Table 3.

The thoughts of the athletes related to some important scenes of the sporting career.

Damaged competence	Negative thought	Possible positive thought
Self-efficacy/Autonomy	“I do not influence how I perform or whether I will be in the starting line-up.”	“A difficult period is also part of a sporting career. Even in the ups and downs, I do everything professionally. The athlete who has come out of the slump is a mentally stronger team member. I can find the team, the level of the sport, where I can get a realistic challenge.”
Competence	“I am not able to do anything. I suck. I have not had a sense of achievement in a long time.”
Identity	“If I’m not a successful athlete, who am I?”
Relatedness	“I am excluded from the team. They do not like me here.”	“I know my limits, and I defend them. I know that I deserve respect, even if we do not build friendly relationships within the team.”
Mistrust	“Does the coach even know what I need?”	“I trust the process even if I do not see immediate progress.”
Strategy	“I train twice as much to be even better.”	“I will check with my coach to see what extra training will be effective for me.”