Some people are more self-confident, others are less self-confident. Nevertheless, everybody has an idea of what you talk about when referring to self-confidence. According to a popular definition, self-confidence is “one’s belief that he or she can successfully execute a desired behavior” (Feltz, 2007). Especially in sports, self-confidence is a very crucial trait. While it is believed that there are a few negative impacts that come with being self-confident, the positive impact of self-confidence, like the ability to effectively overcome errors, definitely outweighs them (Woodman; Akehurst; Hardy; Beattie, 2010).
Research and literature on this subject shows, that there is also such a thing as an optimal confidence level. The most important premises in order to achieve that optimal level of confidence, where concentration, motivation, and performance are peaking, are competence and preparation (Burton; Raedeke, 2008). In order to expand on the already existing research, we collected data on self-confidence through a questionnaire that was given to the FIU Male Baseball Team. This survey included 19 team members (17 players, 1manager, and 1 coach) and the data was collected in March 2016. The questions asked in the survey, as well as the results after evaluating the data follow.The survey, conducted for this project started off by asking the participants for demographic information like age and role on the team.
The first actual question on self-confidence asked who the most confident player on the team was. While one player received the most votes with four out of 19, two players tied for second place with three votes. Interestingly, the player leading the poll is not the best player on the team, if you look into team statistic. .ndividual athletes and collecting data on only one team did not give us a chance to put self-confidence and winning-percentage into perspective.Lastly, we do believe that completing this assignment will have a positive impact on our professional practices.
We are all working with people, whether it is kids, athletes, or co-workers in a business setting. There will be opportunities to encourage them to be more self-confident, and opportunities to try and prevent overconfidence. Especially in a competitive environment, self-confidence and its positive impacts are crucial in order to be successful. Existing research, as well as our own study also showed that preparation is the key in order to be self-confident. We can all agree that preparing in-depth for certain situations, where being self-confident is required, will benefit us and eventually make us more successful.
