Sports Psychology and Self-Belief

Any sportsperson who makes it to the top of their game will have endured many hours, many months, and many years of dedicated training. There is no such thing as an ‘overnight success’ although, to the viewing public, it sometimes appears that way.

Many sacrifices will no doubt have been made along the way and not many athletes will survive the rigours of competing at the highest level without suffering periods of enforced rest – often lengthy – through injury. So what keeps an athlete going? What gives them the strength to pick up the pieces and try again after disappointing setbacks?

“If you aren’t crashing, you aren’t skiing” – author unknown

A big part of the answer has to be self-belief. A belief that, no matter what, they have the ability to achieve their dreams. Research into the psychology of sporting success has shown that an athlete’s potential level of performance can be traced through something known as the success cycle.

An athlete must have self-belief to begin the success cycle:

• Self-belief creates a positive self-image – you feel good about yourself
• Positive self-image creates a positive attitude – you feel confident about your ability
• Self-confidence creates a winning attitude – you believe you can produce a winning performance
• This belief creates focus – you give yourself every opportunity to perform at your best by eating well, sleeping well, and training well
• This focus creates a winning result!

So how do athletes maintain self-belief when things aren’t going their way? A lack of self-belief usually has its roots in a fear of some sort and in sport its often a fear of the unknown. When things aren’t working out; when goals aren’t be achieved, self-doubt can creep in. The fear becomes: “what if I’m not as good as I thought I was; what if I can’t actually do this?” Self-belief and confidence must be restored through taking steps to conquer the ‘fear.’

“All things are possible, except for skiing through a revolving door” – author unknown

Dealing with ‘what ifs’:

Step one - take a look at your current training and competition performances in relation to the pillars of performance. Have you developed equal skill in all four pillars?

technical – tactical – physical – psychological

If greater strength has been developed in the physical skill area, psychological skill may have been overlooked. Maintaining self-belief and confidence requires psychological skill. Confidence is a state of mind, it’s all about how you’re thinking.

Step two - take a moment to consider what it is you value. What matters most in your sporting career? If winning has become everything, learning to adjust your focus to process goals rather than outcome goals will make it possible to remain positive – even without a win.

Having confidence in who you are and what you’re all about makes it much more difficult for negative ‘what ifs’ to interrupt your positive thoughts.

Step three – consider your current capabilities; identify where your current strengths and weaknesses lie. Create a balance by developing weaker areas to match your strengths.

Confidence will grow through the experience of making positive progress but, more importantly, experiencing the potential to make changes will encourage you to believe that change is always possible. This is key to maintaining your self-belief.

“Gotta use your brain, it’s the most important part of your equipment”
- Kevin Andrews and Warren Miller (extreme skiing)

“Shut the **** Up”…Dealing with the Inner Critic