SELF-CONFIDENCE

A distinction must be made

between
 GLOBAL SELF-CONFIDENCE –
personality trait or disposition

 SITUATION-SPECIFIC SELF-
CONFIDENCE – Believing that you
can succeed at a given task
 Models of self-confidence

Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy –

a form of situation-specific self-
confidence.
 For the beginner – 4
fundamental elements are
effective in developing self-
confidence
Developing self-confidence
 Successful performance
 Vicarious experience – modelling or
copying
 Verbal persuasion – encouragement
 Emotional arousal
 SELF-TALK
 Once mastered, can become an
effective coping strategy to:
 Overcome anxiety
 Increase self-confidence
 Improve technique
SELF-TALK definition

A personal dialogue in which the

athlete interprets feelings,
perceptions and convictions and
gives himself instructions and
reinforcement.
 The 4 Ws of self-talk
 WHERE?
 WHEN?
 WHAT?
 WHY?
 3 Categories of self-talk to
increase confidence

 Task-specific statements

 Encouragement and effort

 Mood words
For self-talk to be effective, it
needs to be:
 Brief

 Phonetically simple

 Logically related to skill involved

 Well timed with task

 Functions of self-talk
 Building & developing self-efficacy
 Skill acquisition – work harder to
change bad habits, learn new good
habits
 Creating & changing mood
 Controlling effort
 Focusing attention or concentration –
‘now’