The Sports Psychology Blog

This blog offers some tips for a basketball player to regain lost confidence.

Basketball: Lost Confidence - More Awareness

I received an email from a US college basketball player yesterday. The nub of the situation is that he has lost his confidence when shooting and wanted some tips for regaining his confidence.

My thoughts as to how he can regain his confidence are along these lines:

One of the tricks to getting confidence back is to develop a rock solid shooting routine based on the quality of awareness. Awareness is about being in the here and now. What you see. What you feel. What you hear. What you smell. What you taste.

When you have high awareness levels, you can focus fully in the moment. Your senses are alert. Your senses are a direct line to your instinct. Your sporting instinct. The part of you that naturally knows what to do. When this line is open your game flows naturally and easily.

Being in the moment will quieten the voice in the back of your head. The voice that is spreading doubt and uncertainty. That voice is based on negative experiences in the past. Being in the moment short circuits that old pattern.

Developing a practise routine. So for example:

1: When you get the ball in your hands before a shot - What does the ball feel like? How relaxed are your hands? Which side of the ball are your holding? What colour is the ball? Does it have any markings on it? What does the ball smell like? Measure your awareness levels.

2: Before you release the ball, it helps to mentally visualise the shot you want to make. So practise your visualisation. Imagine the arc of the ball. How does it spin? Which side of the basket does it enter?

3: Then you jump, and release the ball - When you release the ball how cleanly is it released? How light and relaxed are your hands and fingers? Do you let the ball go freely or tightly? Do you watch the ball every inch of the way through the air? What shape does the basket make when the ball passes into it? Watch the basket? Watch it's shape?

The Sports Psychology Summary

All of this can only be done through practise. Again and again. Aim each practise session to improve your awareness a little at a time. Mark your awareness out of ten each day.

Come game day some of these routines will start to become automatic. It may not all happen at once, but stay dedicated and one day it will all fall into place.