How to Have Stable Confidence
Do you buy into the negativity from other people? Do you lose confidence when others critique your game?
Just this week, I received a message from a soccer player who said:
“I’m often challenged mentally during practice if a teammate tells me how I can’t do a certain thing, such as properly marking my opponent. I end up questioning my ability to do so, therefore affecting my performance negatively.”
Does what others say affect your performance? When others say: you can’t win this game, beat a certain opponent, achieve a personal best, final in an event or make a national cut, do you question your ability?
Lack of confidence or self-doubt is the biggest mental block to performing consistently well in competitions.
Lack of confidence or self-doubt is the thing that prevents you from reaching your potential.
Lack of confidence is the biggest opponent you will ever face in your athletic career.
So what’s the answer to this confidence dilemma?
Let’s see what one of the most successful athletes in their sport has to say about confidence…
Steph Curry, guard for the Garden State Warriors, is considered one of the greatest shooters in NBA history.
Curry is not afraid to shoot from anywhere on the offensive end of the court, even 10-feet away from the 3-point line. As a matter of fact, the NBA 3-point line is 23 feet 9 inches from the center of the basket.
From a distance between 30 and 35 feet, Curry shoots approximately 54 percent while the rest of the league shoots around 22 percent from that same distance.
In an interview, Curry talked about the confidence that the Warriors and he, in particular, have even when faced with losing the 2019 NBA Championship.
CURRY: “I don’t listen much to any of what anybody says about what we [the Golden State Warriors] can or cannot do or what I can do personally. I don’t know if that’s stubbornness or ultimate self-confidence but it’s just the fact that I know who I’m rolling with in that locker room, we just got believe.”
Maybe, it’s a little bit of both… Stubbornness meaning you do not get distracted by outside noise and confidence that you believe in your ability to perform to the best of your abilities across a wide range of competitive circumstances.
Ultimate confidence is a combination of:
- Stubbornness or focus – Focusing on the things you can control and not the opinions of others or the myriad of other uncontrollable distractions that can inundate your mind.
- Belief in your ability to perform – Having an unshakeable belief in your ability to produce in competition, even if those things have not been accomplished before.
Ultimate confidence is the mental skill that has helped produce unmatched results for Curry.
One of the ways Curry developed confidence in his ability to make 3-point shots from well beyond the 3-point arc is that he practiced shooting thousands of shots from that distance.
Bullet-Proof Confidence:
Confidence must come from within yourself and not from others. That’s why it’s called SELF-confidence.
Repetition and drilling builds confidence, but you must believe you have perform well in competition.
Confidence can be fragile if you allow others’ comments to affect your belief in your skills and experience.
Always look inside any message for what you can improve, not what’s wrong with your game. Focus on your talents, but strive to improve your weaknesses.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- How This Pro Manages Criticism
- How to Turn Negative Criticism into Motivation
- How Athletes Can Use Constructive Criticism
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The Confident Athlete
“The Confident Athlete” consists of 2 audio programs that include 14 days of confidence fueling exercises and a simple to follow workbook that guides you through the 14 days, helps you apply the strategies, and customizes the exercises to your personal needs.
Let me help you put a stop to the confidence leak. You can learn to have greater levels of confidence in competition than you do in practice by identifying the specific ways you undermine your own confidence and how to convert your practice confidence into COMPETITIVE CONFIDENCE.
“The Confident Athlete” is a ground-breaking system to teach you how to think like a champion and have ultimate self-confidence every time you step on the playing field, court, track, or course. The confident athletes was developed for any athlete – junior to professional –that wants to gain confidence. However, coaches and sports parents can learn how to teach others to perform with ultimate confidence. Use my program if you want to bust a slump or just wanting higher or more consistent levels of self-confidence.