How to Improve Confidence in Sports

What is Confidence In Sports

Confidence in sports is a skill that many athletes, even the most elite athletes, struggle with and seek guidance on how to build and maintain in order to drive the best results.

Confidence can be thought of as our “I can do anything” way of thinking and the belief in ourselves that we can achieve the results we desire. However, as many athletes know, confidence can be hard to gain and maintain once we have had experiences that contradict or limit that belief in ourselves that “I can do anything”.

Examples of this may be when an athlete makes a mistake in training or during a performance, receiving feedback coming from a coach or teammate, or not completing a certain goal.

These experiences can have a negative impact on our mindset and change the belief in ourselves and the perception of our own abilities. This in turn, affects whether or not we believe we have the ability to grow and adapt in the face of adversity.

My Personal Experience with Confidence

When I was a dancer, confidence was a huge roadblock in my own growth as an athlete as it held me back from fully committing to my performances. Especially after making a mistake, I was riddled with fear and self-doubt that completely consumed my thoughts and left gaps in my own self-esteem that limited my ability to improve and the belief that I could improve. Over time, because I didn’t have the skills to recover from my lack of confidence, it is what eventually put a stop in my journey and dream of becoming a professional dancer. Truthfully, had I had the right tools and been taught on how to build and maintain my own confidence in spite of it all, perhaps I would have been able to pursue my passion further. Nonetheless, this is why I want to support younger athletes in their own performance journey on how they can build their confidence and maintain that belief that “I can do anything”, no matter what comes in their way.

Where Confidence In Sports Comes From

To understand this, we have to take a look at how our brain interprets confidence. Estimates suggest anywhere from 30% to 60% of athletes experience performance anxiety and confidence issues.

In simple terms, when our brain detects and predicts success, it produces the emotions related to confidence (ie: excitement, pride, joy, focus). On the other hand when our brain anticipates failure, this is when fear takes over.

Fear is the ultimate barrier that prevents athletes from performing at their best. The brain forms these predictions based on our own past experiences, using them as proof of whether a situation will go well or not.

For example:

• If you’ve made a successful play in the past, your brain will predict success and boost your confidence.
  • Ie: You’re about to shoot a goal on a breakaway. Your brain predicts success after using a past experience of shooting and scoring as proof that you can do it again. Your confidence increases and you execute the shot, puck goes in.
• If you’ve previously failed in a similar situation, your brain may trigger fear and self-doubt.
  • Ie: Your coach is giving you feedback on your butterfly strokes being weak. Your brain predicts failure after hearing this feedback and interrupting it as negative. Your confidence decreases making it harder to execute the skill next time in competition as you fear you may fail again.

Tips On How To Gain Confidence In Sports

Luckily, I have some tips and tricks that you can use to regain and maintain your confidence and turn it on at any time like a flip of a switch, to gain that extra edge and drive the results you desire in your performance.

1. Engage in Positive Self-Talk

Self-talk plays a significant role in athletic performance. The words you use shape how you feel, act, and believe in yourself. Positive self-talk helps reinforce confidence, while negative self-talk can diminish it. Redirect negative thoughts to positive ones.

Example:

Negative: “I suck. That pass was terrible, and I missed the open net.”
Positive: “Even though I missed that shot, I now know I have a blind spot that I can improve on. If I continue to practice, I’ll have a better chance at scoring next time.”

2. Set Realistic Goals

Goal-setting helps build confidence by providing clear, achievable targets. Instead of setting vague or unrealistic goals, break them into smaller, short-term objectives that contribute to long-term success.

Example:

Not specific enough: “I want to play in the NBA.”
Specific & attainable: “Playing in the NBA is my long-term goal. To get there, I will start by playing for a recreational team where I can begin improving my dribbling, which is a current weakness of mine.”

3. Visualization

Visualization is a powerful mental preparation tool used by some of the most elite athletes. By imagining yourself successfully executing plays (especially after mistakes), your brain stores the visualization as a memory and has the blueprint to replicate the same scenario during a game time scenario. We then can use this visualization to access our confident state during a performance.

Tips for Effective Visualization:

• Be as specific as possible. Frame by frame outline exactly what needs to be done in order to execute a certain skill or recover from a mistake.
• Engage all 5 senses
  • What do you see, smell, taste, hear, feel
• Practice using visualization regularly in order for it to be effective
  • Before games, after games, before practice
• Include challenges you might face and visualize yourself overcoming them
  • Ie: recovering from mistakes

4. Avoid Comparisons

Comparing yourself to others can lower confidence and shift focus away from personal growth. External validation (using outside factors to confirm your own beliefs about yourself) plays a big role in an athlete’s performance, but relying on it can be detrimental. Instead, ensure you focus on your own progress and what you can control.

