The power of belief in sporting performance

Sheffield Wednesday provided an incredible sporting comeback story last week when they overcame Peterborough in English football’s League 1 play-offs. And with it, showed why simply having belief in yourself can bring you success that others couldn’t imagine possible. Learn about the methods you can use to boost your sporting confidence.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath , Wednesday’s captain Barry Bannan told Sky Sports that he’d never stop believing his side could overturn the 4 goal first leg deficit and by doing so reach the play-off final. A hard task, almost unbelievable you might think. Particularly so considering that in English league play-off history no team had ever recovered a 3 goal deficit, never mind 4.  It’s maybe easy to say belief was never an issue once you’ve actually achieved, if not the impossible, the very improbable. But as he spoke of his and the team’s pre-match preparation he, perhaps unwittingly, revealed a range of methods that he and the coaching staff used which could only have helped instill some of that belief. Or in other words, boost their confidence.

We’ll shortly look at some of those methods, but before doing so it’s worth highlighting that the relationship between confidence and sporting performance is complex.  

Some researchers have argued that confidence is the most significant psychological factor to positively influence the way athletes perform. Not least because it frees athletes from the constraints of anxiety, allowing them to play their natural game and their technical skills to flow naturally. It's too simplistic to say ‘the more confident athletes are the better’ though. We can all recall examples, perhaps from personal experience or watching from afar, where motivation, concentration and the quality of decision making drops off when confidence veers into over-confidence.

Generally speaking though, confidence supports performance. That’s why a core part of any coach’s job must be to instill belief in their athletes.  There’s a tendency to portray a fatalistic picture of confidence. But as Barry and his Sheffield Wednesday colleagues proved, there are strategies you can use to increase your sporting confidence. Reflecting on some of what they did, here are some tips to boost your confidence to help give you the opportunity to perform to your potential.

1.        Reflect on the positives in past performances.

Past performances are the most important factor to influence confidence, so seeking and reflecting on the positives of past experiences is vital. Whilst Wednesday had just been heavily defeated by Peterborough, they’d also finished 19 points ahead of Peterborough in the league.  Additionally, they’d already scored 5 goals in 3 other matches that season.  These factors could perhaps have been used by the coaching staff to instill belief that they could upset the odds.

2.       Seek out role-models.

We compare ourselves to others all the time, so using a role-modelling effect can be a really effective strategy.  The Wednesday players were shown videos of footballing comebacks as part of their preparations. Seeing other teams achieve success from a similar position they found themselves in gave the message that their task was not insurmountable.

3.       Listen to the right people.

What others say to us can have a direct impact in shaping our confidence.  Surrounding yourself with others who give words of encouragement and help instill belief in your own abilities can support you.  Barry Bannan said that his phone had been red-hot following the first leg, but he’d ignored the naysayers and only engaged with those who were positive.  A sound strategy!

4.       Visualise positive outcomes.

Seeing is believing. Using visualisation techniques to form a mental image of a positive outcome can enhance your belief that that outcome will occur. The Wednesday players had been practicing penalties in the build-up to the 2nd leg, in the event that they were able to take the game to an unlikely penalty shoot-out.  As it transpired the practice would have come in handy, as they won on penalties… however, the fact they were preparing for a positive outcome may have helped the players picture success.