A Simple Explanation of the Difference Between Belief and Faith in Sports
The terms belief and faith can change meanings depending on the context. Furthermore, people often use these two terms interchangeably. However, in sports there is a clear difference between having belief and having faith.
In sports, seeing is believing. Whether it’s something you see in yourself, something you see in others, or something you have seen happen historically. For example, an athlete will believe in a coach because they have seen that coach be successful. Or an athlete will believe in their preparation because they have seen success through preparing in the way they did. In other words, in sports belief and confidence go hand in hand. Just like success is a prerequisite for confidence, it’s also a prerequisite for belief.
On the other hand, faith does not require success. The only requirement for faith is commitment. Commitment to a process, a coach, or a team. Disappointment, adversity, lacking confidence, ambiguity are all things that happen to those who have faith. Yet, these things don’t deter athletes who have faith. Faith provides the fuel to keep going when the athlete doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Athletes who have faith in themselves do not fold under pressure because they have no fear of the outcome. Win or lose they remain committed. Belief on the other hand waivers under pressure, as belief does nothing to remove the fear of failure. What’s more, it’s failure that causes an athlete to change what they believe.
This is the biggest difference between belief and faith in sports. An athlete will question their belief in the face of adversity, but under the same adverse circumstances an athlete will not question their faith. Unfortunately, no one goes from good to great without facing adversity. In addition, if you keep changing what you believe after every other adverse experience you won’t ever make it from good to great. Therefore, athletes who want to go to the next level must not only believe in their process, coach, and team they must have the faith to commit.