Confidence Is a Learned Skill

Excellent video on managing confidence...

Coaching, practicing, strength and conditioning, and other training will not succeed without confidence. And confidence elevates your performance at home, in school, sports, and other competitive environments. 

Coach Bill Parcells simplified it to, "Confidence comes from proven success." Belief arises from prior performance. 

Confidence becomes a "force multiplier" as it leverages our skill, game understanding, and physicality. 

In "Performing Under Pressure," Weisinger and Pawliw-Frye include confidence in their "COTE of armor," confidence, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm. 

How can we train confidence?

• Self-talk and affirmations. "I am a skilled, relentless athlete who plays smart, aggressive, relentless volleyball." 
• Mindfulness. Boost our mental strength and focus. Mindfulness shrinks the amygdala, the brain's stress center, and lowers circulating stress hormones. 
• Visualization. Mental practice increases skill. Belief becomes reality. 
• As coaches, positivity reinforces confidence. Praise the praiseworthy.
• "Catch people in the act of doing something right."

Lagniappe. The AI Confidence Consult:

Yes, there’s good evidence that “positive coaching” (supportive, autonomy-building, constructive feedback) improves athlete confidence - but it has to be real and not just empty praise. 

Here’s the gist in plain language:

What the research shows

1. Supportive coaching → higher confidence & performance

   • Studies in youth and college sport consistently find that when coaches are supportive, encouraging, and give competence-building feedback, their athletes report higher sport confidence and self-esteem, and often perform better under pressure.

   • In one often-cited line of work using the Coaching Behavior Assessment System, athletes who perceived their coaches as more positive (reinforcement, encouragement after mistakes, technical instruction delivered supportively) reported higher confidence and enjoyment than those with more punitive coaches.

2. Mastery-climate coaching builds confidence

   • “Mastery climate” = emphasis on effort, learning, improvement, and teamwork rather than just winning and comparing athletes.

   • When coaches intentionally create this climate—praising effort, rewarding learning, framing mistakes as information—athletes show higher perceived competence, more intrinsic motivation, and more robust confidence across multiple sports and age groups. (Work from Joan Duda, Amanda Visek, Ronald Smith/Frank Smoll, etc.)

3. Autonomy-supportive coaching matters

   • When coaches give athletes some choice, rationale for rules, and respectful feedback, athletes’ self-determined motivation and confidence increase; controlling, threatening styles do the opposite.

   • This is straight out of self-determination theory research (Deci & Ryan, then sport-specific studies in soccer, basketball, swimming, etc.).

4. Positive + instructional > “nice” only

   • Importantly, the most effective “positive coaches” are high on both support and teaching:

     • Clear technical/tactical instruction

     • Immediate, specific feedback

     • Reinforcement of what was done well

     • Corrective feedback framed as “here’s how to fix it,” not “you blew it”

   • Athletes with this combo tend to report the strongest, most stable confidence, especially in high-pressure contexts.

What doesn’t work (or can backfire)

• Blanket praise (“good job!” all the time) without standards can actually erode confidence; players sense it isn’t earned.

• Toxic positivity (denying problems, ignoring mistakes) undercuts trust; athletes feel unprepared when the game exposes their weaknesses.

• Harsh, demeaning coaching can create short-term compliance but usually reduces confidence, increases anxiety, and pushes some athletes out of the sport altogether—especially younger ones.

Practical takeaways for you as a coach

If your aim is to prove it in your own gym, the research basically supports:

1. Catch them doing it right

   • Name the specific behavior: “Great read on the setter’s shoulder—beautiful move to the seam,” not just “Nice block.”

2. Correct without crushing

   • “You were late across—start your read earlier and sprint that first step” instead of “You’re always late.”

3. Tie confidence to controllables

   • Effort, preparation, communication, reading—not just outcome. “You’ve earned the right to be confident; you’ve repped this hundreds of times.”

4. Let them own some decisions

   • Give choice in warm-up drills, serve targets, or coverage calls. Even small autonomy bumps confidence.

5. Normalize mistakes as information

   • “What did you see? What will you adjust next rep?”—confidence grows when mistakes aren’t identity threats.

Bottom line

• Is positive coaching “proven” to boost athlete confidence?

  • Yes, broadly: supportive, mastery-oriented, autonomy-supportive coaching is consistently linked with higher athlete confidence and better psychological health across many studies.

• The winning formula is positive + demanding + specific: high standards, clear teaching, and encouragement that’s earned, not inflated.