“I can’t stand a ballplayer who plays in fear. Any fellow who has a good shot has got to take it and keep taking it. So he misses – so what?” Red Auerbach

Every athlete should be concerned with how stress and anxiety affect their performance.

Although each athlete reacts to the stress and anxiety differently, most of them struggle with stress and anxiety on a regular basis.

The ability to overcome your fear and anxiety is critical to your success in basketball.

Common Fears in Basketball

The signs of performance anxiety in basketball are racing pulse, fast breathing, dry mouth, tight throat, trembling hands, knees, lips and voice, sweaty cold hands, nausea, an uneasy feeling in your stomach and visual changes. When you are experiencing these symptoms, and they do not go away within the first few minutes of the game, there may be an underlying fear that you are afraid you will not perform well.

One of the major barriers in basketball is the fear of failure, and it will hinder your performance.

When the focus is on social approval, rejection or perfectionism, it is impossible for you to perform to your full potential in the game. If you want to please others so badly, you are most likely to fear you will fail.

The fear is about avoiding poor performance or fear of the negative consequence of the poor performance.

Conquer the Fear

Overcoming fear of failure starts with awareness and understanding.

It is important to understand why those thoughts and feelings develop and try to change or modify that mental process. Start by identifying the specific fear then deal with it head-on.

Focus on success and don’t worry about failing. Many athletes think more about making mistakes than performing their best in the game, and this leads to poor performance.

Set small goals to help you stay focus on playing well. Set goals to help you perform efficiently instead of perfectly.

Do not overly control and try not to make mistakes. This will increase the probability of making mistakes.

Trust your skills. You have put in the time in practice. Playing free and trusting your skills will lead to optimal performance.

Mistakes will happen, and there will be failures along the ways, but those failures do not have to be permanent; a matter of fact, they do not have to be considered failures.

I like to think of them as learning experiences!

The goal is to practice hard, trust your skills and give it a 100% every time.

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