“Being afraid on the court means you’re not confident of your skills.” Michael Jordan

Confidence is a skill rather than a personality trait. This skill can be mastered when you take active steps to control your mind.

Nobody is born confident.

Some athletes may be more confident than others because they have gotten praise and attention from everyone throughout their lives.

However, one’s true confidence lies in his/herself.

What is Self-Confidence?

Self-confidence is one of the most used terms in sports psychology research, but there is still some confusion about what exactly self-confidence is.

One of the most cited sources about self-confidence refers to it as “simply believing in oneself” (Bénabou & Tirole, 2002).

Another popular article defines self-confidence as “an individual’s expectations of performance and self-evaluations of abilities and prior performance.” (Lenney, 1977).

Finally, sports psychology for basketball defines self-confidence as an athlete’s trust in their abilities, capacities, and judgments, or belief that they can successfully face basketball mental game challenges and demands.

What Happens if You Don’t Have Self-confidence?

There are situations where a boost of self-confidence can improve performance, and the lack of it will cause the following:

• Embarrassment.
• Hopelessness.
• Nervousness.
• Vain personality disorder.
• Doubtful personality disorder.
• Negativity.
• Overstatement.
• Guilt.
• Lack of limits.
• Unfriendliness.

Are Your Beliefs Holding You Back?

If you believe things about yourself like…

• “It’s hard for me to master this skill.”
• “I’m not good with the passes.”
• “I’m not a mentally tough athlete.”
• “I’m not creative.”
• “I’m a procrastinator.”

Those fixed mindsets will cause you to avoid experiences where you might feel like you cannot succeed, but you can.

How can you change what you believe about yourself, eliminate your negative mindset, and achieve your basketball goals?

• You can become mentally tough by interrupting those negative thoughts and replacing them with positive self-talk.
• You can use imagery, visualization, and mental rehearsal.
• You can focus on the process, not the outcome.

Instead of worrying about winning the championship, commit to the process of training like a champion.

Instead of worrying about making the same mistakes, commit to the process of developing your mental game.

Instead of worrying about getting fit, commit to the process of eating healthy, practicing, and training on a regular base.

Start small and build on experience.

It’s not about the result; it’s about the athlete you are becoming.

To learn more about how to build your confidence, join DC Mental Training Gym
DCMentalTrainingGym.com/Membership