Building Confidence off season

Confidence is the belief you can perform a task, it is built up from experience and exposure to situation (Magyar & Duda, 2000). As a Mental Training consultant and a coach, I think confidence is a state (that it can be modified), and that specific action can be taken, by the athlete and coach, to increase confidence.

To improve confidence, it is similar t
o motivation and comes back to the "challenge concept". To much challenge and the athletes can lose confidence, to easy of a challenge and the athlete will not gain any confidence. I need to find the challenge zone appropriate for the athlete. Also, the base confidence in a task allow the athlete to "push" his boundary more. The more confidence an athlete has, the more you can challenge them.

As a coach, I need to know the level of confidence of my athlete in specific task and situation (that is definitely the "art" of coaching!). To do so, early in the season I test my athletes in different situation to see how they react, how they ski and how they perceive they skied. Building that relation and communication help me understand what level of confidence they have. Once I have determined their "level" of confidence, I plan my training accordingly to prepare them to competition. Knowing what level of challenge they will have to face (in skiing all competitor might have to race on the same difficult hill) I progress the training environment to build that confidence. I can adjust many variable from session to session and event within a training session. For example, I can adjust the challenge to make it a bit easier at the end of the training session when the athletes are getting tired. I can also do the opposite if I know the athletes have a high confidence and I want to challenge them further.

Based on Bandura's Social-Congnitive theory (Bandura, 1977) self-efficacy (which include self-confidence) have transferability. In a 2013 article, alpine skier Erin Mielzynski said she was using mountain biking to help her gain confidence  at higher speed in skiing, "It's just about pushing your limits,". Athlete can use off-season's activities to build their confidence, mental thoughtless and be prepare to take on new challenges in the new season. Erin uses mountain biking, but anything can be used. The previous two fall we use climbing and parkour to build confidence. Thing as simple as strength training in the gym can also be used to improve confidence. By reaching a higher box jump, learning a new movement or lifting a heavier weight, we can help our athletes improve their confidence. 

Magyar M.T., Duda J.L. Confidence restoration following athletic injury. The Sport Psychologist, 2000, 14, 372-390

Taking Advantage of Off-Season Time

Winter is ending rather quickly on the east coast. For the average person, spring means that the end of the financial year and the school year is approaching. However, for athletes and coaches, it is also the end the competitive season for most winter sports, as well as most school indoor sports such as volleyball and basketball. Once the championships, exams, term papers or year's review are completed, it is a good time to get ready for the next season, but first it is very important to take time to recharge our batteries, take some time off, and re-discover the passions that drive us to do what we love. 

This time of the year is also important to take time and reflect on the season that is ending: what was well done, what was less successful and what needs to be done to improve in the future. Personally and with the athletes I work with, I like to put those reflections in writing (on paper or on the computer), which might me more time consuming, but ultimately helps to organize thoughts and gives us the opportunity to share ideas with people that can help us to develop (coaches, mentors, friends or family). 

In addition to reflecting, the upcoming off-season is an ideal time for working on technical and physical skills to help performance. To illustrate the importance of this point, imagine two pyramids, a wide one and a narrow one. Both are equally steep, however the wider one will be able to reach higher because its base is stronger and allows to support more weight. Developing skills works the same way: each year, when you start working during the off season, you work on basic technical skills, basic strength or flexibility and those basics increase your overall potential. 

Another benefit of working on those physical and technical skills is confidence. Confidence is the belief in our own ability to successfully perform at a task. In sports, there is a strong, direct link between confidence and athletic performance. Moreover, confidence facilitates the development of mental toughness. Back to our pyramid analogy, confidence is the mortar that holds everything together. Unlike other skills that you can work on directly, it improves with doing the work, day-in and day-out. More precisely, confidence comes from 3 main sources: training, feedback and pre-competition practice. If we take an exam at school as an example, doing your homework and studying (training) helps to increase your confidence that you will perform at the exam. Getting positive, precise and constructive feedback from your teachers, friends or parents also helps boost your confidence in your ability to master the content of the class. Finally, doing a practice exam or weekly tests (pre-competition practice) will seal that confidence and get you ready to perform on exam day. 

Now, let see how we can do the same process in sports: 

1- Plan 

In your end of the year/season debrief, you can reflect on specific areas in which you want to improve. Those can be physical (strength, vertical jumping height, flexibility, endurance...), technical (shooting precision, outside ski pressure, skating speed...) or mental (focus, visualization, mental toughness, decision making...). Once you have identified these areas, you can select 3 main aspects you want to improve and write them down. Then, identify your starting point (I can jump 20 inches) and your target (I want to jump 24 inches) with a time frame (by the end of June). The third step it to plan what you will do to reach that goal. It is the most important step! Setting a goal and not working on it daily or weekly is self-defeating. Imagine your plan like a stair case: your goal and target are the top of the stairs, and right now you are at the bottom of those stairs. What are the steps you need to make to get there? How do they unfold in daily, weekly and monthly training?

