Managing self-concept to improve performance

By Massey Bentz

From time to time, I have been approached by dart players with the question; “why is it that when I’m practicing, I can hit whatever I want and just can’t seem to perform at the same level in competition?” This is an honest question, as dart players want to know how to perform well in difficult and stressful situations. You probably have asked yourself, “How can I raise my performance level when I’m playing a tournament, or during league play?”

This article should help you to get closer to achieving your personal best through understanding that your self-concept has perhaps the greatest influence on you and your confidence. You may feel that confidence is an intangible that seems to evade us far more often than not, leaving us frustrated and discouraged. It’s just not there when you need it like an inanimate object you can reach into your pocket and possess. So how do you get confidence, and how do we manage self-concept?

The single most important factor affecting people's confidence is their self-concept. While situations may change from game to game, even moment to moment, people's beliefs about themselves are usually the determining factors in whether success is achieved or not. Everyone has literally thousands of concepts about themselves: who they are, what they stand for, where they live, what they do and do not do, what they value, what they believe. These self-perceptions vary in clarity, precision, and importance from person to person. Basically, a person's self-concept is who they are, and the frame of reference, their personal reality, their special vantage point. It is a screen through which they see, hear, evaluate, and understand everything else and serves as a filter on the world around them.

A strong self-concept is necessary for healthy and gratifying competitive performance. A weak self-concept, on the other hand, often distorts the individual's perception of what is happening and more importantly, what can happen. People with a poor view of themselves will have difficulty achieving personal excellence. It may be accompanied with feeling unworthy, inadequate, and inferior, which feeds our low self-image.

Take a look at the following word and tell yourself of its meaning. “IAMNOWHERE”. After you have stated the meaning of the word, read on to see the two opposing views of this powerful phrase.

The first view is to read it as, “I am no where.” I am not saying that this view characterizes a person with poor self-concept, but at least that, that is what you are thinking and how your frame of mind is right now. We see things as we think and feel in our minds and hearts and realize our own self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, in darts, we achieve what we expect to accomplish. If you are merely just going through the motions of play, that is what you will accomplish, a lot of motion.

The second way to look at this phrase is, “I am now here.” This suggests that your view or outlook is from a more positive perspective, which is essential to reach your potential in match play. If you are going to hit a 180, you have to expect to hit it. A good way to look at that is to already have scored that in your mind and simply execute with your three darts. As you step up to take out 156, look at it in your mind as already having taken it out. Working your way back can be a good mental approach. And oh, when you do take out a number, be careful how you celebrate here. It’s a good idea for your inner voice to affirm yourself, but another when it’s “in your face, look at me” kind of an attitude. When people lose a match, the feeling can be debilitating at times, and conduct short of a quick handshake with professionalism and respect can be like adding insult to injury. A positive self-concept is more in line with self-respect and respect for others and should not be misconstrued as ego.

To understand more about self-concept, you need to realize that your performance is not you! By making this separation of self-concept with performance, you are able to maintain a consistently higher level of self-image and confidence. When you feel good about yourself, you are more confident about your abilities. When you feel more confident, you tend to perform better. Unfortunately, most players want to perform well before they can feel good about themselves but it just doesn’t work that way. You may get lucky and have a great game that makes you feel really good, but this will be short-lived. Why? Because the next time you have a bad game, you are going to feel bad about yourself. What you’ve done was fall into the trap of connecting your performance with who you are.

Remember the last time you “missed” the mark with all three darts, threw a “flat line”, or you had so many darts at an out only to have your opponent come back to win? What behavior ensued? Did you say the “S” or the “F” word out loud or to yourself? Did you remove your cap and throw it at the board as you walked up to retrieve your darts, only to give it a kick on the way back to the line while shaking your head? Did you heave your darts across the table and give permission to your fury to remain prominent for the remainder of the match?

Well, your words and actions to yourself train you to be who you are! Only you control how you perceive events or situations and the goal is to change the way you think and behave to change the way you feel about yourself. Understanding that you control your thoughts, no one else, is a key here and a great beginning to learn how to manage and groom your self-concept.

Look around as you are playing in a tournament and see all the people who are deflating their self-esteem. Tell yourself and affirm it that you are not going to be like them. You are worth more; you are important; you are adequate; you feel good about yourself; you accept yourself as you are. Start training yourself to disassociate performance from your self-concept. The best way to take positive control is to ask yourself the question “how am I feeling about myself” especially when things aren’t going quite the way you prefer. If you’re feeling tense or stress, say to yourself; “I’m a GOOD PERSON, GOOD PLAYER” or simply “G.P. G.P.” I taught my daughter Naomi (A.K.A. “Killer”) how to use this technique as a mantra to help her concentration, to help remain calm, and to continually shape her self-concept during competition.

Since you control your thoughts, you’ll find this is the time to put those positive, self-affirming thoughts into your mind to build up self-concept. If your actions or even thinking are negative, then you are creating and reinforcing poor self-concept. When people react with anger they are self-injecting precisely the ingredients that keep them from achieving a positive self-concept, which is truly the foundation for success in any sport. Remember, words, thoughts, and actions train your self-image. Learn to tell yourself; “okay, I just missed, but I’ll do better.” You are human, not a machine. Your performance is not you. Practice saying to yourself; “G.P G.P.” J

Concentrate on your positive qualities and remember that you are after a specific product: a higher performance level than you’ve been used to. People aren’t born with high self-esteem or self-confidence, they learn this important, winning quality through practice, just like with any other skill. Also, you shouldn’t compare yourself with others as different people have different levels of talents. Accepting the fact that there will always be different caliber of players is a reasonable way to accept the diversity of talent in the sport of darts. You are an individual and a worthy person deserving of excellence and YOUR personal best.

Remember, you project on the outside how you feel inside, and not on external events such as where your darts are landing or if you’re falling behind in a game. Look at failure as a learning experience; it’s an opportunity to monitor your game and see where you need to strengthen it. This has nothing to do with your self-image. Self-esteem has to do with potential.

Keep it at an all-time high, “talk” positively to yourself. Model yourself after people you admire and respect, then set an example for others. It’s hard to think bad things when you’re focused on positive thoughts, remaining calm and determined to perform at YOUR personal best.