How to Coach Yourself and Others Techniques For Coaching | Page 431

contributed to Fernandez's gaining greater self-confidence and control
of her tennis game.
Probably the most important things to remember about self-talk and
using affirmations for building confidence are to stay in the present,
stay focused only on the goals at hand, and concentrate. Admittedly,
this is easy to say and difficult to do. If we focus too much attention on
ourselves and become preoccupied with our own needs, anxiety creeps
in, and we worry about every detail. These details often lead to an overconsuming fear that we don't feel quite right or that the weather and
temperature are not what we expected.
These thoughts lead to negative emotions that take us away from the
present competition. When this happens, small errors in our
performance escalate into big ones, and we tend to overreact, leading to
more errors and mental mistakes. Thoughts and statements such as "I
never compete well in Stuttgart," "I never do well against the Russians,"
"I don't like the feel of those parallel bars at that gym," or "I never did
like the lighting in that rink" can all sabotage a perfect performance.
The trick is to recognize this self-defeating pattern and reprogram the
internal dialogue to positive statements. If you don't have a coach,
you'll have to listen to yourself carefully and deliberately change the
message you're sending to yourself if it's a negative one. Once you are
able to find and shift these statements and affirmations and their
associated feelings, emotions, and sport behaviors, you'll find yourself
reacting with a new confidence and self-esteem.
Leann Warren, a 1980 Olympian, had to leave track and field because of
recurring injuries that led to debilitating knee surgery. Yet she readily
made the transition into cycling, where she had early, tremendous
success. She once noted that she transferred the memories, positive
affirmations, and supreme confidence from her track days into cycling.
"I had some unfinished business with my track career," Warren
explained at the time. "It ended much too early without my fulfilling
some important career goals. Consequently, I am taking that unfinished
energy, imagery, self-talk, and wonderful confidence and carrying it
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