“You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body” Kareem Abdul Jabbar

A very useful way of improving your mental game is through positive self-talk.

If you don’t have a positive mindset as a player, you cannot achieve an optimum level of performance.

Research on sports psychology for basketball reveals that positive self-talk can improve your performance by helping you regulate your emotions, thoughts, and energy; increase your basketball confidence, improve coordination, enhance focus, and more. No matter what your skill level is, positive self-talk will help you perform optimally.

What is Positive Self-Talk?

Positive Self-talk is the voice inside your head that speaks for your subconscious.

It is the little, things you tell yourself every day in reaction to specific situations.

Usually, these are things you don’t like to say out loud, and they remain unspoken.

The question here is, is your inner voice mostly negative or positive?

In basketball psychology, you learn that having negative thoughts can severely hamper your performance and many athletes are a victim of this. To begin changing your thoughts, you have to challenge that negative talk and counter it with a positive talk.

It is common to put yourself down and doubt yourself, but would you say the same things to a close friend or teammate going through the same situation?

Taking a step back and seeing yourself from a third-person view will help change the message in your head. Athletes seem to think more rationally when they create some distance from themselves. Instead of saying “I” say “you” as if you are talking to another person and you will notice some positive reinforcements.

The Impacts of Positive Self-Talk on Performance

As an athlete, one of your main aims is to strengthen your basketball mental game to its full potential.

Positive self-talk is a major boost for confidence.

When you are telling yourself that you can do it, you start believing in yourself more. Slowly but inevitably your self-doubts will fade, and you will begin to think strategically and with a clearer mind to support what you want to do. It is no surprise that positivity and confidence go hand in hand; keep that in mind, and your performance will skyrocket.

Moreover, positive self-talk is something you can include in your daily preparation as a tool to prepare you before a game. It can be a saying that reminds you of why you are playing the game and why you should believe in yourself to do well in the game. It can be a quote from a famous athlete or a close person that you look up to.

It will be tough to achieve your maximum performance without using positive talk.

Sports psychology for basketball suggests that mental toughness is the ability to adapt to diverse situations when you are on the court, and it is the way you react to unfortunate situations. Many athletes get de-motivated, and that is when the negative chatter starts causing you to doubt your abilities and pushing you to give up.

Through the power of positive self-talk, you can learn not to let negative chatter hamper your game; instead, make you fight back harder.

These small steps are what paves your way to greatness.

*Download the free mental game assessment and get started on Improving your Mental Game in Basketball.