Basketball Tip

Coaches Playbook: Mental Conditioning in Basketball

As a basketball coach, it's imperative to talk to your players about their headspace so they can be mentally prepared to play. As players progress in their athletic careers, their minds need to be just as developed as their bodies, if not more. As a coach, you need to instill confidence in your team so that they win the mental game in their head before its time to step on the court to play the real game. Here are three mental conditioning tips for all levels that are commonly taught at Nike Basketball Camps.

1. Composure
Players who neglect to focus on mental training often lose their composure and have trouble concentrating on the task at hand. As a coach, this can negatively affect the morale among teammates and can potentially cause arguments between players and referees. Remind your players the importance of being a good teammate and having a positive attitude, on and off the court.

Another effective way to maintain composure during stressful events is to rehearse what to do ahead of time. Teams that emulate stressful scenarios during practice will be much more composed when faced with an actual game situation. When your players start to lose their composure, encourage deep breathing to decrease their heart rate and lower their stress response.

2. Presence
A key component of being present is being able to focus on the process rather than the result. Players shouldn’t worry about whether or not they make the shot. Instead, shift their focus on the steps needed to greatly increase the chances of making the shot (proper balance, good form, following through, etc.)

If your team is constantly worried about external factors that they cannot control, they will lack the presence to execute the tasks that they can control. Limiting screen time an hour or two before a game can aide in limiting exposure to those external factors.

3. Visualize
Visualization, creating a positive mental image or intention for yourself prior to the event, is what separates great athletes from average ones. When imagining a game-time scenario, players should be trained to picture the way it feels to perform in their desired way.

Encourage your team to sit down and visualize making 20 free throw shots, or 10 successful rebounds, etc. The more specific and detailed they are, the more effective the visualization will be and when they arrive on game day, they will already have set high expectations for themselves.

Mental training, one of the most underrated aspects of conditioning, has a large impact on an athlete's skill set and will put your players ahead of the competition. Players will always benefit by becoming comfortable being uncomfortable. Check out more tips like these this summer at a Nike Basketball Camp near you!