These are two concepts that influence athletic performance more than one may think. A number of us are familiar with the concept of Fear of Failure. This can work two ways. Some people use the Fear of Failure as motivation to continually excel. Some people are hindered by the Fear of Failure. They are held back from improving because they are afraid of failure and their perceived consequences of failure. I’ve had to help an athlete work through the Fear of Failure in order to improve performance. It’s more so the perception of failure rather than the actual failure that seems to hold athletes back. Once you can deconstruct the perception of failure an athlete has, he or she can eventually start to perform without detrimental effects of his or her perceived consequences of failure. It’s an interesting concept to understand and address when working with athletes.
The Fear of Success can also influence athletic performance. This may sound downright silly, but it does occur. It may even occur more than some of us realize. The Fear of Success can also impede athletic performance. The Fear of Success encourages athletes to hold back their performances for, again, a perception of too much responsibility, attention, or higher expectations or a lack of self confidence. For example, there may be an extremely talented 2nd string cornerback on the team. He can easily beat out the 1st string CB for the starting position, but he chooses not to. He may not do so because he may not think he’s not good enough to start, may become anxious by the thought of more attention on him, or various other reasons. Again, this is more of a perception issue rather than an actual issue. This is another interesting concept to be mindful of when working with athletes.
The perception of success and failure can motivate athletes to perform in certain ways. Whether this perception be grounded in personal experience or completely created by the athlete in his or her head, it should be addressed in a way that allows for understanding and improvement by the athlete. Just a little nugget of information I wanted to pass along!
The Fear of Success can also influence athletic performance. This may sound downright silly, but it does occur. It may even occur more than some of us realize. The Fear of Success can also impede athletic performance. The Fear of Success encourages athletes to hold back their performances for, again, a perception of too much responsibility, attention, or higher expectations or a lack of self confidence. For example, there may be an extremely talented 2nd string cornerback on the team. He can easily beat out the 1st string CB for the starting position, but he chooses not to. He may not do so because he may not think he’s not good enough to start, may become anxious by the thought of more attention on him, or various other reasons. Again, this is more of a perception issue rather than an actual issue. This is another interesting concept to be mindful of when working with athletes.
The perception of success and failure can motivate athletes to perform in certain ways. Whether this perception be grounded in personal experience or completely created by the athlete in his or her head, it should be addressed in a way that allows for understanding and improvement by the athlete. Just a little nugget of information I wanted to pass along!
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