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What Is Confidence?
“Confidence isn’t about thinking you’re better than everyone else…it’s about believing that you’ve prepared yourself to be the very best you can be.”
At every event, we see a version of cocky Craig. Craig arrives on site with his Nike hat on backward, his “ginormous” 8-pack HEAD bag on his shoulders. He struts through the clubhouse as he spins a racket on his right index finger. Cocky Craig goes down in flames first round most tournaments due to his lack of proper preparation.
Confidence allows athletes to trust their thoughts and abilities. Athletes who are sure about their style of play, most proficient patterns, and clarity of situational solutions have prepared themselves for pressure.
Are your athletes well versed in their most proficient styles of play, patterns, and on-court strategic solutions? Typically, unconfident athletes focus on the possible catastrophe ahead, while confident athletes look forward to the challenge.
Confidence is built on proper preparation. It’s the feeling of knowing you have the solutions
when things go astray.
PARENTAL COnfidence
“High rankings are achieved and sustained through consistent weekly growth.”
Mrs. Chen and her son William walk into their tennis session with one thing on their mind – William’s rankings. “How do we get to #3, SCTA?” “Which UTR should we play to maximize his points?” ‘Do we get more points from an L -2 in Southern California or a D-2 in El Paso Texas?’ While understanding the current ranking process is important, the ranking based approach to improvement can stunt the growth of an athlete. It’s like putting the cart before the horse. Unfortunately, it’s not the cart that’s propelling the journey, it’s the horse. In the Chen family’s world, the cart is the rankings, and the horse is his customized developmental plan.
Outcome and ranking obsession adds unnecessary stress that takes a toll on the athlete’s physical, mental, and emotional preparation and performances. In reality, focusing on the results is a distraction to the improvement process. Once parents and athletes shift their attention to building skills, they’ll develop the tools needed to get the results they seek. And the athlete and the entourage will begin to enjoy the journey instead of hoping for future happiness. Real confidence is gained on the path of mastery. Under pressure, confidence is the #1 reported skill parents and athletes seek.
When parents and athletes focus their attention and energy less on the results and more on the processes, they maximize potential at a quicker rate.
