Confidence in sport and how to build it
Confidence is a key factor in athletes’ performance. It refers to the belief people have in themselves and their ability to achieve their goals.
Confidence develops from childhood, beginning with a person’s earliest interactions with their environment. We can distinguish between confidence as a personality trait and confidence in a specific context, such as sport.
Developing confidence in sport
Several factors shape the development of confidence. These are summarised below:
Abilities and skills: to have confidence in your abilities, you need to genuinely possess them. For athletes, these might include, for example, awareness and speed.
Effort and improvement: sustained effort, training, achieving training goals and discipline all contribute to positive feelings and the development of self-belief. A sense of improvement and progress, supported by feedback from others, is a key factor in building confidence in yourself and your efforts.
Positive role models: having role models is very important for young athletes. This involves not only admiring them but also adopting specific techniques that could help improve their own performance.
A sense of achievement: from an early age, parents and coaches can provide opportunities for small achievements, helping children gradually build confidence in themselves.
Significant people: the positive view that people important to a child, such as parents, coaches, fellow athletes and friends, have of them can directly influence the child’s own self-image.
Praise and positive feedback: significant people in a child’s life can offer feedback on their strengths, helping to build their self-belief. The emphasis should be on improving the athlete’s skills rather than on the outcome of a competition.