Speaker: All champion athletes are confident. They believe they can do things they need to do to do well. They believe they can stay motivated when making mistakes or losing. Now how do you become confident? There are some things you can do mentally to become more confident. First, as we said earlier, focus on the positive.
One way to do this is to keep a record of your goals and when you complete them. When your confidence become shaky you can look at this list of completed goals and remind yourself there is a reason to be confident. Another way is to use the thought stopping and replacing strategy we discussed to stop worry thoughts that you might be thinking about.
Finally, great athletes develop physical and mental preparation routines to get themselves ready to complete. Do you have a pre-game routine? What does it involve?
Speaker1: Kind of, in the car, listen music, kind of like taking nap and stuff like that. Some time I do, I service first, then ground strokes and then sometimes volleys and overheads after I usually stretch and drink a lot of fluids.
Speaker2: Yes, I always have to have like the same pair of socks on and all sorts of things like that. Then mentally I just have to think about the course and just getting down and just skiing like I know how.
Speaker3: Well, I usually pack my bag the night before and I bring all my suits and then I go to the meet, I have to change in my suits. I pick my favorite ever lucky suit and then I go out and stretch. I warm up. Then I usually listen to some music, talk for coach Pete and he relaxes me down and gets me all calm.
Speaker4: I talk to my friends and hope that they can kind of keep my mind off it and we all just talk about stuff and I like drives aside from skiing and also how we want to do that day just like positive thinking.
Speaker5: My dad always gets mad if I don't have my stuff set up for the game, so I have to be ready, a healthy lunch, dinner and breakfast, whatever, usually like a sandwich and I always listen to music, pop music.
Speaker: If you don't have a routine, begin to develop one by identifying when you should begin to get ready for a performance. Indicate what physical warm up components are needed, what do you need to do to mentally get ready. Distract yourself, imagine the good event, socialize, write these down and try to get ready the same way each time you perform.
Overtime you can further develop your routine. Many people make it sound like confidence comes from simply thinking positive thoughts. Well, confident athletes certainly focus on the positive. Positive thoughts alone aren't enough, confidence comes from working hard, knowing you've trained, learning and mastering new skills and working on your mental game.
So the best way to become confident is to do all these things on a regular basis. Remember, everyone wants to win but not everyone wants to pay the price it takes to win. Confidence comes from dedication and hard work.
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