Sport Psychology & BJJ (Confidence) White Belt/Beginners

A word many people use - yet many don't truly understand it. Confidence has many guises and I will go through some of them today. However this post is more towards the beginner (White Belt) and anyone else who finds it useful. I won't go into confidence for competition as that is another post entirely and looks into other aspects that would make this post to long.

First of all I am going to paraphrase what Confidence in its entirety means to me:

'Is a realistic belief or expectation of achieving success' or 'Not what you hope to do, but what you realistically expect to do'.

So lets start at the beginning. For the sake of argument I will use my own personnel experience to put it into context. I'd been in contact with Carl Fisher at Gracie Barra Preston (at the time) and after a few emails decided to take the plunge and go over to Longridge to give it a 'try'. I arrived to an old wooden shack in the middle of no where to be greeted by a group of Men (some who would intimidate anyone should they be bumped into in a dark alley). Although a confident individual, at this moment in time I had very little confidence in the situation/scenario facing me. I joined in fully and after sweating a lot, almost being sick and tapping out more times then I care to remember I left with some confidence. I gained this confidence through 'vicarious experiences' and 'verbal persuasion'. My first BJJ experience was handled well, and through leaving with more confidence I carried on. I have to give a sort of shout out here as many people were present that evening - Paul Hartley (Blue Belt at the time - now a Black Belt) Ian Fell (Blue Belt at the time - now a Black Belt) and Matthew Callaghan (Blue Belt at the time - now a Black Belt) were all welcoming and instrumental in giving me the 'vicarious experiences' and 'verbal persuasion' experience.

Now had that experience been somewhat different I could have left with less confidence than what I had in the beginning (how do you have less then none you ask, another debate for another day) and may not have carried on with this tremendous journey! Assuming I arrived in Longridge with a level of confidence not suiting my ability I would have no doubt left with a damaged 'EGO' never to be seen again. Now if you're reading this and thinking of starting BJJ/Grappling be mindful that you are starting at the bottom. You may have watched UFC/Pride and know all the fighters and own numerous 'Tap Out' t-shirts but you've not trained in BJJ/Grappling so therefore your level is at that time 0 = none. If you arrive at ANY gym with that attitude I can almost guarantee that you will leave with a little more confidence - a sense of humility and a desire to return. If you don't I suspect you won't go again. Instructors reading this will no doubt chuckle to themselves as they see this on a daily basis - would it be right to say that had it been 'managed' better that maybe it wouldn't happen as 'often'?

It has to be accepted that even the best practitioners of our sport/art started with no or very little confidence in the sport/art itself. And through various experiences and management by their instructor grew to become who they are today. I accept that some people are just simply gifted however that is a small percentage, the rest of us mere mortals aren't and this confidence relationship is very applicable to us.

I mentioned above two things that some will understand - some may not. Below I will paraphrase so you can put it into perspective:

Vicarious Experiences

Is something you have experienced more then likely visually from other peoples experiences

i.e. you sit down on the mat and watch others do a move, you gain confidence from visual confirmation and you do it. This is a cycle and the more you see it, drill it - the more confident you become in it.

Verbal Persuasion

Pretty much says it all - but by being given good verbal persuasion by anyone within the gym you will gain confidence. By gaining confidence in the drills/moves your performance will increase and confidence with it. A reciprocal relationship.

I briefly mentioned above people who turn up for one session never to be seen again - even though they have the best Shoyroll Gi, Tap Out t-shirts and kit bag. Why does this happen. Many people far more experienced than me will say Ego - they are probably right. But let me give you this for some food for thought.

Inflated Confidence & False Confidence.

Inflated confidence will show itself in people who think they are better than they really are. They will no doubt have a inflated opinion of themselves. They will overestimate their abilities while underestimating their opponents skills. Arriving at this unfortunate scenario could be the fault of pampering parents/coaches or from maybe previously fighting weakened opponents (don't we see this in Boxing all the time)? And sometimes they can be competent but simply don't prepare properly.

False confidence will act confident on the outside but inside fear failure. Pretend to be brash, cocky and arrogant. Find if difficult to admit to errors and filled with excuses and no doubt difficult to coach because they won't accept responsibility for mistakes.

I accept that as an instructor you can't manage each new individual in your gym, especially when you have an hour or two maximum to teach 20+ people. And certainly when they have only just stepped foot in your gym - but could these kind of people be managed? Could we not only increase the participation in BJJ but also help our young stars manage their confidence and use it correctly.

Next week I will look at confidence for competition and various theories that I believe can be applied.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate all comments. Any questions please feel free.