Vealey defines sport confidence as ‘the belief or degree of certainty individuals possess about their ability to be successful in sport’. Model of sport confidence the athlete brings to the objective competitive situation a personality trait of sport confidence (SC-Trait) and a particular competitive orientation. These two factors are then predictive of the level of situational state-specific sport confidence (SC-state) the athlete exhibits during competition. Situation-specific sport confidence (SC-state) is then predictive of performance or clear behavioral response. Behavioral responses give rise to subjective perceptions of outcome.
Examples of subjective outcome include things such as satisfaction, perception of success. Subjective outcomes in turn influence and are influenced by the athlete’s competitive orientation and personality trait of sport confidence.
Vealey (1986) tested the basic tenets of her proposed model and found them to be viable. In doing so, she also developed instruments for measuring SC-trait (Trait Sport-Confidence Inventory), SCstate (State Sport-Confidence Inventory), and Competitive Orientation (Competitive Orientation Inventory). Vealey’s sport confidence model is very useful for explaining the relationship between general sport confidence and situation-specific sport confidence. An athlete who is very successful at one sport transfers much of the confidence derived from his success to other sport situations.
Developing Self-Confidence Through Self-Talk
Self talk basically is an effective technique to control thoughts and to influence feelings. Thoughts and feelings can influence self-confidence as well as performance. Thoughts that come into an athlete’s mind during competition can be either positive or negative.
These thoughts are a form of self talk. This athlete must learn to control his thoughts and to structure them to his advantage. This is effectively accomplished through self talk. The athlete must carefully select the actual words and phrases used during self talk and consider them for maximum effectiveness.
Zinsser, Bunker, and Williams (2001) explain that thoughts affect feeling, which in turn influence behavior or performance in sport.
Thoughts . feelings . performance An athlete may not feel as self-confident in a situation as she ought to feel. Lack of self-confidence will have a negative effect upon how well an athlete performs. When an athlete steps to the foul line to attempt the first of two free throws in basketball, a number of self-efficacy thoughts pass thoughConsciousness.
Hopefully, the thought and feeling is one of “give me the ball; I have made this shot a hundred times and I will do it again. Unfortunately, for many athletes the thought that comes into their minds is: “I should be able to make this shot, but what I miss?” The two athletes in this example may be equally skilled as far as years of experience and practice are concerned, but level of state self confidence is very different. In these two situations, self-talk can be effective in either affirming self-efficacy or countering negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
