In basketball, confidence is the key to your success. Conversely, lack of confidence can stifle your growth and lead to giving up or quitting altogether.
Let’s break it down to help you develop unwavering confidence on the court.

Preparation

Put in the work! The first step to building confidence is putting in the work on the court. Practice, practice, practice, work on your game, study your opponents, and prepare your mind.

Confidence is increased when you have hit that shot hundreds of times in your driveway and know you can do it again in a game.

Set S.M.A.R.T goals! Goal setting is important to your basketball success. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for the five important elements in goal setting. Learn about how create your own S.M.A.R.T. goals for on and off the basketball court. Click here to get started with our goal setting guide.

Measure your progress in practice. How many shots did you make? How quick did you dribble through the cones?

It’s important to measure your results to see where you are week-after-week to show your improvement. Keep a practice log. This helps you see the progress you are making to quiet the doubts that you aren’t getting better or seeing progress.

Assess your game, what are your strengths weaknesses and know which ones can be used in the game. Don’t try out that new move when the game is on the line but first in practice, or in a game situation which wont be as costly if it goes poorly.

Add consequences to your practice to add game like pressure. If you miss a shot run a lap, do push ups, or skip 10 minutes of screen time.

Practice at game speed. Catch and shoot as if you were in a game setting. Workout with higher skilled players to add increased pressure.

Positive Thinking & Mindset

Post game, don’t focus on all the bad moments you had. Reflect but be productive, what could you do different the next time? What progress have you made? What did you do well?

Increase Your Positive Thinking & Mindset

• Listen to podcasts >> Life Time Talks - The Power of Mindset

• Create a basketball journal or blog - write about your journey, your goals, the progress and your obstacles

• Work with a Sport Psychologist

• Read, watch videos and practice strengthening your mindset

• Write down positive attributes about your game, post them on your mirror and read them every day as a reminder

• Environment - surround yourself with positive people. Attitude is infectious. Build a tribe of people who believe in you and who encourage you to accomplish your goals.

Growth Mindset

How to develop a Growth Mindset

• Trust the process - value process over the end results

• Acknowledge and embrace your imperfections

• View challenges as opportunities

• Cultivate grit (hard work/determination)

• Place effort before talent

• Try different learning tactics

• Replace the word “failing” with the word “learning”

Destroy Your Fear of Failure

It’s impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure. Losing and failing to meet goals are inevitable parts of basketball. Great players are not afraid of failure, they know they occasionally fail on the road to getting better. Use your failure to motivate you to your successes.

People who have a fear of failure might be reluctant to try new things or take on challenging projects, they may procrastinate, may have excessive anxiety, and may not follow through on goals.

Don’t strive for perfection, a perfectionist is someone who has a willingness to try only those things that they know they will finish perfectly or successfully or gets upset when their actions are not flawless.

Remove Your Fear of Failure

• Set S.M.A.R.T goals

• Visualize

• Think positive!

• Implement new skills in low risk settings

• Play like it doesn’t matter

• Discover why you play and use that as your focus

Create an Alter-Ego

The “Black Mamba”, Kobe Bryant’s alter-ego got him through his lowest points of his career. In his documentary “Muse” he reveals his self given nickname was to get him through the struggles he was going through off the court which were distracting him on the court.

The Black Mamba’s job was to take care of business on the court. This ruthless mentality helped gain his confidence on the basketball court and to overcome some of his most difficult times in his career.

Visualize

Of Steph Curry’s 10 rules for success, visualization is number one on his list. Visualize the ball going in the net, hitting the game winning shot, and accomplishing your goals.

Find more visualization tips here.

Increasing In Game Confidence

• Be ready – most athletes are under prepared; practice, study, and mentally prepare to play

• Want the ball, be ready to catch the ball and know what you are going to do after you receive it

• Take higher percentage shots

• Choose less risky pass options and be sure to add enough force to get it to your teammate

• Set in game goals (reasonable goals)

• Focus on the role you play on your team, is it providing great defense? Rebounding?

• Control your nerves

  • Create a game day routine or ritual. Pack your bag the night before, eat the same pre game snack, listen to the same songs during warmup, create your game day routine

  • Play like it doesn’t matter

  • Get out nervous energy by hustling on the court

• Meditate or visualize before the game

• Eliminate distractions - laziness and jealousy

• Remove fear of failure

• Don’t get caught in your last bad play - give yourself a physical cue to wipe it away, finger snap, a clap or a jump, sprint back on defense, etc.

• Recall positive moments and the reasons why you love to play

• Positive affirmations vs negative thoughts

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