Self-confidence is the number one mental skill that your young athlete must possess to be successful in sports and life! Self-doubt is the number one mental barrier that blocks athletes from that success.
Having high levels of confidence is so important that I spend most of my time teaching students how to develop and harnesses the power of confidence.
I recently received an email from a concerned sports parent about her son “folding” under the pressure of big games. She said, “In big games, he seems to lose confidence too easily and not perform well, but in practice looks like a million bucks.”
This is a very common challenge that I help athletes overcome, and is highly related to confidence (or what I call 'competitive confidence'). In my book, there is a big difference between practice self-confidence and competitive self-confidence.
Anyone can feel confident and look great in practice, but the challenge is having the same high level of confidence in competition or big games, and performing well in these situations.
At any one time, young athletes either think of ways to boost confidence or hurt confidence. My approach is to help athletes improve their thinking so they can feel more confident *and* help them identify and discard thoughts or beliefs that undermine confidence.
Some athletes are blessed with high levels of confidence in their abilities and it shows in competition.
You might be the most positive sports parent in the world, but in spite of your positive parenting, your son or daughter may hold on to doubts and negative self-labels (i.e., ”I choke in big games.') that will severely limit his or her performance.
----------------------------------
Want to learn simple, proven mental toughness skills that you can apply to competition? Grab my free online mental training newsletter, Sports Insights Magazine - for athletes, coaches, and sports parents:
http://www.peaksports.com/free_newsletter.php
Tennis Confidence: How to Ride the Momentum Wave
Confidence and momentum in tennis are close cousins. When you have momentum, you have confidence squared. Yes, momentum is a huge psychological advantage in any sport especially tennis. Players feel a sense of exhilaration when they have momentum on their side – it’s a huge boost to your mental game of tennis.
Tennis Mind Game: Tennis Confidence Checklist for Big Matches
What does it truly mean to believe in yourself? When you believe in yourself, you have full confidence in your physical skills and ability to execute shots in tennis. My definition of self-confidence for tennis is how strongly you believe in your ability to execute a successful shot or win a match. Don’t confuse believe in yourself (self-confidence) with self-esteem. Self-esteem is all about how you view yourself and how you appraise your self-concept (how you see yourself), also called self-worth.
Tennis Psychology: Practice Confidence vs. Match Confidence
Do you play tennis with a ton of confidence in practice, but have trouble taking your practice game to matches? If so, you are not alone. Many of my players are more comfortable in their practice routines than in matches. They lose trust in their strokes that worked well in practice.
