Sports Performance Tip: How to Build Confidence in Your Game

In the last Sports Performance Tip post, I discussed the continuum of Fear and Confidence. If you missed it, click here to read that post first. At the end, I said I would share with you how to build your confidence. That is what this post is about.

There are three areas you need to have confidence in for you and your game to be at its peak. One: Technique. Two: Physical Abilities. Three: The Mental Game.

Technique: The best way to have confidence in your technique is to practice well. The old saying, “Practice makes perfect” is not necessarily true. What is true is “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect!” For example: You are a golfer who slices the ball every time you drive. You go to the practice range and the first thing you probably do is take out your driver and start hitting…and hitting…and hitting. If you don’t know how to fix your slice on your own, practicing is useless.  All you are doing is perfecting how to hit a slice.  Your muscle memory is going to be so in tune with the wrong swing, that when you get on the golf course, you will continue to slice the ball. What you need to do is get a lesson with a PGA professional!!! Trust me, from my own personal experience, there is nothing like getting a good golf lesson and going out to the golf course the next day feeling confident in your swing! (Click here to find a PGA instructor near you.)

Physical Abilities: This area I am very familiar with. I have spent my entire professional life working in the area of physical fitness. I can promise you that a well designed strength and flexibility routine will improve your scores dramatically! Being confident that you are strong enough to be able to last the entire round and not have fatigue set in is critical. If your thought process is that you score poorly on the last 6 holes because you get tired, then your confidence in your entire round is not there. You need to know that you will be able to hit your 8 iron just as well on the 18^th hole as you do on the 1^st hole. How do you build confidence in your physical abilities? Hire a personal trainer who specializes in golf (or your particular sport). Training is very sport specific; someone who is a golfer will exercise very differently than someone who is a basketball player. (Click here to find a Personal Trainer near you.)

The Mental Game: Jack Nicklaus said it best, “Golf is 90% mental.” So how to you build confidence in your game? There are numerous areas of mental toughness that can be developed (click here for a list of them). If you continue to golf (or play your sport) with the same negative attitude and expect different results, then you are a dreamer! So many times I hear other golfers put their game down. I hear statements like, “My handicap? My game is my handicap.” Another one is, “I just don’t want to hurt myself or anyone else today.” These statements are not statements of a confident golfer! The best way to improve your mental toughness is to hire a mental skills coach. You coach will work with you to fine tune your mental game so that you can perform your best when on the course. Golfers are known to spend lots of money on all kinds of gadgets; most of which don’t work.  Why not spend a little money on something that is proven and will work in your golf game and in your life? Professional golfers (and athletes) have sport psychologists on staff.  For a small investment you can have a sports performance coach that will help you improve your game! But with anything else, once you learn what you need to do from your coach, you need to practice it. Remember, “Perfect Practice Make Perfect!” (Click here for information on Sports Performance Coaching.)

To sum it up, in order for you to play at your maximum potential you need to be confident in the three areas discussed in this post; technique, physical abilities, and the mental game. You need to walk to the first tee with confidence, expecting you are going to have a great round and trusting in your game.

You need to: Think Confident…Act Confident…Play Confident!

Until the next post…

Make it a successful day!

Coach Steve