Sports confidence and positive self-talk: play on match day the way you play in training

You train well all week, then freeze on the day. You rush your shots, stop calling for the ball, or spend the whole race arguing with the voice telling you to stop. The skill is still there. What changes is the voice in your head, and sports psychology shows you can train that voice just like your body.

Your personalised affirmation track is 20 affirmations written about your sport, your position and the moments that matter to you, set over a calming sound. It usually arrives by email within 10 minutes, and a 5 minute track is £7. Build my sports confidence track

What your inner voice says before a match

‘Don’t miss this one,’ just before a penalty, a free kick or a putt.
‘Not again,’ the moment you give the ball away.
‘They’re better than us,’ after one look at the other team warming up.
‘I’m not fit enough for this,’ halfway through a race.
‘Don’t let the team down,’ until you stop asking for the ball.
‘I always lose to her,’ before the first point has been played.
‘I don’t belong at this level,’ after a call-up, a trial or a move up a league.

Sports psychologists call this negative self-talk, and it costs players points and goals at every level, from Sunday league to the professional game. You can replace it with words you’ve planned and practised, and that’s exactly what your track gives you.

Imposter syndrome in sport

Lots of players feel they don’t belong after a call-up, a new squad or a step up a level, and it happens at the very top too. Seven-time Olympic swimming champion Caeleb Dressel has said ‘I feel like I have imposter syndrome’, and Olympic gymnastics champion Suni Lee told ESPN she’d convinced herself she didn’t deserve her gold medal. Your track can be written around that feeling, with lines that link your place in the team to the training that earned it. Read more about imposter syndrome.

A track written about your sport

Tell us your sport, your position and what happens to you under pressure, and we’ll write 20 affirmations around it. Confidence is already selected.

Build my sports confidence track

You pay once and keep the file. Play it on the drive to the ground, in the changing room or the night before.

How your track uses sports psychology

Every sport track is written around the methods sports psychologists use with athletes, and each one has published research behind it. The studies our sport tracks are built on are listed on our science page.

Planned self-talk

Short lines to say to yourself, like ‘first touch’ or ‘strong finish’, ready before the pressure arrives.

Planned self-talk improved performance across 32 studies, most of all when people practised it in advance. (2011 review)

Nerves as readiness

Lines like ‘my body is getting ready’, so a racing heart before kick off works for you.

People who said ‘I am excited’ before a stressful task performed better than people who tried to calm down. (2014 study)

A reset after mistakes

A line you’ve planned for the moment after a mistake, so you’re straight back into the game.

Plans in the form ‘when this happens, I will do that’ help athletes manage nerves and stress. (2021 review of 11 studies)

Seeing yourself play well

Lines that picture you playing well, so listening works like mental rehearsal.

Imagery improved sports performance across 55 studies, and added to training it beat training alone. (2021 review)

Attention on the target

Cues that point to where the ball is going, like ‘through the target’, which is where your attention works best.

Focusing on the effect of a movement improved performance across 73 studies. (2021 review)

Confidence built on your training

Lines that point back to the work you’ve put in and the skills you already have.

Sport confidence lasts best when it’s built on mastery and preparation. (Vealey, 1998)

An example of a football track

What you might write

I play centre midfield on Sundays. I’m fine in training, but in matches, once I give the ball away I stop asking for it and hide.

3 of the 20 affirmations we wrote

I want the ball when the game is tight.
After a loose pass, I get straight back into position and call for it again.
I play on Sunday the same way I play in training.

Top athletes who use affirmations and self-talk

Some of the biggest names in sport have talked openly about planning the words and pictures in their heads.

Muhammad Ali called himself ‘the greatest’ before he’d won a world title, and released an album called I Am the Greatest in 1963, months before he became heavyweight champion.
Serena Williams writes affirmations down, takes them to her matches and has been known to read them during play.
Andy Murray kept handwritten notes courtside in 2015, including ‘Be good to yourself’ and ‘Focus on each point and the process’.
Michael Phelps was taught by his coach to play a mental ‘videotape’ of his perfect race every night before sleep and every morning when he woke.

Your track works the same way. It gives you planned words for the moments that matter, and you play it until they’re the words that turn up on the day.

I’m working on improving my confidence at the moment and my track is certainly helping. I listen every day and look forward to it, the affirmations are inspirational and the ocean waves are really soothing.

Joanne, UK · verified review on Trustpilot

Give a sports track as a gift

It makes a thoughtful gift for a teammate before a final, a partner training for a marathon, or a grown-up son or daughter who still gets nervous before a match. It arrives on the morning you choose, with your message.

Send a sports track as a gift

This opens our gift track builder, where you tell us about their sport and pick the day it arrives. Looking for more ideas? See all our gifts.

3 quick tips before your next match

Breathe in for 4 and out for 7, for 2 minutes. Long, slow out-breaths lowered anxiety in a 2023 Stanford study of 108 adults. (study)
Use the same short routine before every key moment, like 2 bounces before a serve or the same step back before a free kick. Routines improved performance for about 800 athletes in 15 sports. (2021 review)
Listen to your track the night before. 64% of the elite athletes in one survey had slept badly before a big event, mostly from replaying it in their head, and your track gives your mind better words to replay. (2015 survey)

Common questions

How do I get more confidence in football?

Plan what you'll say to yourself before the match, have a short line ready for the moment after a mistake, and picture yourself playing well the night before. Your track gives you those lines, written about your position and the moments you find hardest.

How do I stop being nervous before a match?

Some nerves help you perform, so the aim is to use them. Breathe out for longer than you breathe in, choose 1 short cue like ‘first touch’, and plan exactly what you’ll do in the first minute.

What is positive self-talk in sport?

It’s planning what you say to yourself before and during a match. Some lines tell you what to do, like ‘watch the ball’, and some keep you going, like ‘strong finish’.

Does self-talk improve sports performance?

Yes. A 2011 review of 32 studies found planned self-talk improved performance, especially when people practised it in advance. Your track gives you your own planned lines to practise.

Should my sport track be subliminal?

We suggest choosing spoken out loud for sport, because the research is about words you can hear, remember and repeat on the day.

Which sports is it for?

Any sport, at any level. People write about football, netball, basketball, boxing, rugby, running, swimming, tennis, golf and cricket, among others.

Which famous athletes use affirmations?

Muhammad Ali called himself ‘the greatest’ before he’d won a world title, and Serena Williams writes affirmations and takes them to her matches.

Do athletes get imposter syndrome?

Yes, at every level. Olympic champions Caeleb Dressel and Suni Lee have both spoken about it. Your track can link your place in the team to the training that earned it.

Can I give a sports track as a gift?

Yes. Tell us about their sport and it arrives by email on the morning you choose, with your message.

Train your inner voice as well as your body

Your track is written about your sport and the moments that matter to you.

Build my sports confidence track

From £7, and it usually arrives within 10 minutes.

When to get more support

If worry about sport, food or training is taking over, please speak to your GP or a sport psychologist registered with the HCPC. Samaritans are free on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, and findahelpline.com lists other countries.