Ask Doc    

How Do I Stay Confident After A Poor Moto?

Motocross Racer:

Racing Psychology - Ask DocI just got home from a race yesterday and I am troubled I rode really good in practice. I was one of the fastest ones on the track. I felt great, but by the time it came for my moto, I started to have questions about my riding and ability to do well. I tried to visualize getting a good start in my mind and I still messed up what should I do when something like this happens on race day? Do you have any suggestions to make it easier to see my self doing well even if I have not been doing well in my motos?

Dr. Cohn's Answer:

When you ride well in practice and then do not perform up to your ability in races, this just tells me that you are having trouble with taking your practice game to races because of a lack of confidence, doubt, or putting too much pressure on yourself to perform well. I see this all the time in my work.

Based on your question above, it sounds like you lack full confidence in your ability in races as you start to doubts yourself. In addition, I can tell that your confidence gets damaged after a poor performance, which makes you doubt to the point of not being able to see a good start or moto in your mind.

My suggestion is that you learn how to be proactive with your confidence. This means taking responsibility for how confident you feel in races instead of leaving it to chance. You have to get off the confidence roller coaster and on the steady confidence train. You can do this by using your past success and experience in motocross. A good product to help you with this is my new program, The Confident Athlete.