We all know at least one person who always feels like they can come through, no matter the challenge, when the time is right. As Gene Hackman says in the classic movie the Replacements, “Winners want the ball!”.
Confidence in an athlete is always a positive attribute. Unfortunately, we often have to deal with players who lack confidence. Too many players allow outside things or people to impact their confidence. They ultimately lose faith in themselves and doubt their ability to get the job done, no matter how small the challenge.
So what makes one player exhibit the irrational confidence that they feel like they can always come through and another who lacks any confidence in their ability to get it done?
The answer, the confident athlete chooses to be confident. They often choose to be confident at an early age and refuse to let anything take it away from them. Even an occasional failure isn’t enough to drag them down. When things don’t go their way they find a way to deflect it away so that it doesn’t erode their belief in themselves.
Which then begs the question, why don’t all players choose confidence? For many of them, they just don’t understand that they have the power. They allow their coaches or parents or teammates or whoever drag their confidence down and rather than take control they blame these outside influences.
Bottom line is no one can take your confidence away if you don’t let them. Choose to be confident and you will have a lot more fun!
