The term “confidence” is frequently bandied about in the world of racing and motorsport. We often hear phrases like, “He just needs to be more confident,” “He needs to have more confidence in the car,” or “He’s lost confidence in the tires.” But what does confidence really mean?
‘Confidence’ is undeniably one of the most crucial factors influencing racing performance. When we possess it, we can be virtually unstoppable, but when it wanes, our race weekends, and even entire seasons, can slowly unravel and spiral out of control.
But what exactly is confidence?
Confidence is all about belief. It’s about believing in the machine, believing in ourselves, believing in our past actions and future prospects. Believing that we perform well on this track, believing that we excel in these conditions, believing that we had a good night’s sleep, and believing that we’re physically fit.
Confidence is fundamentally about our beliefs and the stories we tell ourselves, which, more often than not, may not be entirely accurate.
Recently, I received a WhatsApp message from a driver late one night. The driver was describing how he had noticed and anticipated a common pattern of behaviour in his driving and mental skills, particularly when it came to mental performance.
The Erosion of Confidence
It’s a fairly common occurrence that during warm-up and practice sessions, a driver or rider exhibits impressive speed, but the moment they start thinking about qualifying or races, their performance and pace decline, and they make more mistakes.
This happens because they perceive that the stakes are higher now. In reality, every session for every driver and rider is equally important, and their job is always to go out and perform at their very best.
This driver attributed his decline in performance to ‘performance anxiety’ during qualifying, leading him to behave differently on the track and thus perform more poorly compared to practice.
Is That Truly the Case?
This explanation struck me as somewhat dubious, bearing all the characteristics of storytelling and a belief that something is true. I responded to the driver and suggested that we talk the next day. I had several questions in mind, with the first being, “How do you know it’s anxiety?” The second question revolved around a clear story being told, which is also referred to as a ‘complex equivalence’, a type of thinking that establishes a direct connection between two things, which may or may not be accurate.
“Is this unquestionably true?” I pondered. The two aspects might not be connected at all—indeed, in this case, they weren’t.
I engaged in a conversation with the driver, listened to his explanation once more, and reviewed his data traces. I inquired whether the problems and performance dip occurred all over the track. He informed me that it only transpired at three specific locations on the track.
I pointed out that if it was indeed due to what he believed was ‘performance anxiety’ tied to the significance of the session, such as qualifying, this should impact his driving performance at every point on the track and in every aspect, not just at three specific spots.
A protracted silence followed, casting doubt on the story and the belief the driver had constructed, which essentially defined his confidence. Sometimes, merely sowing doubt about the negative belief is enough to lead to a change of perspective because, after all, performance commences in one’s mind.
The driver conceded that this reasoning made sense, and his previous belief and self-narrative might not be entirely accurate. There must be something distinctive about those three locations.
Discovering Confidence
Indeed, there was something unique about those three points on the track. By focusing on visualisation techniques and becoming more aware of the driver’s physical actions and how he was bracing himself, we managed to devise an effective solution to prevent tension at those spots. This allowed the driver to eliminate doubt, boost his confidence, concentrate on the process and performance, and ultimately extract the best from himself, the car, and his entire weekend.
The drivers and riders who work with me understand that I consider confidence to be a vague, abstract, and somewhat general term used to describe our beliefs and the stories we tell ourselves. Sometimes, by casting doubt on negative beliefs, two negatives can transform into a positive.
So, confidence is perhaps just an umbrella term for beliefs, including self-belief, belief in our skills, abilities, and the stories we tell ourselves.
The next time you hear a commentator or pundit use the term ‘confidence’, ponder the beliefs and narratives that the driver or rider might be telling themselves and how these affect their confidence, performance, and results, both on and off the track.