Confidence key to avoiding athletic slump

All athletes go through a time where they’re battling and struggling, whether that be mentally or physically. Even the greatest athletes go through these sorts of problems, though it may seem like they’re perfect. To go through these types of situations is totally normal, but it can truly affect your performance in any sport, no matter how good you are. This is called an Athletic Slump.

Athletes go through these Athletic Slumps for many different reasons. Some athletes may go through a time of self-doubt and lack confidence in themselves. Studies have shown that if you go out to compete in any type of sport and you go out with a negative attitude saying that, “I’m not going to do well” or “I suck,” your performance most likely will suck. Now if you go out with a positive attitude and say things to yourself like, “I can do it” or “I didn’t work this hard to give up,” you’re more likely to perform better.

Athletes may have a lot of abilities and talents to accomplish certain tasks physically, but if they mentally doubt themselves then they won’t be able to achieve their true potentials.

Many athletes also struggle with pressure when they perform. The pressure athletes may feel can come from teammates, coaches, family and even themselves. For some athletes, they feel like they have to have huge wins or come in first place every time to be successful. Other athletes might want to make a personal best or reach a goal every time.

In reality, this isn’t always going to happen, and although it’s really good for athletes to make goals and try to reach them, they should just understand that it’s not going to happen every time.

But that’s totally OK. They should just go out and perform as best as they can and give their 100 percent best effort. If they don’t think they did well that day, don’t worry because another chance will come around.

Many times athletes start to lack confidence or go into a mental slumps after they didn’t perform their best. All of a sudden, they then start having negative thoughts and doubt themselves and their abilities.

For many athletes, this is the beginning of a vicious cycle of self doubt and lack of confidence. All that confidence that they had before, starts to drain from them and is replaced by anxiety, frustration, depression and even more self-doubt. By allowing these thoughts into their heads, they’ve just made themselves into their own worst enemies rather than their competition.

Another factor that can cause athletes to fall into a slump is the negativity of the people they surround themselves with. By surrounding themselves with negative people, they’re more likely to have negative thoughts, whereas if they surround yourself with positive people, they’re more likely to have positive thoughts.

Even though athletes want to be confident, however, they should never become overconfident. Becoming overconfident can make athletes feel invincible and make them think that they’re better than everyone else.

Athletes always want to give their 100% in and outside of practice, and when they’re competing. If they don’t keep working hard, they will eventually get beat.

Just remember that staying positive is key. Although it may seem like they are never going to get through it, but eventually if athletes keep working on staying positive and believing in themselves, they’ll get through it. Just remember, in every sport, confidence is key.