WHAT DO YOU KEEP SCORE OF WHEN YOU'RE KEEPING SCORE?

I Should … I Must … I Gotta

  Jeremy, a post player I was working with, was frustrated that he was unable to play in competition the way he knew he could. As his team’s starting center, he was getting plenty of playing time, but he was going through a stretch where he was playing well below his potential. In particular, whenever he would miss a shot, he would stress about it – typically saying to himself something like “I SHOULD have had that shot.” This would lead to the next thought: “I MUST make the next shot.”  This was especially the case when it came to missed dunks and the thought that he had missed the one shot that was a sure thing –  the one with the most dramatic flair attached to it – and missed it in front of a LOT of people to boot! “I’m 7’2!” he thought to himself.  “I’m SUPPOSED to make that shot.  How embarrassing! Goodness only knows what people think of me now!!”

  He had more or less found himself in a mindset where a made shot gave him a sense of relief for not having missed. The idea of missing a shot weighed more heavily on him than the satisfaction of a shot he made.

  When we feel we MUST do something (and we consider failure to do it as a blow to our self-esteem) we add to the PRESSURE involved in the task.

  Try finishing the sentence starting with “I MUST ___________”  (like… “I MUST dunk the ball to show everyone I am a ‘player’ ”), and ask yourself how that makes you feel as you hear yourself saying this sentence.  As you become aware of this, you may notice a tightening of the muscles somewhere in your body (core? shoulders? arms?). That stress and physical tightening that occurs when you feel the extra pressure is obviously going to get in the way of your performance.

  Now try saying to yourself:  “I CAN ____________”,  (completing the sentence the exact same way as before – the same task). What feelings/sensations does THAT induce? For most athletes, changing your thought from “I MUST ___” to “I CAN ___ ” is likely to result in the tension giving way to feelings of muscular relaxation, a feeling of readiness and positive energy.  WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?

  Jeremy felt that a contributing factor in his situation was that he was very competitive, and if he didn’t have a good game or do a good job he felt like he had failed to come up with the goods (play to his potential).  So I issued Jeremy the following challenge: I asked him to think about which player on his team seemed to have the most fun in practice and games.  I challenged him to compete with that player in the task of having fun, and after a week to report back to me as to how he was doing. At least in part, the focus was removed from finishing shots to having fun.  THE RESULTS: JEREMY STARTED TO MAKE MORE OF HIS SHOTS.

   Another post player, Carl, was a reserve post player who didn’t get much playing time. This was, of course, a source of great frustration, and as often happens in such cases, started to have an impact on Carl’s level of motivation. It was hard for Carl to put forth his best effort in practice when it seemed like nothing he did made any difference.

   It was as if Carl was saying to himself, “I SHOULD be playing more; I MUST get into games.” Not actually getting to play, Carl was become more and more frustrated, and it showed.

                                                                                                        

   To Carl I issued the following challenge: to think about which player on his team hustled the most in practice, and to set for himself the goal of reaching at least 90% of the hustle level shown by that teammate – and to rate himself on this at the end of every practice.

   While there was no change in Carl’s minutes, and this continued to frustrate him – his motivation level improved, and he brought more intensity to practice. This happened because Carl shifted his focus from something he couldn’t control but tied his hopes to (“I MUST get playing time”) to something over which he had complete control (giving total commitment in practice) and which – if he thought about it enough – DID matter (“I am giving 100% and can feel proud of that – I’m not a slacker”). And even though Carl’s minutes didn’t improve much (there are a number of reasons why this might have been the case – not all of them necessarily having to do with Carl directly), his attitude about his situation did improve. THE RESULT: CARL STARTED ENJOYING PRACTICE AGAIN.

   Jeremy had the talent to be a big-time player, but his stress was getting in the way of playing his best. Carl was losing his motivation because of his frustrations with not getting playing time.  In both cases, a shift in focus and mindset – coupled with a challenge which asked them to keep score on some aspect of their play which was different from what they usually focused on, was helpful in altering their situation for the better.

   IN BOTH CASES, the athletes were able to step up their game when they learned to stop worrying so much about things that were outside of their control by shifting their focus to other matters over which they COULD exercise control. Once they did, they addressed themselves to mastering THOSE areas, which left them feeling MORE EMPOWERED – and ultimately MORE CONFIDENT in their ability to play at their highest level of proficiency (and to have a lot more FUN in the process!!)

© 2010 by Dr. Mitchell Smith.  All Rights Reserved.