What Mahé Drysdale taught me about self-belief in rowing

I always struggled with self-belief as a rower. Rowing with Mahé Drysdale showed me it's something you can train, and a mistake I made for years showed me what happens when you don't.

Who is Mahé Drysdale?

If you don't know him, have you been living under a rock? Mahé is a double Olympic gold medallist and an Olympic bronze medallist as well. He was New Zealand's single sculler and one of the titans of the sport in his era. I had the privilege of rowing with him in 2019, when he was part of the Kiwi eight. I sat in three seat, right behind him, in a year when two Olympic champions joined our eight and it didn't solve everything.

It was probably pretty tricky for Mahé to go from a single to an eight. They're completely different boats on every level. But there was still a lot a less experienced athlete like me could learn from someone who'd been around the block like Mahé.

What made Mahé Drysdale different?

His mindset. Mahé was endlessly confident in his own ability, even when he was up against it or things weren't going his way.

"Mahé was just endlessly confident in his own ability, and it wasn't just like he was putting it on. It was just this inner belief."

I thought that was quite special and quite unique, and I reckon it was a massive part of his success over the years.

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Can you train self-belief?

I'm not sure if Mahé built that over time or whether he was born with it. But I'm a believer that it's something you can train in yourself.

"It's all about the stories that you tell yourself in your head."

The more you can be your own best hype man, even at the start when it feels a bit manufactured, the more you're practising speaking positively to yourself. I think that's what Mahé did when he was younger. He always backed himself, and over time, backing himself became his natural state.

So keep that inner monologue positive, even when it feels a bit fake, and practise it time and time again. Once that muscle and that instinct are built, performance follows.

The mistake I made: racing not to embarrass myself

When our eight wasn't going well, our standards kept getting lower. I remember racing at World Cup and World Champs events when our eight was going badly, sitting on the start line hoping I wouldn't embarrass myself in the race. If I could at least not embarrass myself, I'd be happy.

"Now what a piss weak mentality that is."

That's the definition of your standards slipping. It's so cliché, but you have got to aim high and absolutely go for it. That's the beauty of the sport: going hard, getting after it, chasing the dream.

"You will become the stories you tell yourself. So just tell yourself a better story."

I wish I'd done it when I was younger.

How do you build confidence as a rower?

Confidence can't be faked, but it can be built. I'd come at it from two sides.

The first is the stories. I had a bad tendency for negative self-talk, especially as a younger athlete. When my 2k was stuck for about four years, I got negative about it, and that slowed me down even more. You can see that plateau in my 2k erg scores by age.

The second is proof. Before every big 2k I did specific prep on the erg, and every workout I knocked off gave me just a smidgen more confidence. These are the two erg sessions I did before every big 2k.

Nerves are a different thing. They just mean you care, and here's how I handled them before a race or a 2k.

Try this

1. Listen to what you're telling yourself before a race or a test. If it's "I hope I don't embarrass myself", your standards have slipped.
2. Tell yourself a better story. Aim high and go for it.
3. Be your own best hype man every day, even when it feels fake. You're building a muscle.
4. Back it up with sessions that show you what you can do.

Common mistakes

• Waiting until you feel confident. At the start it will feel manufactured. Do it anyway.
• Setting the bar at not embarrassing yourself. That's your standards slipping.
• Negative self-talk. I had a bad tendency for it, and it slowed me down.
• Thinking you're either born with it or you're not. I reckon you can train it.