Confidence is a psychological factor that can be either a positive if you have the right amount or a negative if you have too much or too little. Confidence has affected me in both ways.
Too Much:
Last year I went to California to compete in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pan American tournament. I had spent many months preparing and felt ready. Half way through my first and final match of the single elimination tournament the referee stopped the action, as I had accidentally pulled the guys pants loose, and I lost my concentration. The match was lopsided; I was destroying my opponent and could see exasperation in his eyes. In that split second I stopped thinking about what I had to do to win, and started thinking wow this is easier than I thought, I felt invincible, I wondered what my next opponents would be like. I hardly noticed that the match had started again. I lost ground, I didn’t care it would be easy to gain it back. I lost more, I still didn’t care. He started attacking a choke, I thought he actually thinks he is going to win, he is just delaying the inevitable, then I realized he really was choking me and so I did what I thought I needed to do to escape. But I didn’t know what choke he had set up because I wasn’t paying attention; it was really tight now I was getting light headed. I had to make a guess, I exploded to my feet. Wrong guess, I went numb, my eyesight faded, then I opened my eyes and I was twitching looking up at the ref. I had passed out and I felt sick to my stomach because it was my arrogance that gave my opponent the match, not his skill.
Too Little:
In my very first competition I didn't have enough confidence I was so nervous I didn't sleep all night. I was tired and shaking from adrenaline, I couldn't think straight and felt like vomiting as I walked out on the mat. My only goal was not to embarrass myself which I thought I was about to do. I had never done anything like this before, I suddenly became terrified that I would injure myself, the next thought was of course I would because my opponent was going to try to force me to quit. I started out great, within 5 seconds I had the best position possible but then I relaxed and suddenly the adrenaline disappeared. I was completely exhausted, I felt like if I closed my eyes I would fall asleep, my muscles started cramping. It was everything I could do to barely cling on to my lead until time ran out. After the match my body was reeling I couldn't recover and I am pretty sure I lost the rest of the matches I had that day.
The right amount:
There are also times when the right about of confidence will help you immensely. I have gone to tournaments where I had enough confidence whereas I was not nervous and did not have to worry about an adrenaline dump, but not so much that I wasn’t focused. My mind was fast, sharp, decisive, and instinctually correct. The only thoughts going on were how do I improve the situation and win. This state is incredible I don’t feel as if or fear that I will lose, but recognize that it is a possibility. I can visualize things before they happen and execute. This is what I always strive for, the goal is that as I develop I can zero in on what puts me in this zone so that I can recreate it at will.
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