“I continually stress to my players that all I expect from them at practice and in the games is their maximum effort” John Wooden

The outcome in a basketball game is generally influenced by tactical training, physical preparation, and the psychological makeup of the team.

While the first two factors are easily understood, the latter needs to be studied more carefully.

Without a doubt, it is the mindset that determines whether an athlete will perform to his or her best on the court or be let down by their unrealistic expectations.

What Makes You Set Unrealistic Expectations

As an athlete, one of the most important things you can do for the team is to set clear expectations for you and the team.

Having unrealistic expectations affect your ability to succeed.

When you set strict expectations, you focus more on the outcomes — being obsessed with outcomes interferes with the process, which is the necessary point of reference for you to perform at your full potential.  

Focusing on the outcome will produce negative results because it…

• Increase stress levels
• Increase fear of failure
• Cause you to beat up yourself emotionally
• Foster resentment towards yourself
• Negatively impact your health  mentally and physically
• Hinders your performance

Home Court Advantages

A study from sports psychology for basketball by Jurkovac revealed that 97% of athletes experienced motivation to play at their home ground in contrast to playing away.

A plethora of sports psychology research studies support the positive influence of a home crowd or spectators on the performance outcome of the home team. However, unrealistic expectations and abusive spectators become a significant source of creating performance pressure and anxiety in an athlete’s behavior.

Hence, it is imperative for athletes to control their internal emotional state.

Training, honing of the mental skills can be optimized and truly materialized to help athletes not choke under the pressure of the expectation of their fans and parents.

Ways to Modify Unrealistic Expectations

First, you must understand how focusing on outcomes will not get you what you want. Being outcome-focused means caring most about the, what, not the how. In virtually all situations, the outcome is not under one’s direct control and hence should not be the object of focus. If you can’t control it, you shouldn’t focus on it. Instead, focus on the process.

If focusing on the outcome is not preferred, then what should you focus on?

Focus on the things that you can influence right now – your performance in the moment.

It’s process-oriented thinking instead of outcome-oriented thinking.

Outcome-oriented thinking encourages a focus on the end state one wants to achieve, while process-oriented thinking involves elaboration on the step-by-step process that leads to the desired outcome.

A strong, effective process focus will increase the likelihood of a desirable outcome.

When you focus on the process, you will feel in charge of your destiny, rather than a victim of circumstances.

To paraphrase the ancient Greek poet Archilochus: “You don’t rise to the level of your expectations; you fall to the level of your process.”

Managing expectations is a learned behavior.

It will take time to change your mindset, but having the ability to understand and adopt these guidelines will help you start to pursue your goals of winning in basketball.

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