Self-confidence is believing that you possess a power stronger than your fear (quote from internet)

In 2022, I ( Laura Jonker ) decided to start motorcycle lessons. And I have learned a lot. Not only how to ride a motorcycle, but I also faced the psychological components of learning where XOET is focusing on. After publishing a weekly blog in Dutch, I decided last December to repeat this series in English. With today: Lesson 15. Self-confidence and fear

Lesson 15. Self-confidence and fear

The day of my driving test and every lesson I experience improvement in my skills. It is underlined by the amount of feedback from my instructor and the feedback I get from my bike: corners go smoothly, turning off or a wrong gear doesn't happen anymore. I am mainly busy riding and enjoying. I notice that I am starting to develop the 'headspace' to be busy with 'riding' instead of controlling the bike.?

The prior lesson, I had three clear points of focus (i.e., reading signs, place on the road and merging onto the motorway at full speed). Most of those points are actually going quite well. I notice most traffic signs and act accordingly, I choose the right place on the road in most occasions and I've also lost my fear of fast corners or merging onto the motorway. So, it seems that I am starting to build self-confidence.?

My experiences from a psychological perspective

Self-confidence:?When it comes to self-confidence, we all have some idea of what it is. Some people seem to have more of it than others and it also varies between situations. And that is indeed exactly what self-confidence is! In Dutch we only know one word for this phenomenon, in English they for example differentiate between?self-confidence?and?self-efficacy. Whereas self-confidence is about a?general feeling?of one's own skills, self-efficacy is about confidence for a?certain?task or in a?certain?situation. An example: in general, I am not an insecure person when it comes to my skills (self-confidence). I know that I am a good sportsman and that I am not clumsy. So, motorcycling should - from the general feeling of self-confidence – be something I can learn. Yet during my first lessons, I was uncertain about my skills as a motorcyclist (self-efficacy). Now that I have become a better motorcyclist, my self-confidence does not increase (it meets my expectation that I can learn), but my self-efficacy does increase. In fact, it is possible that more confidence in a particular task (self-efficacy) leads to more overall self-confidence. A number of social sports programs play on this (see references below).?

Developing self-confidence:?When it comes to scientific knowledge about self-confidence, Bandura is the man. He has published on this subject for several decades. The bottom line of his works says – when I understood correctly - self-efficacy is something that people develop. As a person gains experience with the task at hand, people experience successes by which they develop self-efficacy. Furthermore, self-efficacy also develops through positive feedback from others. If a coach tells an athlete that a certain action is going well, then this gives the athlete the feeling that he is competent and that creates self-efficacy.?

Tips: If you want to improve the self-confidence of your athletes, make sure they have positive experiences. In practice, this can mean that you not only let someone focus on their weaker sides, but also what they are good at. When it comes to the goals you set, it is important that the goals are achievable and realistic (see blog 8). In addition, it is also important as a coach to give positive feedback. This is about compliments, but can also be about encouragement.?

I spoke to Pepijn Lochtenberg of the Dutch company?Focus like a pro?lately and he also addressed the importance of letting athletes experience that they are able to do something. He said:?“If you undertake many acts of self-confidence, then the feeling of self-confidence will develop, because you experience that you can do something.”?In an article on his?website?he gives some specific examples and tips to coaches on how to. I’ll get a masterclass of him in a few weeks and I am really looking forward to it.

Fear:?is a normal response to a real threat and evolutionarily useful. It is an unpleasant feeling of constriction or tension that is clearly distinct from other unpleasant feelings and often manifests itself motorically or physically (e.g., stiffening or increased heart rate). There are different types of fears, such as fear of the dark, of strangers or of certain animals. More sport-related fears are fear of failure or being afraid to perform a certain movement because falling is a real option. Since fear is evolutionarily an important emotion, it is therefore also normal that athletes find it scary to perform some movements and know fear. At the same time, it is known that experiencing fear leads to movements being performed less successfully (for example as a consequence of cramping). At the moment that athletes experience fear, it is important to take this seriously and make it discussable.?

