Confidence is a player’s belief in their ability to perform well in any situation, practice or game. Confidence is derived from a baseline assessment of past performances, training, and preparation. As competency or skill mastery grows, your confidence becomes proportionately stronger. In order for players to develop high levels of confidence, they must have a clear understanding of the factors that boost and undermine their confidence, such as high expectations. Confidence is a core mental game skill because of its importance and relationship to other mental skills. Harvey Dorfman (2005) describes confidence as a mindset based on tangible sources […]
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27
Nov
2012
Enhancing Self Confidence
08
Nov
2012
Sports Psychology and Mental Training
Most athletes are highly committed to excellence and seeing how far they can go in sports. They love competition and testing themselves against the best in their sport. They understand the importance of a positive attitude and mental toughness. These athletes want every possible advantage they can get including the mental edge over the competition. Sports Psychology is about improving your attitude and mental toughness to help you perform your best by identifying limiting beliefs and embracing a healthier philosophy about your sport. Mental training is used by elite athletes to help improve focus, confidence and deal with distractions. […]
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05
Nov
2012
Common Mental Game Challenges for Athletes
One of the hallmarks of great athletes is the desire to improve themselves. Athletes at all levels use mental training and sports psychology to become better athletes, and overcome their mental game challenges. Mental training helps athletes perform more consistently, find the zone more often, keep a winning streak alive, and learn how to think well under pressure. The first step of mental training is to identify the need to improve your mental game. Often times athletes are unaware of the mental barriers the limit their performance, and how mental training can help them meet their athletic potential. The […]
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02
Nov
2012
Three Keys to Success in Sports
Three (must have) keys to success in sports are good instruction, practice and repetition, and most importantly – trust in your skills. Many people have a false assumption about learning a new technique such as throwing over the top, or staying on-top of the ball. Some coaches think that once they teach athletes a new technique the athlete should be able to apply it right away. Likewise, some athletes believe that they should be able to make adjustments in their game, and have it pay off right away. Change doesn’t happen overnight. When you expect change to happen overnight […]
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25
Oct
2012
Developing High Levels of Confidence
Confidence is the keystone to performing at your best. When athletes are confident, their mind and body are relaxed allowing them to perform at their best. There are a few things that can be done to ensure you have the highest level of confidence possible. First of all, engineer your approach to competition so that you are doing things that you have already successfully done in the past. Just knowing that you done it successfully before, will give you confidence. Be sure you stick to your game plan. It is a common mistake of teams to see their competition […]
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17
Oct
2012
Driven From Within
To watch an athlete play any game is like watching poetry in motion. The lines are so smooth and precise and each move is made with a certain determination and strategy. As they take the inside lane in track and field or run 80 yards on a punt return in football, it is amazing to see how they move. The angles are so clean and their ability to stop on a dime is like nothing you have ever seen in life. There is a certain rhythm and timing to how the body responds in the game. Where does this […]
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07
Oct
2012
A Star Rockets Rookie Faces His Fear
By CHRIS DUNCAN, Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Royce White couldn’t wait any longer. Last weekend, just before the Houston Rockets opened training camp, he called his agent and told him he had a problem. He needed to map out a plan for dealing with his general anxiety disorder and his fear of flying. It needed to be done before his first NBA season began. Before the brutal cross-country travel schedule kicked in and before the disorder got any worse. And if the Rockets, who drafted him 16th overall in late June, wouldn’t work with him, then he would […]
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06
Oct
2012
Mental Toughness Makes Olympic Champions
Study shows the right mix of mental toughness makes Olympic champions… Why is it that some sport performers are able to withstand the pressures associated with the Olympics and attain peak performances whereas others succumb to the demands and under-perform? Sport and Performance Psychologists (Dr David Fletcher and Mustafa Sarkar) at Loughborough University aimed to address this question in a recent study by interviewing twelve Olympic champions from a range of sports regarding their experiences of withstanding pressure during their sporting careers. They found that the world’s best athletes shared a unique mental resilience characterized by five key psychological […]
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24
Sep
2012
How to Manage the Competition in Your Sport
Many athletes sometimes get anxious when they compete with one another. Here is a list of techniques that an athlete can use to help manage the stress of dealing with the competition. 1. Learn as much as you can on your opponent. There is always something to learn about your competition. Read the reports about your opponent and watch him or her performance. Try to figure out an angle on how you can beat your competition. This will also help to reduce your worries in the future. 2. Don’t Assume Do not assume anything about your competition whether they […]
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22
Sep
2012
Is Pressure in Sports a Myth?
Often in sport the term ‘pressure‘ is used to describe a close/tight match situation or one of importance to the individual. Pressure has been defined as “any factor or combination of factors that increases the importance of performing well on a particular occasion” by Baumeister (1984). This definition for me highlights the importance of athlete perception. How the athlete perceives the occasion and factors surrounding them will affect the importance of performing, highlighted by Baumeister (1984). When discussing pressure in sport the term ‘choking’ and anxiety will appear soon after. Choking is defined as “performing more poorly than excepted […]
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