Confidence is vital if you want to perform well on the soccer field. But what can you do to increase it? Well, in this guide I will give you some tips for how to do just that!

No Fear

First, never be afraid of receiving the ball no matter how good your opponent is.

Don’t see him as a super skilled soccer player; look at him as any ordinary human being. Of course, you should treat your opponent with respect.

A lot of newcomers to the world of soccer tend to overestimate their opponent; this brings a lot of fear to the table. Why bother being afraid when you can believe in your own skills?

However, you should never be afraid of your opponent just because he is a better soccer player than you.

Focus on The Future

Second, don’t go around and feel sorry for yourself if you have missed a penalty or a 100% goal chance.

Tell yourself that no matter what you do, these situations will not come back. Instead, focus on working harder and don’t start to feel down.

Don’t Hide

Third, never run around and hide yourself from the ball. This is the biggest mistake you can do on the soccer field. Remember, no one will know how good you are if you never show it.

And if you want to become a professional soccer player, how do you think scouts will be able to spot you? They will not play a hide-and-seek game with you 🙂 (Sorry to disappoint you if you thought that).

Believe in Your Abilities

The fourth and last advice is to believe in you own abilities. Don’t care what others think about you, it will not help you perform better.

I can admit that getting praise from others will give you a confidence boost. However, if you don’t believe in yourself these credits will not help you in the long run.

My Experience

To give you a better picture of what confidence can mean for a player, read further:

One of my teammates was incredible with the ball during our regular practice. It was impossible to take the ball from him and I remembered how jealous I was at him.

But, during our games he was never playable; it was always something that stopped him from receiving the ball. Either it was his shoes, an opponent or just bad weather.

But one day he told me that he was afraid to receive a pass because he thought he would lose it directly. He was also afraid of what crowd will think!

He said, “If I don’t manage to dribble my opponent the crowd will see me as a poor player and no one will treat me with respect.”

I told him that he should try to pretend like he was on our practice with no crowd around him. In the beginning he was suspicious about this purpose.

However, when he noticed that it actually helped him perform better, he started to pretend like this during the whole soccer game.

That year we went from being a mediocre middle team to a top position. And this was just because my friend started to show himself on the field.

Good Luck!