How to build self-confidence

Individual sports put a lot of pressure on mental side. Player is responsible for all actions and he has to take responsibility for consequences of every move. If he succeeds he can take all the glory but on the other hand if he fails he has to be ready to face criticism and negative thoughts. In tennis players constantly work on different skills to improve own performance, get advantage over the opponents and win more matches but to make it happen one ability has to be addressed on and off the court: self-confidence.

Modern world of sport is really demanding. Only complex approach to practice guarantee possibility to stay on the road to the victory. Players have to pay attention to more and more details from different areas to make sure that they get better both physically and mentally. Times when good serve and decent footwork were enough to beat most of the rivals are long gone. Today player has to get ready working on technique, tactic, fitness and mental approach. Variety of abilities are needed to be able to perform well especially in the case of really stressful situation that happens during the tournament. One of the skills that are not always included in training plan is self-confidence.

Many players play great during practice sessions. They move well, make proper decisions and execute smooth shots. Unfortunately when they step on the court during competition they look like completely different person. Slow movement, rushed shots as also many frames are signs of combination of high level of stress and low level of self-confidence. Belief in own possibilities guarantees good performance and it is a skill like any other. Every player can be confident but he has to make conscious work to improve mental approach on and off-the court.

Players are not born confident. They get this skill from different experiences. That’s the first step. Players have to understand that self-confidence is under their control and if they will work on this ability sooner or later they won’t have problems to transfer practice skills to the competitive ground. The biggest advantage of mental skills over technical area is the fact that mental skills can be trained 24h a day. You don’t have to be on the court or in the office of qualified psychologist to get better. All you need is time and motivation and you have environment that will pay off in better performance.

How to build self-confidence

1. Success

I agree that the most powerful way to build self-confidence is to succeed. When player wins important tournament he is aware of good performance and his confidence goes up. Of course this method is not fully controllable by player because he can’t control the score but it is preferable to choose lower-level tournament while working on developing solid self-confidence. Proper planning and selection of tournaments can be both beneficial to tennis side (improvement of tactical and physical skills) as also to the mental side (self-confidence rises up with every win).

2. Comfort zone

Human beings love comfort. Pressure is everywhere so if there is a possiblity to avoid it many athletes prefer to stay in the place where they feel well. Both in sport and in life every day we face situations that are not comfortable. Every time we have to make decisions: to get out of the comfort zone and try something different or to avoid stress and do nothing. First option is much better if we want to be confident. By stepping out of the comfort zone on and off the court player learns how to act even when there is pressure and some doubts. Every experience confirms that it is nothing wrong to feel stress. It is nothing wrong to fail and it shows that we can do more than we thought we can. Confident players go for their shots, use other language to communicate in different country and ask for autograph when they walk next to Rafa Nadal. Pracice ground is everywhere.

3. Positives

Tennis players are good at talking. Almost 80% of whole playing time is a passive time so they use it to think and talk to themselves. Unfortunately most of this self-talk is focused on negative aspects of their performace. They are aware of missed forehand or lack of control on the backhand side. The analysis of previously played points is a crucial ability to get better but thinking and talking only about mistakes and weaknesses will never build self-confidence. Players have to start seeing things that they do well. If they point out areas that are positive they will understand that there are many things that they can be proud of. Good way to do so is to write down 5 positive aspects of the last practice session. By performing this exercise player has time to think about improvements as also he leaves the practice with thougths that it was a good work.

4. Care

Number one reason why players feel a lot of stress, are not confident and underperform when it really counts is the fact that they care too much about others’ opinions. They think what they friends will say or how mom/dad will react after the match and it doesn’t allow them to fully focus on the task and perform with proper confidence. Players have to learn that all they do is for their own good: not to please others. By changing mindset and caring about ownself players will immediately feel less pressure because they have everything under control. Either they will be happy or sad but he is the only person that really matters.

When players are confident there are no limits for them. All they see is the goal and they will do everything to reach the destination but tennis career is full of ups and downs. It should not be surprising that players’ confidence also fluctuates from high level to really low one. If your confidence is not at high level make sure that you plan your actions that are focused on building this important skill because solid confidence will give you more benefits than powerful forehand or precise serve.

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