“College Coaches are HERE to Watch Me Play and I’m So NERVOUS!”

Tami Matheny:

I recently was at a high school basketball tournament.  Like many events, the gym was full of college recruiters watching the athletes.  The team I was working with had several prospective collegiate athletes on their team.   Earlier in the year, I had been with them at a preseason game in which the gym was pretty empty, except for some parents and a few friends.  In that game, they walked out on the court with extreme confidence and maintained it throughout the game regardless of circumstances.

During this tournament, I quickly noticed a difference in their confidence level.  These girls were so self-conscious, their body language was meek, and the tone in their voices were different.  I noticed several glances into the stands.  Why?  What changed these seemingly confident athletes into a bundle of nerves?  It was the presence of the college coaches.

If this has ever happened to you, here are 3 simple steps to keep your confidence strong:

1. Self-Talk

Your self-talk is all the thoughts you have to yourself. Your self-talk can make or break you. If your thoughts are centered around what the college coaches think about you, you are likely to get more nervous. If you change your thoughts to things you need to focus on during the game, you will tend to keep your confidence. Often athletes make the mistake about thinking/talking about a result, instead of thinking/talking about what they need to do (and if they do that the result is more likely to be achieved).

My advice to this team was to think about things that would help them to be successful. Each time, they had a thought about the college coaches being present, they were to immediately think of something that would help them in that game. For example, when one of the girls went to the foul line (regularly, a very good shooter), but had missed several foul shots. I asked her what she was thinking. Her answer was, “Please don’t miss this! What will the college coaches think?”

I then asked her what she normally said to herself at the line. Her response, “I’ve got this, nothing but net!”. I challenged her to get back to those successful thoughts instead of the non-productive thoughts. The next time she was fouled, she changed her thoughts and her shot was nothing, but net! In the first scenario, she was focused on what the coaches would think. In the second scenario, she was focused on being confident and seeing the ball go through the net!

2. Body Language

Your body language not only talks, but it screams! Make sure you go to the field, court, pool, etc with strong body language. Have your head up and your shoulders back. If you have poor body language (head down and shoulders slumped), you are sending a strong message to your team, the opponent, the college coaches, and more importantly, to yourself that you are not confident. If you carry yourself confidently, your thoughts will follow!

As I noticed this taking place with this basketball team, I had them all stand in a power pose (ex. stand like Superman: hands on hips, chest out, and head up) during a timeout as the head coach talked to them. I then challenged them to maintain strong body language at all times on the court. It was rewarding to see these girls overcome their self-consciousness by focusing on their body language. Slowly, they started taking over the game. Whereas the opponent started displaying frustration with bad play and mistakes, this team responded with strong body language when anything good or bad happened.

Self-talk and body language go hand in hand. By combining these 2, you can create any emotion you choose. If you want to be happy, think happy thoughts, put a smile on your face and carry yourself as though you are happy. I guarantee before long, you will be happy. Our bodies display what we are telling them with our talk and how we are carrying those thoughts with our walk. Therefore, if you want to be confident (regardless if you feel confident or not) start talking the talk and walking the walk. Fill your brain with confident images, thoughts, memories, etc. and carry your body upright, with a little bounce to your step and watch your confidence build.

3. See it

See what you want to happen.  Seeing yourself being successful in vivid detail (visualizing) plants seeds of confidence.  I asked the same basketball team to see themselves making their shots, running their plays, and playing good defense.  Then, I asked them to see an image of themselves as being confident and successful.  Seeing things in your mind creates a strong foundation for confidence.  When we see things over and over with as much detail as possible, our minds don’t always know what is real and what is imagined.  Visualization is an important mental skill for all athletes to use especially for those that are nervous or struggling with confidence.

What you focus on with your talk, in your walk, and in visualizing images, has a large impact on your success.  If you start to work on these three skills, you will see your confidence improve and enable you to better handle stressful situations such as college coaches in attendance.  Like any physical skill, these skills take practice.  Start talking the talk, walking the walk, and visualize what you want to be!