They say ‘confidence is king’, and as you go through life, you’ll start to see how true this statement really is! As much as we need it though, it’s not always easy to come by. Just like money, confidence unfortunately doesn’t grow on trees. So, how can you go about finding some or building on what you already have?
Sports, especially football, are a great way to grow your confidence. Whether it’s for yourself, a friend, or even your child, Football will help you to not only get assurance in the sport itself but in yourself and your everyday life as well!
Here are the top 5 ways that football can give you more confidence:
1. High-Pressure Environment
Playing football gives you the chance to test yourself within a pressure environment. Whether just a casual game or in a more intense setting like soccer trials, your skills and abilities will be put to the test. Coming through the other side will give you a measure of your physical and mental capabilities, and will leave you a feeling of accomplishment. Getting through a pressure environment once helps you feel like you can do it again.
2. Getting a Taste of Success
One thing you’ll experience through football is a taste of success – no matter the level you play at. This could be small things, like completing a successful tackle or scoring a penalty. This could also be something bigger like winning a few games or even a competition. This success will create a sense of achievement – an essential ingredient in the confidence cocktail.
3. Experiencing Failure
Believe it or not, confidence is not just found in success, but failure as well. Learning from mistakes will help feel confident that you won’t repeat them. Furthermore, seeing how you can make it through and move forward from it is a great way to build your confidence. In football, not everything will go your way. You’ll miss goals or tackles and give away penalties, you’ll even lose games. Going through these experiences will show you that even though may go down, you can get back up again.
4. Crticism and Feedback
When you play football, you’ll have at least a coach who will be overseeing the performance of your team. Their role is to help you grow and perform better both individually and as part of the team. They will be giving feedback and criticism that will help you grow, and change your mindset from feeling like simply being criticised to one of ‘I can do better, and here’s how’.
5. Fitter, Faster, Stronger
Fitness gives you a feeling of capability, which is a huge contributor to confidence. Football will help your overall fitness, speed, and strength which will feed that feeling of capability when approaching any task.