“It’s not about the number of hours you practice, it’s about the number of hours your mind is present during the practice” – Kobe Bryant

Sport psychology for basketball has a relatively short past, and in recent years it has become far more accepted and utilized as a valuable competitive edge among professional athletes and coaches.

Basketball psychology is in essence the study of how mental attitudes shape performance on the court.

Research on sports psychology for basketball has shown that although physical conditioning and teamwork are crucial to success in court, basketball mental toughness is every bit as valuable as physical prowess.

To properly analyze a player’s performance, sports psychology for basketball has two crucial parts to take into consideration.

First is one’s focus and concentration under duress throughout a fierce competition over the course of the quarters. If you can’t handle the mental strain, the performance will degrade over the course of the game.

Secondly, it is the mental game. Being mentally tough is important. Basketball mental toughness is having the psychological edge that allows you to reach peak performance and efficiency during the demands that are placed on you during training, practice, or competition.

When the demands are greatest or the conditions become adverse being mental tough is what separate the good players from the great players.

Taking both these factors into account proves one vital point.

Players’ mental attitudes shape performance far too much to ignore.

A player who goes into the game with anything less than complete commitment is a player who will not perform his or her best and who has already lost the mental game of basketball.

Basketball demands a dedicated desire to carry the player through the highs and lows of game.

Your mind is the most powerful tool at your disposal. You can use your mind to prepare you for a successful game. You can see and feel yourself preparing for and performing successfully in a competition many times over before you get to the game. Your mind is a vital tool on the day of the competition to put you in that ideal state of flow that will allow great performances to emerge.

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