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FOOTBALL COACH: Get Your Football Team
Off to a Quick Start in 2005
BY: John F. Murray, Ph.D. – Sport Performance Psychologist
Tel: 561-596-9898
The goal of this effort is simple: to assist your team with the latest mental strategies for performance. This is a resource for you and your coaching staff from a specialist in the area of sports performance. Use these strategies on a daily basis. As each player improves, so does the team. With consistent effort and a stronger mental game, each player performs better and the team grows stronger. Everyone profits when the team realizes its only goal: to win a championship.
During training camps, the fight to earn a roster spot is intense. The hard work in the trenches pays great dividends later in the season. High performance always begins with hard work. It also requires an attitude of only shooting for the absolute top, not accepting anything less than excellence. This means a championship. Let's examine the very important nature of confidence in football.
Football players have long recognized a relationship between confidence and performance. Sometimes it appears that only the greatest players have access to that magical confidence, while all other inferior beings can only wish for it. Fortunately, this is wrong! Everyone can increase their level of confidence and perform better. Although confidence is difficult to define, it is usually described as thoughts, feelings and actions reflecting self-belief and expectations of success.
Thoughts
Confident players entertain a rich variety of successful thoughts. The notion of
failure simply never occurs during competition.
Feelings
Confident players believe deeply in their abilities, love challenges, and feel
strongly that they will prevail.
Actions
Confident players expect success and show it in their body language. They rarely
give their opponent a confidence boost by appearing discouraged or threatened.
It is often asked what comes first, confidence or success? Although it is true
that success breeds confidence, it is equally so that confidence increases one's
probability for success. Success is never certain, but self-doubt, negativity,
and low expectations guarantee failure.
Belief in oneself prevents harmful distractions such as anxiety, allowing for a more efficient performance focus. Confidence also adds security during slumps and helps the player sustain effort. Finally, self-belief prompts players to set higher performance goals, as greater achievements are expected and appear more attainable.
Players lacking confidence worry needlessly about mistakes, lose concentration, allow dangerous levels of arousal to intrude, and hasten failure by giving up. After all, there is nothing to gain by trying. Although confidence is desired by all, there is no replacement for competence. The most confident football player in the world still needs skill and experience to succeed. Confidence just helps make everything go more smoothly, often providing the decisive competitive edge.
Some describe the relationship between confidence and performance as an inverted U, similar to the relationship between arousal and performance. Maintaining an optimal level of confidence is important because overconfidence, or a false belief in one's ability, can also lead to reduced effort and performance.
Here are some techniques to help your players develop and maintain confidence:
1. Have them frequently imagine successful performances.
2. Increase their level of physical
fitness like never before. This will enhance your their technique and self-image
at the same time!
3. Guide them to perform their best regardless of their opponent's skill level. Shoot for nothing short of excellence each play in practice, in each fitness training session. Great habits in practice show up on game day.
4. Set frequent goals. Make a list of their strengths. Review this list with
them regularly to remind them how great they really are. Make a list of their
needed improvement. Review this with them regularly too. Even the stars must
constantly improve or the team is headed in a downward direction.
5. Help your players eliminate
negative thoughts and memories. When they get negative, encourage positive
self-talk (e.g., "I'm best under pressure"). Do not allow negativity. Encourage
a killer instinct mentality.
6. Help your players understand their
role and strategy 110% going into each competition. Confidence will grow as your
plan is executed.
7. As coach, keep you head up and
maintain energy and interest regardless of the score or situation. The way you
act will often influence the way your players respond. Set an example for what
you want them to do by doing it yourself.
8. Help each player improve on areas of mental weakness in practice so that they’ll have more to believe in during competition.
Effort invested in self-belief will help you, your players and your team reach and surpass their perceived potential. Confidence is not a luxury. It’s just another mental tool for success. Believe in yourself and your players, and demand dedication to success!
UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARK WITH
THIS NEW WEBSITE AT THE URL:
http://www.JohnFMurray.com