One thing that plagues many athletes at the start of a new year is a dip in confidence; during this time of the year we often have to help athletes who are going through confidence slumps.

This past week I had the pleasure of helping one of our elite developmental athletes, from our Futurum Division, who I needed to coach through a confidence slump.

The holidays got to him and, naturally, he took some time away from his sport (and rightfully so); the challenge was that he stopped training cold turkey during his week off.

So, I helped him rebuild some of his habits; we got him back to a place of certainty and he scored in his first game back (woohoo!).

With that being said, I noticed some dangers that might come up when athletes don’t actively work on building their confidence.

The 4 Dangers of Not Building Your Confidence As An Athlete

1. Overthinking situations you normally wouldn’t - even if you’ve mastered these situations many times before in the past, you start to question them. This is simply because you haven’t put in the repetitions to be sure of yourself both mentally and physically

2. Questioning your skills - going off of point one, it’s natural to question your skills. Again, the lack of physical and mental repetition often causes you to feel like you have no clue what you’re doing

3. Trying to impress others - this is probably one of the worst that I see; often times when athletes come to us lacking confidence, they end up playing a game of trying to impress everyone around them instead of having unwavering self-belief where they know they’re going to crush it

4. Anxiousness - simply put: if you’ve ever lost sleep because you’re worried about what’s going to happen in the future since you’re unsure of yourself, then chances are you’ve lacked confidence

What We Do With Athletes Whenever They Find Themselves In This Situation

Building back your confidence is actually pretty simple - it’s just that you probably haven’t been taught to do so, and it’s not your fault!

Think, so many times you’re taught how to “physically prepare yourself so that you’re a beast,” but no one teaches you how to think like a “beast”.

So, here’s what we do to help our athletes build their confidence (young, old, pro and not pro):

1. Visualize a skill every single day - a skill you’re unsure of. A skill that’s causing you to question yourself. With the athlete I helped, it was finishing from in front of the net with a defender putting pressure on him. We break down how to do that in an entire video here (with step by steps!)

2. Practice that skill every single day - whatever you’re visualizing, physically practice on your own. You need at least 15 minutes per day of specific practice. With the athlete I helped, he was focused on finishing from around the net. He did this before practice each day.

3. Watch film on that skill every single day - simply put, the quickest way to learn is by observing others. To do this, you’ll want to pick a role model who’s already successful in the skill you’re trying to learn, then see how they’re doing what they do. Take notes. Observe. It’s the best way.

4. Reflect on your progress every single day - this is one of the most overlooked things when it comes to building confidence. How can you know how far you’ve come if you haven’t taken the time to see your progress? Get a journal. Or a note in your phone. Ask yourself every day, “what small improvements have I made with INSERT SKILL HERE?” Take notes and you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come.

Stay Resilient

And there you have it - this is how we help our athletes build their confidence at the start of the new year. This year, you deserve to reach your full potential - remember that.

Stay resilient,

Matt Caldaroni

Co-founder, Molliteum

P.S. if you want to work with us in any capacity, there’s 3 ways we can help you:

1 - TOGETHER with a Molliteum Coach (on an application base only)

2 - ON YOUR OWN with the Molliteum Pocket Coach

3 - FOR FREE on YouTube and on our Podcast