Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one. Coach Bobby Knight

Everyone knows in basketball there are three seasons: the regular season, postseason, and the offseason.   

Winning games and tournament titles most assuredly occur during the regular and postseason, but an athlete’s true growth happens during the offseason. 

During the off-season, is your time wisely spent growing stronger and developing mental toughness, or is it seen as a time to lay-off and take a break? 

The offseason certainly allows for injury and fatigue recovery. Still, if an athlete wants to progress in their game genuinely, then they must commit to training, gaining both physical and mental strength all months of the year. 

Incorporating a basketball mental game plan for improvement truly elevates a good player to an elite one.

Just as a strength and conditioning coach helps you reach optimal physical condition, a mental game coach utilizes methods to sharpen mental focus and build confidence. 

Training to increase the mind’s performance is much different than seeing a psychologist for a clinical reason such as a disorder or depression.  There is no stigma to feeling “crazy” for seeking a mental game coach, but instead wanting to achieve maximum performance on the court by harnessing the mind’s infinite potential. 

Since physical fitness is not gained by sporadic exercising but rather a sustained approach with milestone goals set along the way, mental toughness is also a facet of a player’s game that requires consistent and deliberate attention. 

A mental game coach provides guidance to maintaining and solidifying mental toughness.

The use of mental skills training to achieve elite physical performance is popular in many different areas.  Nick Saban, a 3-time college National Champions Alabama coach, employed a mental coach, Trevor Moawad, who works with players as a team and individually. 

Basketball coach Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers (and previously the Chicago Bulls) is known for his attention on player’s mental focus and basketball confidence.  Jackson stresses the importance of mental imagery and visualization in every practice and game.

A stronger mind empowers an elevated performance both in sport and in life. 

  Using a trained professional gives the athlete an ability to see mental barriers that they may be unable to understand or even imagine independently.  A mental game coach allows for an unbiased analysis of performance and mental focus without the effects of personal invested emotion. 

Allowing a mental game coach or sports psychologist to assist also involves creating a plan for improvement and guided evaluation of progress.  This process inevitably enables the athlete to regain a sense of power over their thoughts and emotions in life and on the basketball court.

The offseason provides the perfect opportunity to advance mental focus and build confidence for the next season.  The elite athletes push themselves to achieve greatness year-round.

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