Mental Training for Basketball
By David Woo
As with
any sport, basketball involves a great deal of mental training to supplement
the physical conditioning needed to play the sport. In many cases, particularly
at the professional level, mental training is considered as important, if not
more important, than physical training. The athlete must be prepared for the
high pressure situations that frequently occur in the sport.
Compensating
for Adrenaline
Basketball,
like many other sports, causes the body to
increase its production of adrenaline. This causes the player to experience an
increased amount of energy and muscle strength. Mental training for basketball
is largely about learning to compensate your physical training for the
adrenaline that will inevitably be pumping. This means that, even though you
may be perfectly capable of making a jump shot in practice, if you don't learn
how to compensate for your adrenaline, you won't be able to make that same shot
in an actual game. Thus, the best forms of mental training that teach you to
compensate for adrenaline are those that best simulate game situations.
Free
Throws
Learning
to shoot a free throw in an actual game is as much about mental training as it
is physical, and thus epitomizes the sort of mental training needed for
basketball. As an actual technique, the free throw is not difficult. It's done
without any defenders distracting you, and it's a stationary shot. However,
free throws are often a test of mental fortitude, because they are frequently
shots that count as game-changing or game-winning points. Learning to make
these free throws, though not physically demanding, requires the player to
develop the mental strength to ignore the high pressure situation, and perform
as one would on the practice court.
Developing
Muscle Memory
Muscle
memory, when the brain interacts with the nervous system, is another
significant factor in mental training for basketball, because it can help you
perform without worrying about technical perfection. By developing muscle
memory, the technique you use to perform becomes a natural muscle action, thus
minimizing errors. Muscle memory applies to all aspects of the game. From free
throws to dribbling, if you have strong muscle memory in your technique, your
level of errors will be minimal.
Forget
Your Mistakes
A
player must have the ability to quickly forget about any mistakes he has
recently made in order to continue playing and focus on the tasks at hand. For
example, if you miss an easy layup, your capacity to forget will allow you to
focus on the next layup you need to make instead of the reason why you missed
the last layup. Worrying about mistakes that have already been made is never
productive.
Distractions
Learning
to ignore the outside distractions in basketball is also part of the game. When
a player faces a high pressuMTIre situation, there are always distractions that
can take your mind off the important task of performance. From crowd noise to
physical pain, learning to ignore everything that is not relevant to the shot
or move you are making is critical for mental performance in basketball.
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Coach Paul's Corner
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Dynamic Stretches For Basketball
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The following dynamic stretches should be done after 5-10 minutes of aerobic exercise and any specific static stretches you have been given. Other dynamic stretches can be added if you feel a need to.
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Squatting
Buttocks, front thigh
- Feet shoulder/hip distance apart, knees and feet in line.
- Maintain firm abdominals and a straight back.
- Keep your arms out in front to maintain balance.
- Bend at hips and knees and straighten.
- Keep your heels on the ground.
- Repeat.
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Lunges/lunge walks
Side trunk, back, hip and leg muscles
- Keep your trunk upright at all times.
- Take a large step forward and drop your body down between your legs.
- The front knee should be pointing in the same direction as the toes and shouldn’t be too far forward over the toes.
- Check the front and back knees are at right angles at the bottom of the step.
- Alternate between legs.
Progression: The arm on the “back leg” side reaches up and over to the other side on each step. The stretch will mostly be felt down the sides of your trunk. For an extra challenge - try doing the walk forwards and backwards.
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Walk and stretch
Side trunk, leg muscles
- Walk forward four steps and stretch up and out to the side to stretch side of trunk.
- Keep heels on the ground.
- Ensure the trunk continues to face directly forward.
- Alternate sides.
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Lower leg calf raises
Calf muscles
- Position your body as if you were on the starting blocks of a sprinting race, feet side by side.
- Support your weight on your hands and feet.
- Start stretching your calves by pushing one heel towards the ground then onto the ball of the foot and then back again.
- Alternate between legs.
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Upper body trunk rotation 1
Trunk muscles, chest
- With your feet shoulder/hip distance apart, stand with your back straight and knees slightly bent.
- Start swinging your arms across your body at waist height – you should feel this mostly in your lower back.
- Move your arms higher to around shoulder height to feel a stretch through the middle back.
- Now raise your arms to above your head to feel the stretch higher in the back.
- If you find a tight area do extra repetitions to loosen it up without forcing the movement.
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Upper body trunk rotation 2
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Upper body trunk rotation 3
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Arm circles
Muscles around the shoulder
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With your feet shoulder/hip distance apart, stand with your back straight and knees slightly bent.
