In basketball – as in life – true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment. Phil Jackson

Most basketball players, at some time or the other, talk about being in the zone.

But getting in the zone is not as easy as you might presume. And even if you get in the zone, how long can you stay there?

Being in the zone is one thing and staying in there is completely a different one.

Before we continue discussing getting in the zone, let us first understand what exactly the zone is.

It is a part of basketball psychology – a state of mind that makes all your shots completely effortless.

Here are two tips to increases your mental game to get you in the zone.

1. Intuition

Intuition is the ability to deals with feeling what the next step would be. If you want to enter the zone, you must trust your instinct.

There is a big difference between intuitive knowledge and intuitive action, and you need basketball mental toughness to fill the gap.

Look back at your game and ask yourself, how many times have you thought, ‘I knew this would happen!’ If only you had acted on it.

To understand how to trust yourself, understanding what is behind sports psychology for basketball will help.

Many athletes enter the zone, and they can do that because their mental game is strong. You must develop your mental game for intuitive knowledge and actions.

A great way to build intuition is by training. You can train to increase your concentration and focus. When you practice with intensity, your brain gets trained to work under pressure. Thus your instinct takes over.

2. State

Your state is the most significant factor in predicting your behavior.

If you are feeling good, then your positive state will be visible in your performance. You can implement strategies to improve your state.

A few minutes before a game, get yourself in a creative state of mind to enhance your performance. Listen to music, meditate, or strategically going through your pregame routine. This will help strengthen your mental game, which will improve your performance.
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Another technique for that is imagery. Imagery is also called visualization or mental rehearsal. Imagery means using all of your senses (e.g., see, feel, hear, taste, smell) to rehearse your sport in your mind. You want to imagine the perfect performance utilizing all of your senses to get a vivid picture of what you want your performance to be.

When you first start doing imagery, slow the images down step by step and see yourself executing the skill correctly. Then, as you see and feel yourself performing well in slow motion, increase the speed of your imagery until you can perform well at “real-time” speed.

For more information on how to Elevate Your Game visit my online course at www.dcmentaltrainingu.com