So ... Here's the scenario:
I want you to picture a moment … It’s the 90th minute and the referee just gave two added minutes and your team needs a goal to win the championship finals; oh and guess what …?
You are one on one with the last defender in the box, but you haven’t had the greatest game, you have been losing the ball a lot and your performance just isn’t up to your usual standards.
However, you have this chance to create something for your team, which is beating the defender and scoring a BANGER!
Moments like these are where you make the decision as to which type of player you are going to be. Confident players thrive in moments like these. It doesn’t matter how bad they have played, one moment can change it all and they can be the creator of a goal which might turn the whole game around. Players who don’t have confidence will usually make the decision to play it safe and defer to avoid being criticized.
I can tell you a lot about this from personal experience. In my youth, as I got older, in all of my club teams I was always the best player on my team. With that being said, most of the pressure (mentally and physically) was on me to perform well in order for our team to win. If I made a mistake I would be down on myself and it would affect my performances. I remember a couple moments that I look back on which helped shape the player I was in years to come.
When I was 12 years of age, I attended this summer soccer camp at George Mason University, which is located in Northern Virginia. I didn’t think too much of it. It was very exciting to me. The first day I knew it was much more than I expected going into it. There was a lot of competition. We had people from all around the state of Virginia competing against each other, and the level of play was really high. I was going against players better than I was at the time and it made me become a shell of myself. I was questioning every move I made on the pitch. Every pass, every touch I thought about way too much and that isn’t the way to play the game; it should be instinctive. At the end of the camp the coaches did evaluations for each player, and gave you their feedback on things to consider improving on as well as strengthening. Every coach told me that I had a lot of potential but that I just needed to be more aggressive and confident.
The other moment occurred in my freshman year of high school. I tried out for the team and made the Junior Varsity roster. I had all the talent to be on the team, but I was nowhere near ready to be a major contributor. This was a step-up that I was not ready for physically, or mentally. In practice I was making a lot of mistakes, so I played everything really safe which hindered my ability to show who I was as a player. Fitness wise, I couldn’t keep up as well, I never really conditioned before that, so getting to the point where I could play for long periods of time was very challenging. Deservedly so, I only played a few minutes during the whole season and that gave me motivation to become a much better player.
Every player has moments in their careers where they encounter setbacks and challenges. The key is to be persistent and bounce back. YOU are your biggest competition, comparing yourself with others will only slow down your progress. And by the way ... NOBODY can stop you from reaching your goals but yourself.
So, This Leads To The Big Question ...
How Can YOU Boost YOUR Confidence as a Soccer Player?
There are three major keys to boosting confidence in your play:
Preparation
Winning Your Coaching’s Trust
Having a Strong Mindset
Preparation
Have you ever heard the phrase “Hard work beats talent when talent isn’t working hard?” As cliche as that sounds, it's very true. You can be the most gifted soccer player, but if you don’t prepare correctly to strive to become better, you won’t be ready when it is time to perform in your soccer games. Whether it's practice with your team, or private 1-on-1 training, you should always be seeking to improve on a daily basis. When you are at your soccer game, don’t try to overthink much, and remember how fun this game is when you use your imagination/creativity with confidence. Everything should come from instincts and fundamentals. Instincts come from your muscle memory which is built by practicing specific techniques over and over. Fundamentals come from … you guessed it, practicing the fundamentals over and over. In your preparation, things should be game oriented. Train at the game speed and you will see the results if you stay consistent with your training.
I would suggest that you also train to strengthen your body as well. The physical part of the game is very critical, because you need to be confident in your strength so that you can win one on one duels. Also, you need to be conditioned as best as possible so that you are at your best for the whole game. When you are fatigued it is very easy to make mistakes. When you prepare correctly you should be ready for every situation that can occur in a game, and that will allow you to perform at your highest ability. At FuturElitez Soccer training, we help you reach that level of strength without lifting heavy weights, that's right! There is a very simple understanding when it comes to body strength in soccer, and that is what our players learn when training with us in both small group and/or individual trainings!
Coach’s Trust
Coaches have a lot of impact on players. The best coaches know how to get the most out of their players. Having the coaches trust is huge for players. When you make a mistake you need to know that he won’t put you on the bench as soon as it happens. If the coach allows you to take risks knowing that at any moment you can change the game it allows you to
play free out there. The coach needs to trust his players. And you get your coach's trust by giving him/her your 100% effort and dedication.
It is the player's responsibility to soak information from the coaches. As a player it is very smart to pick the brain of your coach because they have so much more experience in this lovely game! When being critiqued, do listen with an open mind and don't take any of it personal. Because at the end of the day, your coach is trying to help you become a better player, and wants the best for you!
Mindset
Confidence starts with what's going on in your mind. The first step is talking to yourself and evaluating your own mindset, and emotions. When you get to truly understand your emotions, why they are happening, and being able to control them, you will become a true super athlete. You need to step in your games and practices with a complete positive mindset and belief, that YOU will give YOUR 100% each and every time! Talking to yourself is another way to prepare yourself mentally. Thoughts like “I’m going to be first to every ball”, “I messed up, but how can I learn from this mistake? What could I have done?”, will help you become a much better player.
Visualizing success is also very important. Create goals for yourself. For example; how many goals and assists you want to have in a season, and even long-term goals. And once you set those goals, now it's time to put in the work and actually train, whether by yourself or with an experienced private soccer trainer, such as FuturElitez Soccer Training, in order to reach those goals. You need to see where you want to be and create a plan for that. If you want to be the best at what you do, then you need to believe that you will be the best version of yourself, one day. All the great players have this trait and that is what pushes them over their competition.
How We Can Help:
At FuturElitez Soccer training, not only we focus on the player's technical skills in soccer, but also on the player's confidence and mindset! We help them understand different ways they can control their mind and emotions to perform better in both training sessions and also their games! At FuturElitez Soccer, we value mental health a lot and believe that 65% of the solution to everything is the mindset of an individual, and that is why we help them learn more about their mind besides just soccer training.
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