HOW CAN I HELP AN ATHLETE WHO IS SUFFERS FROM LACK OF CONFIDENCE, PRE COMPETITION NERVES AND IS LACKING IN SELF CONFIDENCE.

-- JONNY MOORE (KEEFSTER@HOTMAIL.COM), December 11, 1997

Answers

remind him of past perfomances

-- ste (steve657@hotmail.com), February 01, 1999.

if this happens to your friend he is as well off to give up sport altogether

-- Ben Dover (sdavey@iol.ie), February 17, 1999.

Remind them that they are not alone and that the next athlete is probably feeling the same, but they have ways of hiding it so they appear confident. They should concentrate on warming up thoroughly before worrying about the race/event. Most of all enjoy the race and remind them they have done it all before.

-- keely augustus (iliad2@yahoo.com), February 23, 1999.

Remind him that his performance is not the key to his identity. Remind him that this is a sport, and is not life. Give him examples of athletes who were horrible when they began their sport, but continued to persevere and work hard despite their lack of talent, and then went on to be great athletes (i.e. Michael Jordan). Suggest to him that he do some pre-game visualizations, and that he envision himself performing well. If he can't even think positively enough to do this, provide a scenario for him to think about. Further, you can help him every time you work with him by giving positive feedback on the things he does well, and letting him know that the things he doesn't do well are simple to correct.

-- (kchula@air-ne.org), June 03, 1999.

The only way an athlete can find true confidence is through themselves. Playing their sport and doing well at it, will give them great confidence. Just let the athlete work it out by themselves. That is what my coach did to me in the game of basketball and it worked.

-- Sheila Jones (Sheila512@hotmail.com), July 13, 1999.

Provided that this player had the skill to lose why not try and bring back his exercise control. He/She is too aware of what is going wrong and not letting the "doer" self play.Look into The Inner Game of Golf by Timothy Galwey,Good read

-- Ali. O' Shea (bagroup@iol.ie), September 06, 1999.

It is hard to say what it takes to motivate any certain player, it is very important to make the player belong,in other words do not make judgements about anything negitive that the player does on the playing field, they expect that. Poor practice habits creates negitive behavior because the learning process is shut down. Michael Jordon learned to play in the zone by working very hard on his strong points and not dwelling on negitivity. Negitive attitudes are the product of not working hard nor smart enough.

Teaching a team or player the art of setting goals and teaching them how to achieve, you will see things that will blow your mind.

-- A. melody (ame8835007@aol.com), November 15, 1999.

I would give the individual the "MB" test so therefore I will know hie or her personality type. This test is well known for informing one of ways to deal with other. Then I would tell him or her about his or her past experiences of great games!!

-- Shemon Reaves (Sreaves@cbu.edu/), January 21, 2000.

In order to build confidence you must first understand what motivates that specific individual and base your action on that. I try to change the way the athlete talks to herself first. ie "I wish I wasn't the one who has to make this crutial free throw." to "I'm glad I get this opportunity to try and win the game." You can generally tell by facial expressions and body language what the person is thinking, then try to get them to change their mindset accordingly. This change in thinking will not occur overnight, and will take much practice. The first step is getting the athlete to say positive things to themselves, then eventually the begin to believe it. I also find that visualization helps also.

-- lynda camenzind (lyndac@citcom.net), February 25, 2000.

As a competitive athlete who has had to overcome the lack of confidence, and still do everyday. I believe that the best way to gain confidence for a game is first, to practice frequently in a game environment, using game situations. That way the skills, and tasks of the athlete will come naturally. Secondly, I would train the athlete to focus on having fun, instead of focusing on the fact that he or she might mess up, or that he/she has to be an Allstar!

-- Jessica Hester( (Hesterkiks@aol.com), March 01, 2000.

Top athletes quickly forget failure. Nothing overcomes like success and success comes not from just practice, but perfect practice and preparation. Not just a shallow appearance of preparation, but a detailed, goal oriented program. When you are prepared, and successful, fears (lack of confidence) disappear.

-- Paul Rask (paul_bfast@yahoo.com), June 13, 2000.

In fact if you are putting this question is that you are desperate in finding a solution after having surely tried various options.As a matter of coincidence i put the same question to doctors in Sport as I am on a course for VolleyBall at the University of Leipzig. From experience i can assure you that this is a difficult problem to solve and as confirmed by my tutors this is very personal and its up to the athlete himself to get out of this situation .You can only help .He must understand that he will not die if he loses.These people are champions in training sessions but they are simply not competitive,as a coach u must be aware of that.

-- Daniel Lam hing (dlam58@hotmail.com), September 11, 2000.