Confidence in Elite Athletes

Confidence is such a dynamic social cognitive construct. In much of the reading I’ve done on confidence it talks about successful athletes having it and less successful athletes not having it. Much of the literature continues to talk about how elite athletes may struggle with self doubts but they always hold the belief that they can perform at a high level. I wonder if this is really true?

Defining self confidence

Confidence is the belief you can do something. Confidence used to be considered a disposition but now it’s being considered state like (you are born with a certain amount) and trait like (in certain situations you have more confidence than other situations). I think all three make sense. I think we have a disposition towards doing certain things based on our history; we are inclined to move and behave in certain ways. I also think that we are born with a certain amount of confidence but that it increases/decreases given certain situations.

Former client

I had a client who was a marathon runner; a very good marathon runner. She is very confident running half marathons but has terrible anxiety when running full marathons; even though that’s what she’s good at and trains for. These two situations for her demand very different things and although sometimes it is (just) self doubt other times it really is trait confidence. Trait confidence really show’s itself for her in marathon races that she’s not competed in before. She is really not sure she ‘can do it’. And when she didn’t win, her confidence tanked even further.

I helped my client to figure out what got in the way of her confidence during her marathons; I helped her reevaluate her races to find successful moments; we evaluated her coach to see what he was/was not doing that might be effecting her; we evaluated other people’s expectations; we talked about her love of doing marathons; we came up with success ‘markers’ (goals) during a marathon to help her feel confident and successful; we talked about the difference between the half and the full.

One of the biggest take away’s for my client was that she was not enjoying her marathon experiences. She had done the training. She was prepared but she was so stuck in the outcome she wasn’t able to be in the process and enjoy it. She also came to realize that the word ‘enjoy’ does not mean slacking off or working less. Besides the other work we did, when she was able to change her perspective several things started to shift for her: she felt better, her confidence increased, her times were better and she enjoyed the process.

What helps build confidence

Winning obviously builds confidence but unfortunately not everyone can be a ‘winner’ at least in terms of taking the gold, winning the game or taking first place. Athletes can however try and find performance accomplishments: did you make more free throws, did you bogey more holes, did you win more points or was your time an improvement.

A coaches expectations, behavior and feedback when done appropriate and realistically can also help build an athletes confidence.

Some other helpful tools are imagery (seeing yourself feel confident and being successful), honing psychological states (reducing negative psychological states that get in the way of feeling confident) and finding the right level of emotional states for training and competition.

Some of my most elite athletes struggle with confidence

I think they also struggle with self doubts but when the self doubts kick in it’s seemingly not as broad as lack of confidence; although both are definitely situational. I get the sense from some of my elite athletes that they don’t always hold the belief that they can perform at a high level. I do find it interesting how some athletes get to an elite level lacking confidence. It’s seems like an oxymoron but it’s not and they are lacking confidence and they are great athletes. There are other dimensions to their personality that get them to an elite level: strength, tenacity, motivation, etc. The confidence is one reason they come to see me and sometimes the reason they aren’t able to get to exactly where they want to go.

What do you think confidence is? What elements does it include? Do you either have it or not? How do you get it? How have you gotten it?

If confidence is a challenge for you. I can help! 🙂 Shoot me an email for a free initial consultation: drmichelle@drmichellecleere.com

Happy Wednesday!

Dr. Michelle

Photo credit: top10zilla.com