As I See It: Developing Confidence and a Winning Attitude in Youngsters

I have always told my boys and every child that has ever played sports for me, that it is much harder to learn to lose gracefully, than it is to win. In team sports such as baseball, football and basketball developing the winning attitude and confidence can be overshadowed by gifted athletes that make everyone around them seem better. The lesser or younger players on this team although considered winners, do not necessarily develop the confidence and winning attitude necessary to carry on the winning tradition.

The winning attitude that is developed by some players comes from confidence in one’s self. Developing confidence, not only in sports, but in all aspects of life is another fundamental building block in developing the character of our youngsters. This is easier to equate when we speak in sports terms. As I said in team sports it is harder to make reference to confidence, but in baseball it develops as a person begins to hit the ball with regularity. A person’s confidence may increase as he begins to field and catch balls that are not directly thrown or hit to them. In basketball it may be as simple as making a bounce pass or lay up in practice. As the person becomes more adept, his confidence level increases. As the confidence level grows he or she is more likely to do the proper thing with the ball when the occasion arises in a game situation.

In sports such as wrestling, where the entire outcome is based on the ability of one’s self, confidence and developing a winning attitude is magnified. Every wrestler, when starting out is going to suffer losses. It is up to the coach, and also to the parents, to give the child a chance for success. By matching him up with good partners at practice and placing him in the right tournaments they will gain confidence through experience.  As they gain success and some confidence, you place them in more difficult tournaments with stiffer competition. If they struggle, you drop it back a notch, all the while developing the confidence that they can walk out onto the mat and be competitive. As the confidence level increases, that person now begins to step on the mat not with a feeling that they have a chance to win, but feel that they will win. That is the goal, to have that winning attitude.

We all have experienced this feeling one way or the other. Certain pitchers, say a Steve Carlton, can step onto the mound and just intimidate the competition. A blistering fastball and a hard slider with a little changeup on the side and you knew it was lights out. Or the Manny Ramirez style batter who can step to the mound and just dare you to throw your best stuff and he’ll just knock the cover off the ball.