.

Why do some athletes ride the confidence roller coaster while others ride the steady confidence gondola to the top of the mountain? One reason is that many athletes maintain an unhealthy belief that you are only as good (or as confident) as your last performance.

Self-confidence is simply a belief about one's ability that sometimes is overwhelmed by other beliefs such as doubts, indecision, and irrational thinking.

One of your confidence improvement goals is to brush aside mistakes, immediate results, or small errors that may influence your current state of confidence. Your confidence should be based on years of practice and play instead of the last shot, play, routine, or point.

Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Master Mental Game Coach