John Danaher is one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coaches in history. And one of his greatest “points” isn’t just about techniques – but about confidence.
Namely, he believes that confidence comes from doing something successfully, not from “talking your way into it”…
Which is why he appears to believe that sports psychology is a “scam industry”.
He revealed more during one of his seminars:
I’m going to say something controversial here… People are gonna hate it. I think it [sports psychology] is a total scam industry.
I know people are going to crucify me for saying this, but I believe sports psychology…
In so, as you just, you know: “I’m gonna just talk this guy into confidence.”
Danaher continues to explain:
Whenever you use words as the basis of your confidence, when you get up on the stage and you get punched in the face or picked up and slammed on your head…
All that confidence is going to run right out of your a**hole.
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Not everyone agrees with Danaher, however.
Joe Breza, a PhD in neuroscience & professor in the department of psychology – and former D1 wrestler – says that Danaher is confusing a sports psychologist with a motivational speaker:
Nowhere in any psychologist’s training is there anything to do with hyping anything up or telling people what to think.
A psychologist helps people to identify their thoughts, feelings, fears, attitudes, etc, to identify potentially where those come from, and how they are playing a role in hindering their performance/daily life.
John has said elsewhere that winning is what increases confidence, but he is incorrect, because often the highest achievers have self doubt.