Example:

“Andy has a better free throw percentage than me. If I were Andy, I would have no issues with getting a basketball scholarship. Everything comes easy to him. No point in trying to improve anymore because only players like Andy will get into a good college.”

5. Learn To Understand Your Fear

When your brain predicts that something in your performance might go wrong, it triggers the red-flag emotion, fear. Instead of running from this fear or getting caught up in it’s physical symptoms, shift your mindset to see it as a signal that your brain is in an unresourceful state (when you are not performing at your highest quality).

A great way to practice this in training, is to confront your fear before it affects your performance. When fear arises, ask yourself:

• Have I experienced this fear before?
• Where is this fear coming from?
• What did I learn from that mistake or situation in the past?

By recognizing and addressing your fear head-on, rather than avoiding it, you train your brain to process the experience differently. Over time, as you make adjustments and improve, your brain will no longer associate fear with that situation, helping you build and maintain your confidence.

6. Failure is an Opportunity for Growth

Failing is a learning opportunity dressed in fear. When we fail instead of engaging in self-doubt, shift your perspective to see it as a moment of growth in yourself and your performance. Our confidence is heavily reliant on how we recover and interrupt our failures. If we can learn how to see failing as an opportunity for growth, this will then act as proof to the brain that when we fail in the future (because it’s not IF we fail, it’s WHEN) we will be better equipped on how we can adapt and learn from the mistakes and in turn, maintain our confidence despite our failures.

Example:

Instead of thinking, “I failed, so I’m not good enough, I’ll never be good enough” reframe it to, “This mistake taught me that I need to improve on ____. What do I need to change or adjust in my training and skills in order to successfully execute ____? Moving forward, I will make sure I ____, so I can be better prepared”.

7. Let Go Of Perfection

Many athletes are high achievers, which can lead to a fixed mindset. The belief that your abilities and skills are innate and cannot be improved or learnt. To grow, you must shift to a growth mindset and let go of this perfectionism.

A key strategy for overcoming perfectionism is to be honest with yourself. Recognize that your abilities are adaptable and that any time you lack confidence in yourself, know that it can be re-built and developed through continuous effort and practice.
Remember: It’s PROGRESS, not Perfection.

Example:

• “My tennis match is coming up next weekend but I am still struggling with my one-hand backhand. I haven’t really been practicing because I don’t have the confidence that I’ll be able to execute it well in competition. What’s the point?”

Mindset Adjustment (Letting Go Of Perfection)

“But I know I have to continue to practice now in training so I can be better prepared for the tournament. Let me call coach and ask to get some extra practice today and will ask her for help.”

Result

“Coach and I practiced for a long time and I finally got the technique to successfully execute my back hand! I feel a lot more confident now that I have practiced and spoken to my coach. I am feeling excited and ready for my competition!”

8. Have FUN

A rule of thumb I always remind my athletes: Remember WHY you started playing your sport.

For high-level athletes who dedicate countless hours to training and competition, it’s easy to lose sight of the passion that got you started in the first place. Before every game or practice, take a moment to reflect on three reasons why you love your sport.

Reignite the joy that fuels your performance and engrain the mindset that sports should be fun. This shift in perspective will help you stay confident and motivated every time you have a performance.

Example:

• “I started baseball because my dad was my coach when I was younger, and I always had so much fun playing, especially when he would cheer me on.”
• “Hitting a home run makes me feel like I can do anything!”
• “I love getting outside and playing with my teammates in the sun, it reminds me of playing with my hometown friends.”

You Already Have What It Takes – Now It’s Time to Trust It

It can be overwhelming to think about the tools to use in order to adjust your performance. But as you can see, a lot of the rewiring of the mindset isn’t as outside of the box as many think. The majority of confidence building comes from just taking the time and effort of investing in YOU. Getting to know who YOU are rather than finding it in others and how others perceive you. Our ability to succeed and believe that we can, comes from our past experiences as proof that because we did, mean we CAN.

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here, rather, turn it in a direction that we have always had the directions to follow and trust in ourselves to do so.

Ready to Change the Way You Think?

If you’re ready to shift your mindset and approach performance with confidence, click to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Let’s work together to build positive habits that help you perform at your best and feel proud every time you compete—win or lose.

If you’re an athlete facing performance struggles and want to enhance your mental game, check out the Brain Training for Athletes program

See You in the Mental Gym!

Beatrice Hipolito

Athletic Mindset Coach

Beatrice holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Brain Training for Athletes Certification from Elite, combining academic insight with her experience as a competitive dancer. She supports athletes facing performance anxiety, confidence issues, and major transitions.

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