Shohei Ohtani does not believe confidence comes before action.

He believes it comes after experience.

“When I decided to do both in Japan, I didn’t really know what the professional level was like,” he once explained. “I stepped into the batter’s box to see whether I could hit. I stood on the mound to see whether I could get outs. By actually experiencing it, I think that’s how I built my confidence.”

His order is simple:

First, try.

Then, feel.

Only after that does confidence appear.

Many people choose not to act because they “lack confidence.” Ohtani sees that differently. To him, not trying is the greater loss.

If it doesn’t work, adjust.
If it works better than expected, that experience becomes confidence.

What matters is not whether confidence exists at the beginning.

What matters is whether you step forward anyway.

Years later, Ohtani would say, “There isn’t a pitch I can’t touch. If I get hit, it wasn’t my best pitch.” That kind of confidence did not come from belief alone.

It came from repeated experience.

Confidence, for Ohtani, is earned in motion.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Shohei Ohtani: Baseball Chronicle I (Japan Edition 2013–2018), p.31