“What You Focus on Grows”
We are born with a certain level of talent. However, skills are something we improve with consistent work. In addition, there are other intangibles that you have complete control over that can make the difference in making a team or not, making the starting lineup or not, or even being the difference maker in a contest. Focus on the 11 things listed below and watch your game grow.
- Preparation– prepare your mind and body beforehand
- Physically– be in the best shape you can be in; get good sleep, hydrate, eat to fuel
- Mentally– fuel yourself with confident thoughts and images. You can get reps in mentally by visualizing yourself performing your skills.
- Be Early and Warm Up Properly (mentally and physically)
- Physically– dynamic stretching, hydrated, fueled with food (but not too close to training)
- Mentally- have a mental warm-up (BRAVE)
- Breathe- take deep breathes to calm your body
- Recognize- check in with your body language and your thoughts. If needed change them to help you feel more confident
- “Am” statements- have an “I am..” statement such as “I am confident” or “I am good at defending”
- Visuzlize- see yourself performing and see the confident you
- Energy- if you need to increase your energy talk and move your body. If you need to calm your body, take deep breathes and talk calmly to yourself
- Stay in the Moment- focus on one play, routine, performance, etc. at a time. Avoid thinking about outcomes or cuts.
- Let Go of Mistakes – have a mistake ritual or “reset button” to help you move on to the next point. Ex. Slap your thigh and then tell yourself next ball.
- “Look” Confident- keep your head up, shoulders back, and talk confidently to yourself.
- Communicate– Communicate with teammates and coaches during drills, play, and on the sidelines.
- Win the Effort Battles– no excuse for this one and often can be a deciding factor when other things are equal. Go hard every drill, hustle to get stray balls, hustle to get water, etc.
- Be a Great Teammate– this means having a positive attitude with others but also pushing them to be the best they can be.
- Be Coachable – try to make changes given from a coach.
- HAVE FUN!- hopefully this is the reason you are trying out because the game is fun. Make sure you don’t lose sight of this!
The key is to change your focus to one of the 10 things above once you start realizing you are focusing on things you can not control such as results, other people, etc.
Tami Matheny is a Mental Game Coach and Author of “The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence” and “The Confidence Journal”. She owns and runs, Refuse2LoseCoaching which provides mental coaching for athletes and teams at all levels. Follow her on twitter @r2lcoaching and Instagram @refuse2losecoaching.
For more information about “The Confident Athlete” visit: https://r2lc.com/the-confident-athlete-4-easy-steps-to-build-and-maintain-confidence/. It can be purchased online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. For group discounts contact tami@r2l.mysites.io
For daily confidence tips, follow “The Confident Athlete” on twitter @tamimatheny and sign up for the monthly confidence calendar: https://r2lc.com/monthly-confidence-calendar-newsletter/
If you are on Facebook join the group Parents and the Mental Game for daily advice, tips, motivation, etc. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1491446574332599/