“The goal is to make practice more difficult, physically/mentally, than anything your players will face during a game” – Bob Knight
Basketball mental toughness, like physical toughness, requires that you exercise.

Learning to strengthen your mind, improving your concentration, and staying calm will take some work, but you can get the basic skills you need to stay strong of mind.

Just as you can’t build muscle by eating cake for three weeks straight before you start lifting at the gym, so too you can’t gain mental strength by goofing off and then focusing only every now and then.

Being consistent with brain exercise is more important than the intensity of the workout.

Splitting your attention among multiple tasks makes the quality of thought that you’re giving to each task less. A recent study on sports psychology for basketball revealed that chronic multi-thinking in a basketball mental game decreases the overall performance of an athlete.

You have to follow a systematic approach to improve your performance and become mentally tough.

• Start prioritizing the most important things you have to do each day and just focus your attention there. Write out a list to start the day, and work through it.

• Finish one thing before starting another. Even if you find something challenging, stick with it until you’re done. Switching between tasks is often more difficult than finishing something you’ve started

• Practice visualization to help with positive thinking. Try actually closing your eyes and “watching” yourself succeed in the task before you. Whatever it is, try to picture yourself doing it correctly and finishing.

Most top athletes feel anxious before and during competition.

They accept this anxiety and use it to sharpen their focus. If you’re feeling nervous, remind yourself that some anxiety is necessary for optimal performance, and interpret the sensations you’re feeling as signs that you’re primed and ready.

Scrutinize your important practices regularly. Ask yourself three questions: (1) what did I do that was good? (2) What needs to get better? (3) What changes should I make to become my best? This process will allow you to give yourself credit where credit is due and to learn from your mistakes.

Develop a selective amnesia. Top athletes have a long-term memory for success and a short-term memory for failure.

Every athlete fails, but the most successful ones do not dwell on the failures. Instead, they focus on developing their basketball mental game and positive training experiences and keep confidently moving forward.

To that end, it is your responsibility to equip you with the best information, ideas, and strategies that will make you a mentally tough athlete.

When things get tough for most athletes, they find something easier to work on. When things get difficult for mentally tough athletes, they find a way to stay on schedule.

There will always be extreme moments that require incredible bouts of courage, resiliency, and grit … but for 95% of the circumstances in your life, toughness simply comes down to being more consistent than most people.

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