A coaches guide to: Building athlete self-confidence
What is self-confidence?
Put simply, self-confidence is the extent to which you believe in your ability to do something.¹
Why is self-confidence important?
Imagine two sprinters at the blocks before competing in a 100m race:
- Athlete 1 has high self-confidence; they believe in themselves and their ability to run well.
- Athlete 2 has low self-confidence; they are unsure if they have what it takes to run well.
From a psychological perspective, athlete 1 has an advantage over athlete 2. Having high self-confidence provides a competitive edge when it comes to elite sport, where the difference between world records or Olympic medals can be fractions of seconds. This mirrors a significant amount of research showing that successful athletes typically have high self-confidence.¹ In addition to the performance-related benefits of high self-confidence there are also possible well-being benefits. For instance, having high self-confidence reduces experiences of debilitative performance anxiety and can boost motivation and mood.²
Selected or developed?
If self-confidence is important for sport performance and well-being, we should just select athletes who have high self-confidence — right? Maybe, but self-confidence is context specific. Its unlikely that someone has high self-confidence 100% of the time. It’s completely normal to feel more, or less, confident in our abilities day-to-day depending on many different factors. Consider how confident you feel in your abilities when you are tired, stressed, hungry in comparison to when you feel rested, relaxed, and well nourished. Furthermore, self-confidence can be developed or strengthened over time.
Selecting athletes based on their self-confidence doesn’t make sense when there are several ways in which coaches can help athletes build their self-confidence.
Supporting self-confidence
Below I outline five ways in which a coach can support an athlete’s self-confidence. These strategies are based on the research work of Albert Bandura.³
I’ve done it before, so I can do it again
This first strategy relies on the notion that the more we do something, the more confidence we feel. As a coach, ensure your athlete has the opportunity to practice and build confidence in both training and competitive situations. When working on a brand-new skill (e.g., a new vault in gymnastics) build up to it by practicing similar skills. For example, a gymnast can simplify a vault to be similar but with less rotations, or practice the skill on a trampoline so that the athlete gets a feeling of the movement. That feeling of “being close” to success can boost both motivation and self-confidence.
If they can do it, so can I
Sometimes we just need to see something in action to really understand how a movement or skill works. Use videos, photos and live demonstrations to help athletes understand what is required. Perhaps competing in a marathon feels completely unachievable for some people. Sharing examples of previously untrained individuals who manage to run marathons could support self-confidence as the person realises that it is possible for them to do it too.
Note. This strategy is closely linked to observational learning, so look that up if you’re interested in learning more!
My coach tells me I can do it
A simple “you’ve got this” or “I believe in you” from a coach can go a long way. Remember that this is an act of encouragement, rather than pressure. Sometimes persuading an athlete to give something a go, is enough to boost their self-confidence.
I can imagine myself doing it
Imagery is a powerful tool, and I will no doubt write about this in a future post. Encouraging an athlete to use imagery to boost self-confidence is a useful strategy. Try phrases like “see yourself landing the vault with confidence” or “imagine how that dive would feel in your body”. Imagery draws from the same neural pathways as real-life experiences, so the more an athlete imagines themselves doing something, the more confident they become in their ability to actually do it.
I feel ready
Athletes who feel physically ready have higher self-confidence. Coaches can help their athletes physically prepare for something via adequate training (e.g., periodization, supplementary training). This can also be extended to feeling emotionally ready. While coaches cannot control an athlete’s emotions, an open and communicative coach-athlete relationship can be valuable for athletic performance and wellbeing.
The right amount of self-confidence
We know that self-confidence is useful for performance and well-being, but what happens if an athlete becomes over-confident? For example, if a swimmer has a long run of competitive success, it is logical that their self-confidence goes up (i.e., I did it before, so I can do it again). But if self-confidence gets too high, someone might put it less effort and stop asking for advice. Whereas someone who is a little unsure about something might practice more, and ask for feedback from their coach. Therefore, the right amount of self-confidence is likely a sweet spot before becoming over-confident.
If someone becomes over-confident, it might be time to increase challenge to re-introduce some uncertainty into training and competition. But the challenge should still feel possible. In the case of a competitive swimmer, that might mean registering for higher level competitions.
References
- Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2019). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology, 7th Edition, Human kinetics.
- Vealey, R.S. (2009). Confidence in sport. In Brewer, B. W. (Ed.). (2009). Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science: Sport Psychology (pp 43–52). John Wiley & Sons.
- Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.
