If you are having problems with your basketball game, your problem might be how you mentally prepare for games. All professional and elite athletes mentally prepare for their games. Even the all time great Michael Jordon get mentally prepared. This is how he gets mentally prepared for competition:

“My mental preparation for the game is very different than most. I try to relax myself. I am a joker, sprankser, if you want to say it that way. I listen to music, I joke around with the guys, I take my whole mind away from the whole game itself, then when the time comes to focus on the game, I focus on my athletic skills and putting it together with the team and somehow collectively going out doing the job each and every day. I challenge myself to be the best basketball player ever moment I am playing basketball. Sometime that means tricking yourself in the mind, you say you can’t do this or your weakness are here yet you still try to work on improving those weakness. A lot of people may say Michael Jordan never had weakness, Michael Jordan had weakness, he just had to dig within himself to see what they were and challenge himself to improve his weakness, so mentally I like to challenge myself to go out and play a perfect basketball game. Although I know you can’t do that, it’s practically impossible to play a perfect game, that don’t mean you can’t challenge yourself to do that”

Mental Preparation is a key ingredient in enhancing your performance in Basketball.  If you want to excel in Basketball you must develop your mental game. There is a saying “the game of basketball is 90% mental and 10% physical. If this is true there is no way around developing your mental game. Your brain is the strongest muscle in your body. It controls everything that you do. It controls how you feel when you wake up in the morning and it controls your knowledge base and the rest of your body. Without a good mental game you will not be able to reach peak performance.

Most basketball players can relate to this: someone is guarding you and they are really tough, and intimidating and as a result they ” get in your head” by taunting you. The moment you hear them, think they are right or doubt yourself, you give up mentally and that’s when they steal the ball from you. This happens because you allowed them to tap into your strongest muscle – your brain; and hence you lost the  mental game; which means they were able to get in your head and affect your game and cause you to “mess” up. Developing your mental game makes you mentally tough.

How do you become mentally tough? It takes practice. Lots of practice. Staying positive and thinking powerful thoughts all the time is not easy. Doing it on a daily bases helps it to become habit. You literally have to work on your mental toughness every day if you want to be a great player. Starting with affirmations is simple but a great place to start. Stand in front of a mirror and say “I am a great basketball player and no one can beat me”. You must also educate yourself in the game, practice by yourself to improve your confidence and play with others who have a better game than you.

Your mind is your most powerful weapon.

Train it!