It is very hard to win if you don’t believe in yourself. I think most people would generally agree with that statement. What is harder is to understand how to believe in yourself.
People go down many paths to achieve self-belief, but most of these paths don’t achieve the objective. Many people misunderstand what belief is and where it comes from, and in their efforts to conjure it, trick themselves into it, or to emulate those who do have it they can create only short bursts of motivation or sometimes even end up creating more self-doubt. It is important to understand the underpinnings of self-belief as it is probably the most important factor in achieving victory.
Belief is not mystical. Belief is the result of doing very concrete things so well that you create a logic that convinces you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can and will accomplish your goal. There is a myth that certain people just magically have this self-belief, and others are just unfortunate that they were not gifted with it. However, on deeper inspection, those people with the incredible belief just happen to be the people who get to practice earlier, stay later, and work harder and smarter in between. Belief is not self-delusion – it is a knowing. It is based on a logic that convinces you that you have what it takes to win the match in front of you.
For squash, the underpinnings of belief are:
1) Physical: knowing that you have the strength, quickness, flexibility and endurance to win the match ahead of you.
2) Technical: knowing that you have good enough court movement, strokes that you can rely on, and have the ability to hit the shots that it will take to win.
3) Strategic: knowing that you have a plan of attack (or defense!) that will be effective against your opponent.
4) Desire: knowing that you will do whatever it takes (within the rules!) to persevere and win.
When one or more of these four elements is insufficient to beat your opponent, you must find a combination between the four to still win or be relegated to “doing your best and hoping it works out.” If you can come up with a plan that can work, then you have something to believe in. If you cannot, you can (and should!) try your best and never give up, but that is different from belief. When you try and try but just can’t find a logic that you can believe in, sometimes a coach or fellow player can be helpful and provide the logic that you need but are unable to construct. And it is an opportunity to see what your game needs in order to win at the level at which you are trying to compete.
There are times when all of these four elements are in place and players still do not believe in themselves. This is where psychology comes into play. For some people, and all the more power to them, this does not seem to be an issue. But for the other 99% of us, self-doubt can creep into the mind in all sorts of ways. Maybe you have never beaten this person and deep down have convinced yourself that you will always lose. Maybe you have never before won a final and “here you go again.” Maybe the opponent just seems to want it more. Maybe you have never thought of yourself as someone who wins when it counts. Whatever the thought that goes through your mind, they all have one thing in common. They are just thoughts, and are not reality. They are just phantoms from the past that disguise themselves as reality. If they can convince you that they are reality, then they control you. However, if you can see them for what they are, they dissolve. A good coach or sports psychologist can be helpful in walking you through the process of letting go of limiting thoughts, however it is possible to do it on your own. The most important thing is to not be possessive of your thoughts, but to let them go so you can see them for what they really are.
An interesting thing is that it is not just negative thoughts that have the power to undermine your self-belief. Positive thoughts can do the same thing, and they are more insidious because they seem like such a good thing. Just as negative thoughts get you down on yourself and distract you from the logic that underpins belief, positive thoughts create a “euphoria” that can lead to abandonment of the logic. This is often called arrogance or hubris. I consider it much more dangerous because it appears to be nothing but good and so many people tell you to think positively that it must be a good thing. But any thought that distracts you from the logic that drives your self-belief is detrimental. A clear mind is the objective – not free from thought, as that is impossible (thoughts are involuntary), but free from paying attention to extraneous thoughts.
It is a beautiful feeling to walk into a match with the necessary physical ability, technical skills, strategic plan, desire and to have a calm, clear mind. This is you operating at your highest potential, and self-belief will flow through you and you will become an unstoppable force.