We often hear about the stories of professional players going into slumps… Confidence goes up & down every day for everyone, but some deal with it better! Learn 5 ways to develop the power of a confident soccer player. One thing you have to do to improve confidence is get in a situation where you can be successful over and over. This is why it’s vital to learn and improve proper muscle memory. In addition, if you have a coach, parent or friend speaking positive truths it helps the mental game.
People impact how we feel
For example, when I train/coach larger groups with partners of 2, each team of 2 players are competing. Maybe it’s to see who can get 20 passes first, which gets the heart rate & extra focus because there’s a chance to win.
Usually there is 1 team that starts off better…
Say that out of 5 teams, Team #1 wins the first few rounds…
This is where I work some psychology on them and say out loud, while pointing to a team that has not won yet and say, “OK I think ‘Team #4’ is going to win this one.“
As you can imagine – If you were to look into all the kids’ eyes & body language you would see Team #4 perk up and believe more in themselves.
At the same time ‘Team #1’ loses confidence and, for a second, believe what I am saying about Team #4.
Four out of 5 times, Team #4 wins the next match because the confidence changed for a short time because of what the kids were hearing & ‘believing’.
A confident soccer player corrects their thinking
This is a teaching moment for me to give to the players about CONFIDENCE and how you have to correct your own thinking in soccer & life.
To be a confident soccer player you have to believe in yourselves – all the time – especially when doubt arises.
You have to correct your thinking and think positive words in your head or speak out loud to teammates or co-workers.
People are always going to tell you that you can’t do something. It’s because they either really don’t believe you can or most of the time they just want to bring your confidence down. You can’t let them.
You have to make the choice to correct the negative thoughts.
One great way to correct your thinking right away is by remembering a word or a time when you did something or heard something so good.
A good example for any athlete is by remembering a good game or play you had or a time when a coach or parent said how well you did.
You have to tell yourself that you are going to beat this player/team in front of you and that they will not work harder than you.
It’s normal to have doubt
Kids need to hear from an adult that the feelings of self-doubt are normal.
Have that sports anxiety in certain moments, especially tryouts.
To me these nervous butterfly feelings are good… This feeling means you care about this moment and want to do well.
The KEY is to let the kids know that it is NORMAL to feel less confident sometimes.
Put your mind in a place where you are remembering all the good games, plays & words you have had and tell yourself you will play hard every play and want the ball.
How the same player can play like a different person
A soccer player without confidence is like watching a totally different player in both the eyes of the player & the eyes of those watching.
Every soccer player has felt the difference of high or low confidence.
It’s like if you have a player playing pick-up at a park one day and feeling on top of the world – playing great.
Then the next day he or she is on a tryout and starts it off with a mistake. The difference this same person is feeling from one day to the next is like being a totally different person.
It’s all mindset.
Mentally having the strength or lack of strength to come back from mistakes or play in a high pressure situation is tough.
You have to believe in yourself, think positive and remember the good things you’ve done.
Players will have their ups and downs. Similar to a rollercoaster that slowly goes up and then goes down super fast.
Then there are times where it’s all over the place and everything is fast. As long as you are finding ways to go up that’s what gets us through. When this happens try to pay attention to what you are doing on and off the field.
Both when you’re up and down, try to find out whats making you go up.
5 ways to build good habits & become a confident soccer player
- Think positive as much as you can
- Correct negative thinking every time
- Believe in yourself; don’t believe what others may say about you (tune out the haters)
- Know your strengths & weaknesses and work on fixing the weaknesses, but working on strengths too (be teachable)
- Be aware of body language & look confident
In addition, players who have these traits of good character are easy to coach. Therefore, it makes it easier for coaches to support you and build you up when things are hard.
Confidence is not easy to control, but it is easy to remember to correct your negative thinking and speak positive over yourself.
Remember the good moments you have had and believe in yourself.