Palm Beach North Sports - February 2023

F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 3 | P A L M B E A C H N O R T H SPORTS 15 COMMUNITY CORNER North Palm Beach Country Club • Golf • Pool • Tennis • Dinning Open to the Public 501 US Highway 1 North Palm Beach, FL 33408 Phone: 561-841-3380 By Kristen Migliano, Ph.D. Through activity in sports at all levels, participants benefit from an enhanced sense of confidence as skills and knowledge necessary to perform the sport are developed. A person’s self- confidence level fluctuates, peaking at times of clarity, flow, challenge, awareness, and demonstrated competence. A 2017 study on the effects of early sports participation published in The Sport Journal reported sports participation beginning in youth and adolescence improved physical and psychological well-being. Ultimately, the researchers discovered boosts in the self-esteem of sports participants as opposed to non-participants. The study’s findings indicate positive associations between sports experience and self- confidence. So how is it that sports participation drives self-confidence? Firstly, routine practice and training sessions are expectations when participating in sports. Through repetitive skills-building, muscle memory is improved, endurance grows, tactical awareness is gained, and similarly, participants recognize improved competence in the abilities and knowledge necessary to play the game or perform a routine. This skills-building commitment is strongly correlated to improved competence. Demonstrating competence is a core concept in determining adequacy for a task or a role. When a sports participant has trained sufficiently enough to reach competency in the skills and knowledge necessary to complete the task, the person feels prepared and ready to perform. Simply put, competence leads to confidence. Secondly, the psychology underpinning sports is developed with a model of expectancy theory. Psychologist Viktor Vroom’s expectancy theory suggests one’s motivation is determined by the desirability of the outcome. Sports are an outcome-based environment for which there is always a scoreboard, a scorecard, a time result, a place card, a winner, a champion, and so on. There is always an outcome presented as a target goal. When a sports participant desires the outcome presented and expects the effort made to reach that goal will be beneficial, the motivation to excel comes naturally. Next, participation in sports is a collective effort. Even when an athlete performs at an individual level, they still compete against similarly trained athletes and are coached and supported by others. All sports involve collective efficacy, or a belief in the benefits of team effort when aspiring to succeed. It is by recognizing the abilities of those around us, the intentional crafting of team roles and responsibilities aligned with strengths, and the commitment to our own strengths-building, that we believe the team can excel. This leads me to the final thought on how sports participation drives self-confidence: through the power of belief. As described by Dr. Shimi Kang, a Harvard-trained child psychiatrist and expert in human motivation, when a person has confidence, that person believes they can accomplish the task or challenge presented to them. Sports provide us with a sense of belief. With each new game, round, meet, or contest, there is a restored belief that we can succeed. There is optimism that anything is possible because we believe in the training we’ve accomplished, the reward we can expect, and the power of the group effort. Through belief, we build our confidence. Building Confidence through Sports