Thoughts on confidence

As a player, confidence is paramount to performance. Where does it come from? What do you do when you lose it? How can you instill it in a young player?

Confidence, to me, is self trust. Putting the future outcome in your own hands because you trust yourself to get it done. Such as taking a big shot in the fourth quarter. Or speaking to a large group for the first time. Or showing up with energy to a team tryout when you don’t know anyone. From my experience, players lack confidence when fear is louder in their head than their positive self-talk. Or, when they haven’t properly prepared for the moment. Confidence is an elastic feeling, and if you aren’t careful, it can be devastating to the outcomes you seek!

What do you do when you lack confidence in basketball? It isn’t just a quick and easy change in your thoughts. You can’t be hungry, and suddenly think “I’m full”, and solve your hunger problem. You have to eat. You cannot just say you are confident, you have to feed your confidence. A couple of ways to feed your confidence:

• Think about why you love basketball. Revisit those feelings.
• Work harder. Work harder than you have worked before.
• Write down positive things about your play/practice (specific skills, hitting shot, passing well, great teammate, etc.).
• Fill your self-talk (thoughts) with positive reminders and reassurance.

***this list applies to any area of life, not just that of a struggling athlete.

Confidence is vital for any athlete, and the process definitely gets more challenging as you grow up and get into higher levels of play. Feeding your confidence is a huge edge in the mental game. But it must be backed up with work. Self trust increases when you have put in the work in the dark, well before the opponent and the fans show up. Do yourself a favor and start training to feed your own confidence in areas where you are struggling.