November/December 2021 - 22

The Difference Between
Confidence & Cockiness
By JJ Weber, M.Ed., Director of Team Weber Consulting
If confidence bolsters sports performance, does cockiness
vault performance to a higher level? The confidence versus
cockiness debate has endured for decades.
Cockiness is often equated with supreme confidence.
In the sporting world, several terms are used
interchangeably to describe " high confidence " : selfassuredness,
self-belief, boldness, brashness, swagger,
and cockiness.
To delineate between confidence and cockiness, a few
points should be considered:
1. Is there a difference between confidence and
cockiness?
2. If so, what differentiates confidence from cockiness?
3. How do you develop confidence?
Is There a Difference Between Confidence and
Cockiness?
Confidence is an athlete's belief in their physical,
technical, emotional, and mental abilities to perform well
in a particular athletic situation.
Confidence exists on a continuum; the greater the selfbelief,
the more successfully an athlete performs. On a
confidence scale, the upper end is high confidence, not
cockiness.
In reality, cockiness is an over-statement about one's
abilities or an over-emphasis on past achievements.
Confidence revolves around self (belief in one's
abilities), while cockiness is steeped in comparison
(belief one is superior to other athletes).
Confident athletes are primarily focused on doing and
working to reach their potential while cocky athletes are
primarily focused on talking and bragging about their
accomplishments.
Cocky athletes are trying to convince others and, at a
deeper level, themselves that they can succeed, achieve,
or perform at a high level. In that sense, cockiness is
shaky confidence at best.
What Differentiates Confidence From
Cockiness?
Confident athletes have a growth mindset. A growth
mindset is an attitude or belief that an athlete can develop
the necessary mental, physical, technical, and tactical
skills to achieve their athletic goals. Confident athletes
are driven to find a way to succeed and understand the
effort and time needed to develop and improve skills.
Cocky athletes have a fixed mindset. They see
themselves as natural-born athletes or athletically gifted.
Cocky athletes rely on their natural ability, rather than
work ethic, because they feel they are already a step
ahead of everyone else.
Confident athletes focus on the process. The process
is building your game through action, self-reflection,
learning, and re-adjusting to grow as an athlete.
Confident athletes find the lesson in losses.
Cocky athletes focus on outcomes such as wins,
records, statistics, awards, and accolades. Losses are
dismissed as aberrations, therefore, nothing much is
learned after a bad performance.
Confident athletes find a way. They take personal
responsibility for their performance. After a loss,
confident athletes go back to the drawing board to see
if there is something they can do differently for the next
competition.
Cocky athletes find an excuse. They never take the
blame or responsibility for a bad performance. A bad
result is seen as something or someone else's fault.
Confident athletes welcome feedback and accept
constructive criticism. Confident athletes learn from
failure rather than letting it define them.
Cocky athletes see criticism as unfair or misguided.
Criticism is viewed as a personal attack and rarely used
as feedback to improve performance.
Confident athletes challenge themselves. Challenges
are seen as opportunities to explore potential, no matter
the outcome.
Cocky athletes rarely put themselves in a position to be
unsuccessful; it's a threat to their ego. When faced with
strong challenges, cocky athletes back off and give up
more easily.
Confident athletes focus on team success. They look for
ways to contribute. Confident athletes see themselves as
a part of the whole.
22 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
November/December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2021