Example: 

Goal: Improve Jumping

Current performance: 20 inches

Target performance: 24 inches (22 inches)

Deadline: End of June (end of May)

Plan:  Twice a week in the gym for May and June do 10 squat jumps at the end of every practice

2- Social Support / Feedback

To help you achieve your target, you can use the help of others. You can use teammates, friends, parents or coaches by telling them your goal. That way, they can help you stay on track, give you that little incentive to go to practice on a tougher morning, and they will assist you to stay accountable to your goal. Your coach or teammates can also help you by providing feedback, letting you know how you're doing ("you're jumping higher than last practice" "your kicks are getting more precise") and giving you positive and constructive cues that will help you get better ("use your arms more to jump higher" "plant your foot closer to the ball" "keep your eye on the puck as you shoot"). Feedback is extremely important to reach your goal and to build confidence. 

However, just like the pyramid, you want to go up and build. Destructive feedback (and self-talk) is not going to help. To build constructive feedback, identify what you don't do enough and frame your ideas in a positive way: tell yourself what you want to do, not what you don’t want to do. You can find ways to give yourself feedback, too. An example for shooting precision would be to keep track of your accuracy (shots on target out of 10). When your accuracy is getting up, it is important to challenge yourself (increase the distance of the shooting, jump on a higher box...). Those are steps in the staircase and it will help you reach your goal and build your confidence. 

To conclude, the services of a coach, a strength coach or a mental training consultant can help you make your plan and guide you in identifying the steps of your “staircase” towards reaching your target. Don’t hesitate to contact one if you require support for your off-season training!

What are your goals for the off-season? How do you plan on achieving them? Feel free to share and comment in the section below!

• Zinsser, N., Bunker, L., & Williams, J.M. (2006). Cognitive Techniques for Building Confidence and Enhacing Performance. In J.M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (5th ed., pp. 284–311). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. 
• Connaughton, D., Wadey, R., Hanton, S., & Jones, G. (2008). The development and maintenance of mental toughness: Perceptions of elite performers. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26, 83–95.

Mc'Athletes

We live in a society of convenience. Cell phones are disposable, computers work at light speed, everything needs to be fast and expendable. Even in healthcare, there is a pill for everything! Unfortunately, this mentality has tainted athletes' development. I have seen young athletes being pushed to win to a point of verbal abuse. This kind of behaviours favours athletes dropout, sport injuries and even burnout. Thankfully for my profession, there is still no pill that makes you stronger or more efficient. Performance comes from good work ethic and motivation to improve. 

New York Times recently published an article about American ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin. At 17 years old, she is second youngest USSA athlete to win a world cup race. The article is about how her well rounded development made her into a champion. I was pleasantly surprised to find a story not about parents pressuring and overworking their children, instead I read about supportive parents and a well rounded childhood. The Shiffrin children learned that one of the most important things to be successful in sport and in life is a good work ethic. To quote Eileen (Mikaela's mom) :

“It was 90 degrees and she was 10 years old and she worked so hard without complaining. So she’s a good ski racer because she did all kinds of different developmental things — like learning a good work ethic — but none of them were part of a plan to make a world champion.”

Mikaela's parents focused on having their children developing essential skill for life through sport. Through support and encouraging their children to practice various sports and activities (outside of skiing), Mikaela and her brother learned motor control more efficently (unicycle riding) and were able to develop their work ethic (doing house maintenance work). They was no magic formula, they fostered a very important condition to success : Motivation. Intrinsic Motivation Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) illustrated below:

(Deci & Ryan, 2000)

For example, if you say to yourself "I have to do the dishes" your motivation is Extrinsic, you are experiencing Introjected Regulation. Knowing the consequences of not doing the task, you "have to" do it but perceive it as a "punishment". If you're doing the dishes because you're getting paid to do it, there is external motivation. You are receiving an external reward. This theoretical model illustrate separate levels of motivation which should to be seen as a continuum. Practicing an activity regularly and having a positive experience as well as receiving positive feedback, may entail internal motivation (Identified, Integrated and Intrinsic). These levels of motivation are an essential part of what it takes to become an expert in any domain. Having Mikaela say “I will want to win. But the result of the race will not motivate me. I can honestly say that I am motivated by improvement, not results. That’s a core principle.” is a sign that she is Intrinsically motivated, not only to do her sport, but to improve in it.

In order to help young athletes become motivated, parents and coaches should focus on 3 elements to help increase motivation : Competency, Autonomy and Belonging. Helping turn focus to the child's strengths or on one particular skill in his sport for example. This will help foster their motivation to practice that particular sport. Being more intrinsically motivated will help them focus on making regular progress and strive for improvement. As John Wooden said "Seek small improvements on day at a time. That's the only way it happens - and when it happens, it lasts."