The majority of players experience fear or anxiety at some point, but how does the fear of failure effect their actual performance?  Fear of failure can hold you back from reaching your true potential. Fear of failure can be truly detrimental to an athlete’s success.
 
Often, we fail to achieve goals because of the fear of failure. And the way we
see failure. Failure equals feedback. Failure equals the indicator that we need
to learn another way. A successful athlete will push themselves out of their comfort zone and take 
risks, even if those risks could result in failure. A player who understands that sometimes it will pay off and sometimes it won’t, but that is part of the game.

Taking too many risks is not necessarily a good thing, but it is a fundamental component of being a successful  athlete. For some players, they are so scared at the thought of making a mistake that they prefer to stay in their comfort zone and do as little as possible to avoid the risk of embarrassment.  So, if you are a player who rarely takes any risks than it may be a sign you are  experiencing fear of failure Sometimes we do not achieve our goals because of the fear of risk. Everything we do requires risk. In order to play at our best, we have to take risks, play free, and enjoy.

Babe Ruth had the most strike outs and the most home runs illustrating that infact to be successful you have to also fail, and make mistakes. Mistakes are the only things that we can guarantee in a game, so we should use these to make ourselves better. To learn. Perserve and conquer. Use

Therefore, we need to learn to see fear in another way. You will not achieve your goals without some failures. Do you doubt you ability? What makes you doubt your ability? How can you make changes to increase confidence and be okay with making mistakes? If change is scary, admit it, do a little at a time, seek out more change, and try to see yourself as someone who looks forward to change. Everyday you should try to have a new experience, this is how we grow and develop as athletes and people. By trying new things, by creating new experiences, habits and strategies. Do what you want, and not what you dont want.

Dani Downs and I used our Saturday to not only tick something off our bucket lists but to raise funds for Hutchison Vale Ladies Football team by doing the Highland Fling Bungee Jump in Pitlochry.

It was a beautiful bright day in the Scottish hills when Dani and I were accompanied with friends and family to take the big leap.

The experience was amazing and we are very grateful to our supporters, the people who sponsored us, the people who encouraged us, and even to those who continuously told us 'you guys are mad; I would never do a bungee', 'oh you hear of these freak accidents' :) as this inspired the adventurous side of us even more!!!

Thank you everyone :)

Do you feel that you are lacking confidence when it comes to competing in your sport? Self confidence is the belief that you are able to handle the demands and challenges of the game.

"I know that no-one can give me confidence. I get it from knowing that I am a good player. I belong in this team. I am fitter, stronger, and more skilled than I have ever been before. I have earned the right to believe in myself and my team because I have put the hard work in to get me where I am now."

Confidence comes from inner belief, nevertheless, there are things that can increase confidence.

You will be the most confident when you can say:
I am the fittest I can be.
I am technically as good as I can be.
I have a coach that believes in my ability.
I have great team-mates around me.
I have all the support I need.

If you are a player who can say all of these, then how can you help others? How can you be the great team-mate that inspires others to be confident and play free? Because when I player has high self belief about a situation, they are more like to say:

When I am confident...

I feel more relaxed.
I concentrate better.
I take on more challenging goals.
I work harder.
I persist.
I keep momentum.
I am a much harder opponent to play against. The opponent can feel my confidence and that instills fear in them.

What can you do today to make yourself a more confident player?
Recognise what you are good at, and what things you do well that has gotten you where you are today?

Listing 3 strengths can help you recognize the attributes that you can use in the game to