Self-doubt and its ability to affect sport performance – how to turn self-doubt into confidence.
An introduction to self-doubt and its effect on athletes, a brief word from a high-level sports coach and 5 top tips to increase confidence!
As young athletes step out into the competition environment for the first time, it is no surprise that they may feel the nerves and fear that comes hand in hand with success. However, what is less thought about is the impact that our own minds have on the outcomes of training, competitions or performances.
Self-doubt is defined as ‘a lack of confidence regarding yourself and your abilities’, and although in small doses is completely normal and on occasion beneficial, having excessive self-doubt has been linked to low self-esteem, struggling with insecurities and a lack of motivation. In a sporting environment, having these traits may be detrimental to performance as traits like low self-confidence have been shown to impede concentration, which in turn affects sport performance as being focused and on the ball allows athletes to make quick decisions and keep themselves safe.
For many, self-doubt comes from past experiences of failure, regardless of whether they were actual failures or perceived failures. This could be a lost match, a bad fall or negative comments from others – it is no surprise that being told you are bad at your sport will have a lasting effect on an athlete, especially when it’s coming from someone whose opinion matters to you.
I asked Hannah Nicholas, an incredible high-performance coach with 20 years’ experience coaching elite gymnastics how she helps gymnasts with self-doubt unlock their potential, and here’s what she had to say:
“I think reassurance is key, and as a person of trust, reassurance from a coach must be consistent.
To help a gymnast who is being challenged by their self-doubt, it’s important to understand every gymnast is unique. I would be versatile with my approach and be prepared to have a very open mind and be led by the gymnast’s response.
Whilst it’s important to validate feelings, I would try to encourage openly challenging negative self-thoughts. If a gymnast feels heard, I believe they are more likely to be open and honest with you, allowing the thoughts “to be” is an important part of acceptance. However, if we don’t act on that thought, we haven’t given it power – just time which allows validation. I think we should act on the healthier, more positive thoughts to make way for a healthy action as opposed to a negative reaction, in turn creating a more positive, effective result.
A specific example would be after an immediate effort at a tumbling pass, ask the gymnast for their immediate feedback. If the feedback is negative, listen to it, hear it, accept it – then ask them to challenge it and provide (themself) a positive point about any part of the tumble, no matter how “small” it seems.
Getting into this new, very simple habit will help create a healthier neural pathway more effective for self-growth. Together we have acknowledged the criticism, which we are understanding has an important part in change, but we are starting to replace it with something more constructive. Small changes like these will have a big impact on eliminating self-doubt”
5 tips to reduce self-doubt (both in sport and daily life)
Journaling:
Journaling is a great way to track your feelings over time and vent about things that didn’t go to plan in training sessions or competitions. It also allows you to identify patterns, such as whether doing a longer warm up results in increased fatigue and decreased motivation and therefore not performing as well, or if a longer warm up increases your energy levels, meaning you can play a better game and results in increased confidence. This will allow you to optimise your training and increase confidence in your sport!
Practise positive self-talk:
There’s only 1 person in the world who we spend every minute of every day with –ourselves – and the difference that our inner voice makes in our everyday lives is huge. Having a positive inner voice has been suggested to improve self-confidence and reduce cognitive anxiety, so try using positive affirmations with your team and challenging those negative internal comments with more positive alternatives. As the mindset shifts, you may find yourself being more capable of learning new skills or getting a new PB!
Think baby steps, not giant leaps:
Goal setting is an important task for all athletes and creating both long and short-term goals has the potential to skyrocket your training – however, it can be beneficial to not look at your goals as one finish line, but rather as many small stepping stones. This allows for small wins to be identified and celebrated and allows for feeling successful more frequently!
Have mindful moments:
Practicing mindfulness in different ways can help to block out external pressures and stressors. Starting with something small, like a walk or colouring exercise, can help to build the habit of taking time out of a busy day to centre yourself and reduce stress!
Talk to the people around you:
If things are getting you down, or you’re doubting yourself or your abilities, try sharing your concerns with coaches, mentors or teammates. They may not have the answers, but it may help to get it off your chest and out into the open – after all, a problem shared is a problem halved!