From Coach Traub:
Think Useful: Confidence is an Attitude and Attitudes are a Choice
Thoughts Determine Attitudes, and a Confident Attitude Sets the Stage for a Peak Performance
I call them ?green light" indicators for "Go! Go! Go!" They are the variables, mostly internal, that let an athlete know that he is likely to perform up to his potential. The opposite ?red light" indicators predict a poor performance. Awareness of these ?green? and ?red lights? enables athletes to keep going when they are likely to do well and stop to change something when they are not. Examples of "green lights" are relaxed, focused, and having fun. Common "red lights" include frustrated, thinking too much, impatient, and trying to do too much. The most common indicator, however, is confidence or a lack thereof. From old to young, softball to football to ping-pong, and professional to recreational, athletes know that they are more likely to play great when they are confident and are more likely to stink it up when they are not.
Since confidence is so important for performing well, it is quite useful to know where it comes from. READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE, including...
3 Pre-requisites for Consciously Increasing Confidence
3 Ways to have an Optimistic Explanatory Style
(Notice the perfect imbalance of each.)
READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE
COACHING POINT - Particularly during stressful competition, use your communications to increase your athletes' confidence. The coach's job is to help the players perform at a best effort level. There is certainly a time for yelling and constructive criticism, but there is a time to withhold correct information, too. Athletes will emphasize in their mind whatever their coach tells them (verbally and non-verbally). Therefore, it is often more useful to share affirmations than to point out mistakes. Many coaches fall into the trap of showing off how smart they are about mechanics and strategy. When we remember that the games are for the athletes and our job is to help pave the road for them, it is easier to avoid this coaching pitfall.
Peter T. McIntyre, "Confidence comes not from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong."
Eleanor Roosevelt, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Sally Field, "It took me a long time not to judge myself through somebody else's eyes."
Henry Ford, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right."
Michael Jordan, "You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."
Florence Griffith-Joyner, "When anyone tells me I can't do anything... I'm just not listening anymore."
Nancy Lopez, "The first thing I do after losing is forget it."
Coach Wooden Quotes: "Earn the right to be proud and confident."
"If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier."
Think Useful: Confidence is an Attitude and Attitudes are a Choice
Thoughts Determine Attitudes, and a Confident Attitude Sets the Stage for a Peak Performance
I call them ?green light" indicators for "Go! Go! Go!" They are the variables, mostly internal, that let an athlete know that he is likely to perform up to his potential. The opposite ?red light" indicators predict a poor performance. Awareness of these ?green? and ?red lights? enables athletes to keep going when they are likely to do well and stop to change something when they are not. Examples of "green lights" are relaxed, focused, and having fun. Common "red lights" include frustrated, thinking too much, impatient, and trying to do too much. The most common indicator, however, is confidence or a lack thereof. From old to young, softball to football to ping-pong, and professional to recreational, athletes know that they are more likely to play great when they are confident and are more likely to stink it up when they are not.
Since confidence is so important for performing well, it is quite useful to know where it comes from. READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE, including...
3 Pre-requisites for Consciously Increasing Confidence
3 Ways to have an Optimistic Explanatory Style
(Notice the perfect imbalance of each.)
READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE
COACHING POINT - Particularly during stressful competition, use your communications to increase your athletes' confidence. The coach's job is to help the players perform at a best effort level. There is certainly a time for yelling and constructive criticism, but there is a time to withhold correct information, too. Athletes will emphasize in their mind whatever their coach tells them (verbally and non-verbally). Therefore, it is often more useful to share affirmations than to point out mistakes. Many coaches fall into the trap of showing off how smart they are about mechanics and strategy. When we remember that the games are for the athletes and our job is to help pave the road for them, it is easier to avoid this coaching pitfall.
Peter T. McIntyre, "Confidence comes not from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong."
Eleanor Roosevelt, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Sally Field, "It took me a long time not to judge myself through somebody else's eyes."
Henry Ford, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right."
Michael Jordan, "You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."
Florence Griffith-Joyner, "When anyone tells me I can't do anything... I'm just not listening anymore."
Nancy Lopez, "The first thing I do after losing is forget it."
Coach Wooden Quotes: "Earn the right to be proud and confident."
"If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier."
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