It is extremely hard to separate these two things for a lot of athletes because everyone has a different perspective of someone who is confident in their abilities and someone who is just straight cocky. They are such different people, the first makes people want to be like you, the second makes people hate you and pray for your downfall. What kind of athlete are you?
As a track athlete it is VITAL to be confident in your abilities but at what point do you become cocky. Everyone has different ways of expressing there confidence. In sports if you do not believe in yourself than it is going to show when you step out to compete. Confidence is even more needed in individual sports because all you have is yourself NO teammates to help you out. If this is the case than why is being cocky seen as such a turn off to so many people or are these just my thoughts?
Is Kobe Bryant cocky? Is Lebron James confident?
Is Serena Williams cocky? And her sister Venus confident?
Is Usain Bolt cocky? And Tyson Gay confident?
I’m reaching out to my Cover Ground readers, leave a comment tell us what you think about the matter, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE READERS THINK! Leave a Comment and let us know.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
There is a thin line between being preceived as cocky and confident, and this choice is up to the athlete. Confident is internal – Cocky is external. Although the task of an athlete may seem individual, chances are they did not get to where they are without the help and support of others. With this being said, confidence is believing in one’s abilities – a test of self-esteem; an athlete of this stature brings his fans along for the ride, doesn’t step on their toes. On the other side of the spectrum lies arrogance – a test of one’s ego and the need to feel superior to others. One cannot be confident and cocky at the same time. So, between Lebron, Kobe, Serena, Venus, Bolt and Gay, I believe they’ve all been on either side of the continuum at one point in time; what side they remain on is entirely up to them.
I completely agree with the previous comment about confidence being internal and cockiness being external. A cocky person will boast about their achievments to feel important. A confident person doesn’t need to stoop to that level to feel good about themself.
Cocky people also tend to compare themselves to other’s achievments. They use phrases like “I’m the BEST at this…” or “I’m BETTER than him at that…” Confident people set their own standards and goals. Cocky people feel the need to compare themselves to others to nourish their insecurities and show how they are better than everyone.
Cocky people don’t know how to take a joke. When someone points out an insecurity they try to hide it and become defensive. When you point out a confident person’s insecurity he can laugh it off because he is confident in his ability to overcome it.
Confident people are teachable. They know that they have weaknesses and work to overcome them. Cocky people are not teachable because they believe they don’t need improvement and that they are fine the way they are. I heard once that “confident guys are strong IN SPITE of their weaknesses, and cocky guys are strong BECAUSE OF their strengths” see the difference?
–>everyone has insecurities, but not everyone is insecure
Confident people love to lift others up. Cocky people are quick to point out weakness in others and compare that to their strengths. Confident people acknowledge when someone is better than them and strive to be better.
As far as being a track athlete I completely agree with Ian that confidence is of vital importance. I think to a certain extent being an athlete on the track, field, floor etc. you need to be a bit cocky. You shouldn’t have any doubt in your mind about your abilities or you’ve already put yourself at a disadvantage. That being said, once you cross that line or when the clock reads 0:00, that is when you make your decision to be cocky or confident.
@ Steffi
I like where your head is at with the comment. I like how you said you can not be both of them at the same time, but you leave it up to the athlete on how they want to be. You are a field athlete so I respect your opinion because you get to see how the track kids act (including my self), and I am sure many times you were left shaking your head over us sprinters. You also played basketball and volleyball so you have a vantage point from many different angles. Thank you for the comment.
@Bryce
I liked how you talked about cocky people always comparing what they have done to other poeple, to try and make themselves feel better. The people I know who are confident in their abilities do not do things like that. You are so right about how cocky people LIVE on their strengths and never want anything to do with their weak points in their game. Confident people are always trying to get their strengths and weak points better.
In my opinion, the confidence of an athlete just shows that they are putting in endless hours of work in the gym and on the track and they know their bodies well enough to know what they can do. Confidence and cockiness are not related at all. Asafa Powell ran his WR 9.77 3 times and then broke it again with his 9.74. However, if you pay attention to track, you know powell is not cocky at all. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t seem very confident either when it comes to the big meets, but that’s not the point. When he is CONFIDENT that he can win, as in the smaller scale meets in Europe, he runs a completely flawless race. The point is he is clearly one of the greatest 100m sprinters of all time but is not cocky at all. As a sprinter myself I see cockiness as being one of two things. The first thing is a mind game. You must admit when you first started track and there was a sprinter you’ve never met or heard of that tells you he/she is gonna beat you down on the track and what not, you start losing focus and getting nervous and losing confidence. Or maybe its just me. But when you started learning of other sprinters and researching their performances and you began to realize that all that talk was just a front. The other thing cockiness can be, in my opinion, is a sign of low confidence. In every case, whether its track and field or a day at work, a person who boasts is a person who has low self esteem. They boast because they want to make themselves feel better and appear to be someone they are not. Relating this back to the sport itself, if you meet a sprinter who is super cocky, chances are they aren’t very confident in themselves. When I say confident I don’t mean just with their bodies but just in general. If they are boasting on the track they are boasting off the track as well. Like I said, this is just my opinion.
I would also like to say that i believe cockiness is not a bad thing. Cockiness can be used to get yourself in the game – and possibly to get others out of it. Ultimately, cockiness can be a useful strategy. Maurice Greene is famous for his start line show of cockiness. And you can just imagine how the person next to him felt when maurice greene was pacing back and forth in the lane beside them. Like I said, its a useful strategy.
I would also like to say that cockiness brings entertainment to any sport. It brings tension and drama and that’s what the audience loves. Want proof? Just look back at the days of Muhammed Ali, the battle between Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey, UFC etc. Why do you think people are paying so much to get Bolt, Gay, and Powell to run at their meet? People love the drama and cockiness adds fuel to the fire.
Yesss Curtis,
Your the first person to ever mention that cockyness does not have to be a bad thing. That is what I was looking for, I am not sure how people get such different views on the topic though. Thanks for the comment