How Sport Psychology Can Build Focus
World class athletes carry themselves with confidence – you can see it in the way they walk and move. As a well-known psychologist once said, "We become what we think of most of the time." If you're always thinking negatively, then you will likely fail.

Sports psychology can help athletes looking to improve their confidence. A common mistake for many athletes is they only work on the mental area of their sport AFTER they lose their confidence. Just like you don’t wait to get hurt until you start doing physical training, the same goes for the focus on your mental state and confidence.

Here is what to do:
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  1. Work on improving your confidence just as you work on developing your sport-specific skills, and your performance will soar.
  2. Accept that confidence fluctuates from high to lose – for all athletes from the elite to the amateur. Confidence is not an all or nothing attitude, it is a state mind and it is key that you do not beat yourself up about it being low – this will only compound feelings of low confidence! Keep focusing on goals and improving your focus and in turn, your confidence will grow.
  3. Keep your focus on yourself and what you can control. Don’t look to other people and their performance to determine yours, just think about your own performance and how you can improve. As you improve as an athlete, so too will your confidence.
  4. Focus on the day-to-day successes. When you are experiencing day to day success, even if it’s only the smallest improvement in your performance, your confidence will rise.
  5. The process of improving is an area that all athletes can control and HAVE control over. You cannot control an outcome, only your performance and your focus on improving your performance. You could perform at your highest level and still not win. Granted you will be disappointed that despite all the effort and training undertaken to compete, you still lost, your confidence will remain high because you know that you have performed your best.
  6. Focus on what you’re doing right. Learning from your mistakes is important, but you don’t want to linger on them and continually think about them. By doing this your confidence will begin to diminish. Focus on what it is that you are doing right, alongside correcting your errors – a far better way to improve and grow your confidence. 
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