Confidence: Sports

bugoycmike

I'll be the first to admit my own self-esteem isn't that high. Enough to be an extroverted guy around friends but not so much that I can confidently talk to a girl I'm crushing on or take off my shirt in public (alot).

But my worst (or best) example of low self-esteem would have to be playing basketball. Now don't get me wrong, I love the sport with a fiery passion and, if I can humbly say so myself, am pretty decent at it despite some conditioning and height issues. But the minute I play with people who've been playing for a while, or even those just doing good at the moment, my confidence vanishes. This leads to a chain reaction of awful, my comfort handling the ball disappearing and my body getting tired twice as fast as it normally would.

So my question is, does anyone else feel this in any sport? Is it something that can be solved with better athleticism? Or is it a mental thing? And yeah I could ask on google, but I want to hear a statement from a "real" person who's trying to lose weight/get in better shape or health/etc.

SoCalSwimmerDude

I think thats pretty normal for alot of guys. I don't even attempt something if I'm not so good at it and I'm fairly athletic. I'm finally getting to the point where taking the shirt off is kinda OK... ha, but you won't catch me on the basketball court either.

I'm a swimmer (former) and used to play pick up games of water polo. I know the basics of the game and could hang w/ 'em forever, but I kinda suck at ACTUALLY PLAYING WATER POLO. I remember stopping going to the pick-up games because the last time I went I basically drowned one of the girls that was playing... and she kicked me HARD in the leg... cuz thats what you do in water polo!

Ha, so ya, I think you're timidness is a fairly normal amongst us men. But I tell ya... when the pounds start to drop and you get in better shape, you'll be MUCH more willing to participate for no other reason than better self-esteem. (and improved athletic ability)