“Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one” —— Bobby Knight
In today’s competitive and challenging sports, athletes feel their greatest concern is getting the edge over their competitors.
The pressure of these challenges is a constant struggle for many athletes and relying on physical abilities is not enough anymore.
In order to succeed in today’s challenging games players must develop their mental game in basketball.
It will be difficult to develop the level of mental toughness you need to succeed without truly knowing what mental toughness is.
Mental toughness is “when you, your body, the competition, nature, or the environment has the best of you so that you’re physically tapped out and need to figure out how to pull something out of yourself that your mind is telling you it’s not there. This is not in a robotic way, it’s in a way that’s deeper than the conscious level.” It’s not just the ability to keep moving but to keep moving it in a way that’s engaged, effective, powerful and mindful on the court; whether that’s competing against the clock, another player or your personal best. It’s going beyond your physical ability with ease.
As sports psychologists debate the roles of genetics, environment, and learned skills in determining basketball mental toughness, they do agree along with athletes and coaches that high levels of mental toughness are associated with athletic prowess and success.
In fact, mental toughness may be the defining factor between being the overall champions or being number two.
Virtually all those successful in the top echelon in basketball have very strong physical skills, but the mental toughness and ability to persevere despite challenges on and off the court are what separate the best for the very best.
It is true that some athletes might be more talented than others, however, most athletes on your level are just as talented as you are, but when the going gets tough, it is the mentally tough athlete persevere
Mental toughness ultimately means that you keep going even when your body says you can’t.
In basketball, it is very common for coaches or others to measure or evaluate how a player responds to adversity. If you miss a shot or make a bad throw, do you come back stronger, or do you back down?
In basketball, teaching and learning mental toughness has profound results.
Developing basketball mental toughness is a process and it’s not something you can conjure overnight. It takes a lot of patience and a conscious effort to become more resilient.
Some things are bigger than all of us, but mental toughness can be your armor that shields challenges.
If you have reasonable expectations, control over your emotions, strong motivation, and the patience to stay true to the process you will become mentally tough and you won’t ever sweat the small stuff. You will be better equipped to handle the big stuff in your game and in your life.
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