“If you are honest with yourself and can look into a mirror and believe that you have given 100 percent, you should feel proud. If you cannot, then there is more work to be done” John Havlicek
It is good to be a sensitive person and consider other people’s feelings and thoughts. Being a nervous wreck from being too self-conscious or worried will get in the way of your performance. Creating a balance and working on your mental game is essential.
You should be able to act according to your thoughts and feelings and not get trapped seeking to please others. Keep in mind worrying will not help you improve your game.
However, it will take up space in your brain that can be used for thoughts that will contribute to positive play.
How worrying can affect your mental game.
Thoughts of worry can easily disrupt your mental game.
Worrying about failure, about what others think and about whether or not you are doing good enough. These thoughts can be very self-destructive and cause your performance to weaken.
Basketball psychology teaches that your worry can manifest into anxiety attacks.
The reason is that your brain will cause excretion of stress endorphins which make you alert of danger, but an excess of these endorphins can take a toll on your mind.
You may momentarily forget things like strategies or remember how to make quick, intuitive decisions.
This can be damaging to your performance because in a game like basketball you need to be able to think on your feet and make important decisions in a matter of seconds.
Another crucial detail is that being too self-conscious can make you emotional which may cloud your judgment. Negative emotions can slow down your performance because your mind will be too distracted to function quickly.
Instead of focusing on the game your head will be pondering on things like “what if the audience doesn’t like my performance?”
Your basketball mental toughness may also gradually decrease due to a lack of motivation to play. It is essential to learn to control your thoughts and emotions when playing ball in order to win games.
How worrying can impact your physiological game.
When you continuously stress over things, your body responds to the stress through several physical factors.
The primary factor is that tension can cause strains on your muscles and cause them to become very stiff and tight.
This ultimately results in severe cramps which will prevent you from continuing any physical activity. Even elite players sometimes tend to renege because of muscle pains caused by worrying.
You may also experience shortness of breath, fast heartbeat, and fatigue. These things will slow you down on the court and make it difficult to run fast or jump high in these conditions.
If this becomes an often occurrence, it can damage your confidence significantly.
Without confidence, you won’t be able to achieve your full potential. Nevertheless, these symptoms are experienced by all players at some point.
Worrying is inevitable and cannot be completely rid of, but you can learn to calm the storm through various techniques.
Include relaxation tactics in your daily routine to keep your mind peaceful, and also engage in a lot of mental preparation schemes, so your mind is fully prepared for any situation.
Download the free mental game assessment and get started on improving your Mental Game in Basketball.