Tips: Investigate where the fear comes from and create a safe situation. This can be done in different ways. Here are some of the possibilities:?

• Create physical safety.?For example by laying down a mat so that a possible fall is less harsh.?
• Create emotional safety.?This can be done by dividing the exercise that creates anxiety into several mini-parts. Start with the parts that athletes can already do and then build on them. The successful experiences of the elements that athletes have already mastered provide the self-confidence needed to take the step towards the element that causes anxiety. Emotional safety can also be created by isolating the part that causes anxiety and allowing it to be experienced in a different way.?

For example: I found slow cornering scary. My instructor said, "Get on the back of the bike and I’ll let you experience that even in pairs we don't fall." I needed this to be able to do it myself. In the context of gymnastics, you might think of a fear of hanging upside down. What you could do is put an athlete upside down on a horizontal bar to get used to "upside down" before you ask him to do that somersault.?

• You also help athletes overcome anxiety by having them focus on something else than what they are afraid of. Have them focus on the movement execution rather than their fear. When anxiety arises, focus on the task at hand.?
• Teach athletes that fear is normal. Pushing something away or not expressing it makes it bigger. So be open about the benefits and drawbacks of anxiety and teach athletes that having anxiety is normal.?
• If athletes seem stuck in their fear scenario, you can also ask them questions about an alternative and positive outcome. By stating alternatives and repeating the story in their minds with a positive outcome, you can help athletes get over unreal fear. If you repeat this frequently this scenario will nestle in their brain (see also blog 2 about visualization).
• Train athletes on situations that are scary. By experiencing that things go well or that what causes fear (for example falling) is not so bad, it becomes easier to deal with the fear.?

It often happens that the fear is not only in the head (e.g., my fear of falling while I have never fallen), but also in the body because someone has a negative experience (i.e., you actually fell). Many athletes then suffer from fear of performing the same movement again. In this context it is important to take the feeling of fear seriously, to develop confidence again and to create a safe situation for the next execution. It is sometimes said that it helps to do the exercise again immediately after a negative experience. This way, a positive execution of the movement (success the second time) would win from a negative experience. Because the body still has adrenaline and because the negative experience did not have time to settle in the brain, this may have advantages over delaying the movement until a later time. This strategy can work, but does not work in all cases. As a coach, it is very important to monitor the impact the negative experience has made. If an athlete looks frightened, it is not a good idea to let him do the exercise again. If someone seems slightly frightened, it may be a strategy that works.?

Tips:

After a negative, you need to make sure that:?

1. Athletes can physically do the movement on the second attempt (and have not been injured), that they were 'unlucky' on their first attempt and that the negative experience was not a result of not being able to do it. Allow athletes to make a second attempt only when they are ready.?
2. The stress placed on the athletes after the negative experience is not too great. When stressed, the body cramps which decreases the chance of a successful performance. The goal is not to push someone to be able to do it, the goal is to take away any future fear after a negative experience. If the current fear is too great, first make sure that someone calms down. If possible, switch back to parts of the exercise that can be done and let them perform those first.?

Want to know more about these themes? In '#GOALS. Tips to train (even) better' Prof. Dr. Nico van Yperen and I describe them in a sports setting. The book is available in a version for athletes and for trainers and can be ordered via:?https://www.sportsmedia.nl/goals-tips- om-sporters-nog-beter-te-trainen.html.

For the part about anxiety I used - besides scientific studies - the knowledge of Gijs Visser. Gijs works as a coach with young people and adults. His expertise lies in dealing with pressure, stress, trauma and fear. Together with him I wrote the book 'Stress' in which anxiety is also discussed. Stress can be ordered via:?https://www.sportsmedia.nl/stress.html.?

An example of a social sports program that increases the self-confidence of young people is the program of Favela Street. XOET does the monitoring for them, i.e. we measure the impact of the program on the self-confidence of young people. And it works! Recently (three!!!) films of the Favela Street programs have been released in which young people talk about their experiences. These can be found on the website of?Favela Street?and?FIFA.?