Do You Let Your Opponent’s Intimidate You?

A great way to ensure that you start a match “one-nil down” is to place too much emphasis on your opponents.  Many football and soccer players do, they scroll social media and the internet for snippets of information before their matches whilst also hanging on to every word said by their coaches in the build-up to matches.  The result is a football or soccer player who falls foul of “comparisonitis” and is easily intimidated going into matches.

By comparing yourself to your opponents, many footballers get into the way of thinking that their opponents are almost perfect and much better than you.  Your opponents are put on a pedestal and you then forget about your strengths and role in the team.

When self-intimidation occurs

On the football pitch many players look to gain an edge by seeking to intimidate their opponents with their body language, by using snide comments and by being overly physical and aggressive.  However, it’s often the case that some football players do this too themselves anyway, psyching themselves out. 

Examples I’ve come across include:

• When football players are faced with bigger, physical and aggressive opponents, they can often retreat into their shell.
• If their team has lost to a team previously, they worry they’ll lose again and play in fear.
• Playing in a big stadium, against better opponents on paper some football players can be intimidated and worry that they will embarrass themselves.
• The self-conscious footballer who tracks back with their opponent, can be half-hearted in their attempt to win the ball in case they mistime their challenge and their opponent beats them and goes on to lay on a goal or score.  They’re scared of being embarrassed and would rather not put the effort in to track back.

When “judgement mode” kicks in

The main culprit here is where football players judge the quality, size or skillset of their opponents, they also begin to judge and try to predict outcomes ahead of time.  The result is feelings of worry, nervousness, helplessness and fear which plays havoc with your confidence.

To sum up, when you make comparisons with your opponents, your focus is misplaced, you start to believe that your opponents are better than you and you look at the negative aspects of your performance.  You’re only thinking of what’s wrong with you, you then become ultra self-critical on the pitch, judging negatively your every touch, pass or tackle. 

How can you help yourself maintain your confidence?

Step one – is to set yourself some rules about how much time you will focus on your opponents and when you do so.  A word of warning, for some football players the closer you get to a match, when the butterflies kick in is not a good time to be focusing on opponents. 

Things you or your players should consider:

1. How video analysis is conducted.
2. What conversations are taking place about opponents in the build up to matches.
3. Your use of the internet and social media when “checking out” opponents.
4. Where you place your focus in the warm-up.
5. If you start “one nil down” against specific teams.
6. If you feel in awe of your opponents.
7. If you feel inferior to your opponents.

Step two – is to place the rules that you have created somewhere handy in the run up to a match and look to catch yourself when you break some rules and spend too much time focusing on your opponents.   

Step three – is to focus on your own strengths and skillset not your opponents.  That’s easy isn’t it!! For some players it’s very difficult, therefore I’d encourage you to make a list of your strengths as a football player. 

Step four – don’t put your opponents on a pedestal, seek to flip the situation.  Consider how you can use your strengths to intimidate your opponent and make their match as difficult as possible.

You may also be interested in the latest episodes of the Demystifying Mental Toughness podcast where we have a focus on improving footballers decision making and managing footballer players expectations when your team is winning comfortably.