I have sat down with so many parents in my career discussing their athletes that I can probably sound off the reasons they want to do speed/strength training.

  • Get Faster/Stronger
  • Rehab An Injury
  • Make My Team
  • Make All-State
  • Play In College
  • And The List Goes On

But, one reason that I hear every so often could be the most important reason of them all. It is a little surprising that people don’t realize this more when they look into enhanced training.

That reason to want to train is CONFIDENCE!

If you have a confident athlete, then I feel that can make up for some lack of skill deficiencies an athlete might have. A confident athlete might go out on the playing field and realize that they might be a little slower or not as skilled, but they are going to do what they can to bring home the victory.

I know kids that are blazingly fast and have loads of athletic ability, yet are nervous nellies sometimes when they are playing in their games.

Athletes work with us so we can get them stronger and faster and I think we do a good job of that. But, part of our coaching is also getting the athletes to realize what they can do now that they are stronger and faster.

In order to build confidence, I feel that an athlete has to put themselves in the best position to succeed. Are they working hard on their game? Are they doing the necessary extra-curricular activities to make them the best athlete possible?

I don’t have a tried and true formula for building confidence, but here are some of the items I feel need to be addressed in order to have a confident athlete:

  • Training – There isn’t a single sport out there that cannot benefit from speed/strength training. Your athlete should be doing what they can to build these areas up. A strong/fast athlete is deadly on the field. At the very least, strength training helps to reduce injuries or if your athlete gets injured to heal quicker. Your athlete can feel real confident knowing that he/she might be one of the fastest on the field.
  • Practice – It isn’t just practicing that helps your confidence, but how hard you practice. In track, you will have coaches give some brutal workouts not to break the kids down, but to let them understand that if you can handle those workouts, the actual race will be a breeze. If you aren’t putting forth any effort in practice, you will get your butt whipped at some point. Then how confident will you be?
  • Mental Preparation – Every sport has some mental preparation. As young athletes growing up, you should know your plays inside and out. You should know the responsibilities of your teammates. You should know the nuances of the game. Knowing these things, you can anticipate what your opponents will do and this will be to your advantage. If you know your opponent can’t dribble with his/her weak hand, then force them to use it. You can set yourself up for a steal and deflate your opponent’s confidence.
  • The Right Mindset – The above factors won’t mean a darn thing, if you go into a game thinking you will do bad. You CAN’T think that way. You must start believing in yourself or at the very least that you are going to give it 100% and if good things happen, so be it. You don’t have to think you are going to win all the time, but you must think that you are as prepared as possible and will give it all you have. You must feel that if you do that, you will like your chances of being successful.
  • Taste Success – This last point is probably the most important, but potentially toughest to obtain. You must have had some success.  And not just any success, something of substance. We live in an “everybody gets a trophy” society so I know this can be watered down, but having won a tournament, or a championship, or some league title will do wonders for your athlete. They know the hard work it took to get there and will want to do everything in their power to recapture that.

If you can combine all 5 of these items, then I think you can really boost the athlete’s confidence. Definitely the first 4 should do the trick, but they need to start out early in life. You don’t want early defeats to start triggering a negative mindset for the athletes.  
Start laying the foundation early in your athlete’s development. That way when things really start clicking for your athlete, he/she will just naturally swing into a very confident athlete that should lead to lots of success.

Photo courtesy of Edwin Martinez on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhythmstrip/