You have likely heard coaches or parents tell you that you need to have a good attitude when you play. But why? How does your attitude actually impact your performance?
As a mental performance coach, I talk with athletes about improving their mindset and improving their attitude so that they can play better and play more consistently.
But why is it that having a bad attitude can actually hurt you, and having a better attitude when you play will enhance your performance?
In this article, we’re going to explore how a negative attitude hurts your play, and the benefits of having a positive attitude in sports.
How Does a Negative Attitude Hurt Performance?
When I am referring to a negative attitude, I am really referring to this state where you are down on yourself, you have a pessimistic outlook on the game, you are upset over something that happened, or maybe you are angry at the officials or angry at the field conditions.
Overall, your attitude is not what we would consider to be positive.
The reason this negative attitude hurts your performance is because of the impact it has on your resilience, your focus, and your actions.
A Negative Attitude Hurts Resilience
When your attitude turns bad, it becomes more difficult to be resilient. It becomes harder to bounce back from mistakes, reset, refocus, and believe that you can make the next play. You are down on yourself, which means you are not in a great mindset or emotional state to come back and perform well.
This also makes it more difficult for you, or even your entire team, to work your way back when you are losing.
One example of this comes from a baseball pitcher I worked with. If he was underperforming on the mound by walking batters or giving up hits, he would get really frustrated with himself.
His attitude would turn negative, and as a result, he did not have the same confidence or give the same effort on the next pitches. He felt defeated, which made it much harder to bounce back and win the next at-bat.
Another example comes from a cross-country runner I worked with. If he felt like he was falling behind in a race or not running the time he wanted, his attitude would turn negative. As that happened, he lost motivation to chase people down and finish strong.
His lack of resilience made it harder to come back when he was falling behind.
A Negative Attitude Hurts Focus
Another reason a negative attitude hurts your performance has to do with focus. Our focus in sports is directly linked to what we are thinking about. For a negative attitude to be present, your thoughts have turned negative.
You may be focused on a previous mistake, the fact that you are losing, or the feeling that the officials are being unfair. When this happens, your attention is taken away from what is happening right now. You are not in a great mental state to be locked in, make the next play, or turn your performance around.
A common example of this happens after mistakes. If your attitude turns negative after a mistake, you are not in the best mindset to be focused and locked in to make up for it. You may be thinking about the mistake, your stats, or what other people are going to think of you.
That lack of focus will directly impact how you play moving forward.
A Negative Attitude Hurts Your Actions
The last piece is the action or behavior side of performance. This ties into the lack of resilience, lack of focus, and lack of confidence that come with a negative attitude.
When your attitude gets bad, you are not going to give as much effort. You are less likely to put yourself in positions to succeed. As a soccer, basketball, or lacrosse player, you might stop putting yourself in position to receive the ball, shoot, or make plays happen. As a baseball or softball player, you might overswing or become too timid at the plate.
Your thoughts lead to negative feelings, or attitude, which then lead to actions that hurt your performance.
Where Does This Negative Attitude Come From?
The main reason this happens comes back to what is known as the thought–feeling–action cycle.
Your attitude is really tied to the way you feel, and the way you feel is driven by the way you think. If you think a certain way, you will feel a certain way, and your actions will mirror those thoughts and feelings.
That is why two athletes can be in the exact same situation and have two very different attitudes. They experience the same circumstances, yet respond differently. The difference is not the situation itself, but how each athlete is thinking about the situation.
Your attitude is caused by the way you think about what is happening.
For example, if you make a mistake and you think, “That was horrible. I suck. This is a terrible game. Everybody is going to think I am a bad player,” you are going to have a negative attitude, and that attitude will hurt how you play.
But if you make a mistake and think, “That is okay. Let’s adjust, learn from it, and bounce back. I know I can make up for that mistake,” your attitude will be completely different—even though the situation is the same.
How Does a Positive Attitude Help Your Play?
Just as a negative attitude leads to worse resilience, worse focus, and poorer actions, a positive attitude has the opposite effect on your performance.
When you keep your attitude positive, even after mistakes, you are in a much better position to bounce back. You are more focused for the next play, the next shift, or the next moment in the competition.
A positive attitude helps you maintain belief in yourself, give more effort, and put yourself in positions to succeed. Because of that, you will find yourself playing better and more consistently, even when things are not going your way.
How to Have a More Positive Attitude While Competing
Knowing how impactful your attitude is, you want to work as hard as you can to keep it positive—no matter what happens.
Here are three ways to do that.
1. Focus on Your Thoughts
If you are experiencing a negative attitude, the thoughts you are having are what are driving it. If you want to change your attitude, you need to change your thinking.
The best place to start is after mistakes. Many athletes experience their attitude turning from positive to negative following mistakes. Work on being more positive with your self-talk after those moments.
This can involve saying things like, “It’s okay. Learn from it. Adjust. I’ve got the next one,” or, “That was one mistake. Reset, refocus, and make up for it.”
Once you improve your thinking after mistakes, you can start applying this same approach when your team is losing, when there is a bad call, or when your coach yells. Changing your thinking is the most effective way to gain control over your attitude.
2. View the Game Through an Optimistic Lens
The second tip is to take a more optimistic outlook on your game and your performance. When things are not going your way or your team is losing, ask yourself what good a negative or pessimistic outlook is doing for you or your team.
Even if you are down by a lot, adopting an optimistic outlook allows you to keep believing that things can turn around. Even if you do not come back and win, you will play better throughout the competition, bounce back better, and be more consistent over time.
3. Don’t Let the Environment Bring You Down
The final tip is to avoid letting the environment control your attitude. Teammates, coaches, officials, and overall energy can heavily influence how you feel.
If you allow your teammates’ negativity to affect you, it becomes very difficult to be an emotional leader. But if you stay focused on your own thinking, you can influence your teammates to have a more positive attitude rather than being influenced by theirs.
Again, this comes back to being intentional with your thinking and not allowing the environment to suck your energy or pull you into a negative attitude.
Final Thoughts
When you have a negative attitude, you are not in a great emotional state to play. You will not give as much effort, you will not be as focused, and you will not feel as calm or confident as you need to be.
When you have a positive attitude, it becomes easier to focus, give effort, and put yourself in positions to succeed. As a result, you will play better on a more consistent basis.
Attitude is one of the most important parts of performance, even though it can be difficult to see the connection between attitude and results in the moment.
One final exercise is to reflect on times when you had a negative attitude and times when you had a positive attitude. Think about how you played in each situation. Strengthening this connection will help reinforce the idea that the more positive your attitude is, the better you will play—and that a negative attitude leads to underperformance.
Developing a more positive attitude is difficult, just like all mental game skills. If you are interested in a more personalized, in-depth approach, I offer a twelve-week, one-on-one mental performance coaching program tailored to you and your sport.
If you found this helpful, share it with teammates or anyone who needs to work on their attitude to improve their performance.
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
