Building Player Confidence Coaches who work daily with athletes understand, perhaps more than most, how much self-confidence shapes what happens on the field. The fine margins that exist in sport mean that confidence can be the difference between success and failure[1]; research confirms that self-confidence plays a significant role in how athletes perform, whether positively or negatively[2]. Yet for many coaches, the question is not whether confidence matters – it is how to

What happens to your self confidence when you fail despite putting your whole soul into something? Sobering as it is, working with absolute commitment, giving everything you have, and still falling short is a reality most of us encounter. Here is what we have come to understand, though: true self confidence is not about never failing. It is about failing – sometimes publicly, sometimes painfully – and still holding onto your belief in yourself; still trusting that your worth

Even professional footballers at the highest level experience nerves before matches, yet they manage them because they have cultivated a dependable confidence in themselves and their abilities. What separates the player who takes a necessary risk to shape a game from the one who holds back is rarely talent alone; it is confidence, and the understanding of where that confidence comes from. Confidence is not something you are born with. It is something you practise and develop,