Elite sport psychology/self confidence/threats

Activity: Getting back on the bike

Watch the video above, which includes a number of crashes from cycling’s blue ribbon event the Tour de France. Crashes seem to be an occupational hazard for elite cyclists. How do you think they would affect self-confidence?

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Fear and loss of self-confidence

Loss of control

When they lose confidence, athletes perceive that their control over situations is taken away from them. Many athletes comment on the relationship between confidence and time. When they are high in confidence, they feel that they have unlimited time to perform their skills. Conversely, when their confidence is  low, they feel rushed to execute a particular skill and as a result are less fluid often leading to a poor outcome. The negative outcome is likely to only diminish confidence further in a horrible downward spiral.

Fear

Fear is the the greatest villain when it come to loss of self-confidence.

The specific fear may only be a brief thought of physical injury flashing through the mind. The thought of a cycle crash similar to the one in the video above could easily reduce confidence for a cyclist returning from serious injury. In some dangerous sports such as motor racing, the merest hint of fear might be enough to end a career, because total concentration on the task at hand is required.

For those returning to sport after even minor injuries, a lack of confidence can significantly affect performance. Going onto the rugby ground with a slight hamstring strain can make you feel like a knight trying to do battle with a piece of armour missing.

Low confidence in physical conditioning is another potential threat to performance. If an athlete returns from injury too early, not only is their confidence at risk, but they also risk further injury.

Perhaps more damaging to performance than fear of injury, is a fear of negative evaluation that often accompanies a loss of confidence. An athlete may feel inhibited, because they fear that others will view their performance unfavourably. In particular, the role of coaches and team mates are vital when a loss of form occurs. A supportive climate can help maintain confidence, whereas criticism or social isolation will only diminish it further. Team dynamics will be looked at more closely later in the course.

The role of spectators or the media can have a strong positive or negative effect on self-confidence. When the crowd taunts or boos an underperforming footballer, their confidence can be shattered, particular if they are a young player, although even experienced players can suffer:

The Secret Footballer on loss of confidence

The Secret Footballer is a long-running column in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, written by a professional footballer whose identity remains anonymous. In the article linked below, he writes about loss of confidence with particular reference to Spanish international Fernando Torres’s time at Chelsea FC. Can you identify some of the issues already mentioned?

• The Secret Footballer: Nagging doubt makes you lose it like Fernando Torres

An overactive imagination may lead to poor self-confidence. Suddenly opponents seem bigger and faster then they really are, targets seem smaller, and victory impossible. Imagination may need to be kept on a tight rein to prevent personal events being interpreted negatively. It is when athletes attach personal meaning to occurrences that they take on greater significance.

Measuring self-confidence

Sport psychologists use various standardised tests to assess the self-confidence of athletes. One example is the Sources of Sport-Confidence Questionnaire (Vealey, 1998), which helps to identify the conditions most likely to make the athlete feel confident. The measure relates to nine areas of confidence:

• Mastery: Performing well, improving and achieving personal goals.
• Demonstration of ability: Demonstrating sporting capability, and gaining favourable social comparison by beating others.
• Physical and mental preparation: Feeling physically and mentally prepared for an optimal performance.
• Physical self-presentation: Gaining confidence from the belief that the competition is going in your favour.
• Social support: Support from coaches, team mates, friends and family, and significant others.
• Coach’s leadership: Perception of coach’s ability to make the right decisions and lead effectively.
• Vicarious experience: Gaining confidence from watching friends and team mates perform successfully.
• Environmental comfort: Factors such as the degree of comfort with the playing venue or feeling at ease with the competition officials.
• Situational favourableness: Perceived strength of the opposition, opportunity  to perform pre-match rituals, and so on.

With scores in each of these areas, the athlete can work on boosting confidence in areas within their control, but also develop coping strategies for aspects outside of their control. Some of these strategies are given below.

In the next section we will look at some techniques to help boost self-confidence and guard against losses, but before that, please answer the short evaluation questionnaire below.