Jeff is in his first year playing basketball professionally. Recently his coach told him he had to increase his rebounding numbers, and then another player was brought in and Jeff's minutes were cut in half. Now Jeff is fearful that he may be cut from the team, and he contacted me.
Jeff's numbers (points and rebounds both) were strong in pre-season but fell once the season started. When the coach said something he started to feel pressure on him. Then when he saw his role being switched up he started feeling angry.
The anger became harder to shake off and he found himself starting to feel resentful and resistant to the coach's words... and his production fell even more.
"Now it's like if I miss a shot - or if a guy gets a rebound that I should have gotten, I get on myself, and with each successive mistake or missed opportunity I get myself in deeper and deeper. I start to feel depressed and sometimes I kind of shut down."
I told Jeff that it sounded like after his strong start it probably felt like he was having the rug pulled out from under him. Especially being alone and halfway across the world, his reaction was understandable - but NOT helpful!
The first thing I told Jeff was to think of himself as if in a giant wave that was tossing him here and there, but to remember that after a wave crests it subsides, and eventually this wave in his career would subside and things would calm down.
Then I asked him to tell me more about what happened in the games. Jeff told me that when he missed a shot or a rebound, one of the things he would do was to think about how to tweak his execution next time (for example, to extend his arm more on a hook shot). I told him that the more he could direct his thoughts in that way and NOT take the more negative path of beating himself up the more likely he was to stay competitive and keep his head in the game.
One of the things that would help Jeff hold onto a competitive mindset was to tranform the anger he was feeling toward himself when making mistakes to an aggressive attitude that would allow him to utilize the self-corrections he was giving himself in a way to stay energized and a fighter.
We also explored how he could use relaxation techniques to clear his mind as if hitting a "re-set" button that would delete all the negative chatter going through his mind. This can be a CRITICAL part of changing your game!!!
When Jeff told me about some of his previous games, one of the things that came out was that his play in those games had felt effortless. I told him that this was the ideal situation, one which was hard to come by when he was desparate and trying to force things to happen. I told him, if he could get all the chatter out of his head, it would be like opening the door to a room inside which his competitive self was locked up. By removing from his thoughts all the stuff he though he had to be doing, it opened up the space for all the things he was capable of doing.
In the end, the less you are trying to make things happen and the more you can let your game come to you, the more likely you will be playing at your highest level. That is why "getting your head right" is an essential early step in the process.
Jeff's numbers (points and rebounds both) were strong in pre-season but fell once the season started. When the coach said something he started to feel pressure on him. Then when he saw his role being switched up he started feeling angry.
The anger became harder to shake off and he found himself starting to feel resentful and resistant to the coach's words... and his production fell even more.
I told Jeff that it sounded like after his strong start it probably felt like he was having the rug pulled out from under him. Especially being alone and halfway across the world, his reaction was understandable - but NOT helpful!
The first thing I told Jeff was to think of himself as if in a giant wave that was tossing him here and there, but to remember that after a wave crests it subsides, and eventually this wave in his career would subside and things would calm down.
Then I asked him to tell me more about what happened in the games. Jeff told me that when he missed a shot or a rebound, one of the things he would do was to think about how to tweak his execution next time (for example, to extend his arm more on a hook shot). I told him that the more he could direct his thoughts in that way and NOT take the more negative path of beating himself up the more likely he was to stay competitive and keep his head in the game.
One of the things that would help Jeff hold onto a competitive mindset was to tranform the anger he was feeling toward himself when making mistakes to an aggressive attitude that would allow him to utilize the self-corrections he was giving himself in a way to stay energized and a fighter.
We also explored how he could use relaxation techniques to clear his mind as if hitting a "re-set" button that would delete all the negative chatter going through his mind. This can be a CRITICAL part of changing your game!!!
When Jeff told me about some of his previous games, one of the things that came out was that his play in those games had felt effortless. I told him that this was the ideal situation, one which was hard to come by when he was desparate and trying to force things to happen. I told him, if he could get all the chatter out of his head, it would be like opening the door to a room inside which his competitive self was locked up. By removing from his thoughts all the stuff he though he had to be doing, it opened up the space for all the things he was capable of doing.
In the end, the less you are trying to make things happen and the more you can let your game come to you, the more likely you will be playing at your highest level. That is why "getting your head right" is an essential early step in the process.
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