“Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding!”
Coach Jim Valvano

Much of building a solid basketball confidence and mental toughness stems from the ability to handle negative situations and maintain a positive mindset with unwavering focus.

Adversity occurs everywhere in life, both in and out of the gym. The mentally tough athlete realizes that difficulties are expected, not feared.

Mental preparation for the game plans for all negative circumstance and creates a strategy to control reactions so that there is no loss of focus or confidence. A player who spends the extra time and effort to strengthen their mental game effectively diminishes the negative effects of any adversity on their physical performance.

Every basketball player from youth league to the NBA makes errors. Mistakes are part of the game, and there is no such thing as perfection on the basketball court. You can always do better, and you can always improve. Problems occur when errors weaken a player’s basketball confidence and mental focus.

When a player focuses on a past mistake, their mindset becomes negative, and this destroys mental toughness. Have you ever worried about committing a certain mistake or error such as missing a layup or committing a foul, only to do exactly what you didn’t want? This is because you focused on a negative aspect of your game, and not the positive plan for execution.

When faced with a negative circumstance, it is crucial to remember the 3 R’s for overcoming adversity.

• Recognize—you must first acknowledge any difficulty or negative thought. You must not dismiss adversity as “nothing”. This is also important when one mistake becomes the primary focus of not repeating again. If you air balled the last three point shot, you must not constantly replay that mistake in your mind, by reinforcing the negative focus. Rather it is important to acknowledge the mistake, and then visualize shooting a perfect three point shot. Always visualize yourself being successful.

• Regroup—a regrouping statement is something that will jolt your thoughts from past mistakes back into the present. When your mental focus remains in the past on errors, then it creates an even larger negative impact over time. One mistake can potentially create a negative impact that becomes a major distraction to mental toughness. This is often how slumps occur in performance on the court. Basketball confidence develops when you leave the past completely in the past without polluting your present frame of mind and mental focus with anxiety from previous mistakes.

• Refocus—an effective mental preparation routine addresses the need to stay in a present frame of mind with focus on the very next play with positive execution. Time is wasted worrying about previous mistakes, and mental toughness weakens when focus is too far in the future. The solid basketball mind only concentrates on the next task at hand, and doing it well.

When facing an obstacle or negative circumstance it is critical to analyze your thoughts and beliefs. Are your thoughts focusing on mistakes or poor performances, or do your beliefs sound fearful? Basketball confidence develops as a player gains the ability to face and overcome adversity without letting their focus falter to anything negative or limiting performance. Understand that mistakes are part of basketball, but the mentally tough athlete utilizes their mental preparation and positive focus on the present to diminish any of the effects that adversity brings.