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Start swinging your arms across your body at waist height – you should feel this mostly in your lower back.
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Move your arms higher to around shoulder height to feel a stretch through the middle back.
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Now raise your arms to above your head to feel the stretch higher in the back.
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If you find a tight area do extra repetitions to loosen it up without forcing the movement.
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Bent over upper body rotation
Trunk muscles, chest, inner and back thigh
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With your feet double shoulder/hip width apart, bend at the hips ensuring that your spine stays long and back doesn’t round out, bend your knees a little.
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Extend both arms out to your side at shoulder height.
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Rotate the trunk and arms to reach towards the opposite toe while bending that leg.
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Alternate sides.
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Reach as low as your flexibility comfortably allows (i.e. tension not pain) – it is not necessary to touch your toes if you can’t reach that low.
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Leg swings forward and back
Buttocks, front and back thigh
- Hold on to a solid object and balance on one leg.
- Swing the other leg forwards to a comfortable height ensuring that your trunk and lower back stay rigid and do not bend.
- Then swing the leg backwards, again ensuring that there is little movement in your back.
- Try and keep your hips facing forwards and the knee of your swinging leg straight when swinging forward and slightly bent when swinging behind.
- Change legs and repeat.
- Swing to a height that suits your flexibility. Forcing the leg high by swinging too hard may result in injury.
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Leg swings side to side
Back and inner thigh
- Hold on to a solid object and balance on one leg
- .Turn your foot on the leg you are balancing on outwards. Swing the other leg away from the body turning the foot to point at the sky.
- Then swing the leg back across the body pointing the toes in the direction your leg is moving.
- Check that you are minimising trunk movement.
- Change legs and repeat.
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Hurdle step overs
Buttocks and inner thigh
- Hold on to a solid object and stand with one leg behind the other.
- Lift the back leg knee high to the front and then rotate the leg outwards returning to the start position.
- Check that you are minimising trunk movement.
- Change legs and repeat.
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| Revised December 7, 2010 |
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----- Forwarded Message ----
From: F WILSON <gotofred@btinternet.com>
To: F WILSON <gotofred@btinternet.com>
Sent: Friday, 4 February, 2011 11:09:57
Subject: dynamic
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Coach Paul's Corner
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Philosophies
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1.Earning Floor Time
a. Effort at practice
b. Ability and willingness to learn plays
c. Commitment and achievements during practices
d. Achievements during games
e. Coaching staffs ability to find situations where players will succeed
2. Missing Practices
The team and coaching staff also adopted the following rule:
a. If a player misses practices the week before a tournament, excluding injuries or illness, they will sit out of the first game of the tournament. If they choose to not attend that first game, they will sit the next game.. and so on. Coaching staff will be reasonable about special circumstances.
3. Philosphy on Starters
I do not place enphasise on starters. Starters generally come out of the blocks planning to run the 50 meter, and not the mile. I place enphasis on teams within teams. Two player sharing a position, working together. Those two players may share the floor time 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 etc, depending on details found in Item 1 Earning Floor Time. I expect each player to go full out, and 30 seconds before they can't go 100%, they signal the coaching staff that they need a break, and their partner goes in. The two things that I know you can control and are essential if you want to play for me are:
3 a) Measure your success by your effort. Work hard. Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.
3 b) Are you a good team mate. Do you put the team before yourself. Do you have a common goal with your team mates.
4. Demonstrate respect for the game.
a. Love the game.
b. Always hustle.
c. Have fun.
d. Never trash talk.
5. Demonstrate respect for your teammates.
a. Always be encouraging.
b. Only positive comments.
c. Help set team goals.
6. Demonstrate respect for yourselves.
a. Only positive thoughts.
b. Congratulate yourself with positive thoughts and images.
c. Never think you can't do something, instead think that you will get there with hard work
d. If you miss a shot, or make a turnover, tell yourself to hustle twice as hard to get back on defense, and then help your team get another chance to score.
e. Set goals.
7. Demonstrate respect for the officials.
a. Be respectful to the officials - shake hands
b. Officials are trying their best. There are bound to be bad calls. It's part of the game and you have no control over it.
c. Never give the official attitude, it will cost you.
8. Demonstrate respect for you opponents.
a. Shake hands, before and after games.
b. Never trash talk.
c. Rise above opponent's and or their parent's bad behavior. Don't get sucked into their level.
6. Demonstrate mutual respect between players and coaches.
a. Be open and communicate problems.
b. Speak in a respectful manner.
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| Revised November 13, 2010 |
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