Sports Performance Tip: The Continuum of Fear & Confidence

If you’ve played any kind of sports before you have most likely experienced both of these emotions while playing; sometimes in the same game. This post is going to be written for the golfer, but all athletes can go through the same situations and benefit from this post.

Here is a brief example of the continuum as I see it for athletes…

Fear…..Doubt….Hope….Confidence

Definitions…

Fear: A distressing emotion around an impending threat that can be real or imagined.

Doubt: To be uncertain about.

Hope: To feel that something desired may happen.

Confidence: Belief in oneself and one’s abilities.

Let’s take a look at each of these emotions and how they can affect the outcome of your performance.

FEAR. An acronym I like to use for this word is False Expectations Appearing Real. In sports there are several reasons for feeling fear. Two examples of fear are fear of failure and fear of success. The fear of failure is often what holds athletes back from succeeding at their goals. They are afraid that if they don’t play up to their expectations, that they could lose their spot on the team, their scholarship, etc. Fear of success is another way an athlete can feel this emotion. Here, they are afraid they won’t be able to handle the future expectations that are now thrust upon them. They are afraid that maybe they really aren’t this good and today is just an anomaly.

DOUBT. When you doubt your abilities as an athlete you are not able to play at your full potential. This often leads to an athlete “playing it safe” and not giving it that extra effort that is needed to be successful. If you don’t believe in your abilities, you cannot possibly play at your full potential. “I don’t think I can make that shot, so I am just going to play it safe.” “I doubt I can win today in this field.” Playing safe and playing smart are two different things. When you play safe you may hold back and cost yourself several strokes. Playing smart means playing to your abilities knowing the situation that is at hand.

HOPE. Hope is a slight improvement over doubt. Although I look at hope as being optimistic about your abilities, but you still have some doubt that you can do it. At least hope is more on the positive side of the spectrum than doubt is. “I hope I can hit this shot on the green.” “I hope I play well today.” These statements leave room to be desired. I wouldn’t want any of my athletes making statements like this!

CONFIDENCE. This is where you truly have TRUST in your abilities. You have a great feeling inside that you can play at your best and you will perform at your best. “I know I can hit this shot on the green.” “I know I will play well today.” These statements are very positive and when you speak in these terms, your brain believes what you are saying and your body will follow through and react accordingly.

In order to be a success and play your best you must have confidence! You need to expect to play well and to walk with confidence. It needs to begin as soon as you wake up the day you are playing. Take it to your warm up, to the driving range, to the putting green, and as you walk to the first tee. Confidence is your key to success.

If you feel any of the first three emotions above during your play, you need to contact a sports performance coach! If you want to play to your maximum capabilities, then your mental game needs to be as fine tuned as your physical game.

So this leads to the question: How do you get confidence? Read: How to Build Confidence in Your Game.

Until the next post…

Make it a successful day!

Coach Steve