MARCH MADNESS MINDSET

TIME TO TRIM THE FAT

When teams make it to the NCAA Tournament in March, they are preparing to play their best and advance to live another day.  One approach held by many of the best coaches is something I have been helping players with throughout my years of mental coaching.  This approach is likely to make a difference in your game as well.

Each summer, the best young European basketball players take part in the European U-20 Men's Basketball Championships, where junior national teams from all of Europe compete for top honors.  Once I was talking with one of the coaches about his team’s performance in the first rounds of competition, and the discussion led to the performance of one of the team’s leading players, their “go to” big man who in-season was playing at an ACC school. 

   “He is capable of doing a lot, and we really depend on him, but in the past couple of games he has fallen short of expectations,” the coach told me.

   As we discussed the situation further, one aspect that came to light was that a number of different tasks were being laid upon this player’s shoulders, clearly too many for him to successfully handle. It felt like the player was trying to balance too many balls in the air (so to speak).  I asked the coach what he thought about scaling down the assignments he was placing on this player.  “Less is more” was what I tried to sell the coach on.

             Narrowing one’s focus down once it’s time to go out and compete helps give an athlete one of the most critical things he/she can carry with him/her into competition: a sense of control.  Having fewer things to worry about makes the assignment feel more manageable, so that the athlete feels empowered rather than overwhelmed.

   Most players will have a wide range of thoughts going through their mind on the day of a game, from the time they get up that day and on to having their pre-game meal.  Later, arriving at the gym, an experienced player will put some of those thoughts out of his mind and start to narrow his focus.  As the player changes into his uniform, goes through warm-ups and then the team stretch …. as time draws closer to the tip-off, the athlete’s focus will continue to narrow down, in the manner of a funnel (broad at the top, narrow at the bottom).  By the time of the opening tip, a veteran athlete’s focus has narrowed down to ONE specific thought or intention. (For example, one post player I work with goes into games with the thought "Don't force things - just trust myself." Another reminds himself to go up high when he is going after rebounds as the key thought he takes with him into games.)

   At the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, U.S. downhill skier Tommy Moe surprised everyone when he took the gold medal.  Moe, who beat out the competition, had never won an international event in his career. When asked afterwards about his performance, Moe commented: I just kept my thoughts real simple. I wanted to focus on making my turns with a strong edge on the outside ski, and keeping my hands forward. I knew if I concentrated on those two things, I would ski fast. That’s all I wanted to do.”

   Bob McKillop, the highly respected men’s basketball coach at Davidson College (6 times conference Coach of the Year and 2008 national Coach of the Year) cites the competitive benefit of keeping things simple when the pressure is on, offering the following example:

   By the time you get to post-season play and the NCAA tournament, and you’ve got to prepare for whoever your opponent might be, that’s a time to strip your game down to the key elements – the things you’ve become good at during the season – and let go of the rest, the average stuff and the things you’ve just kind of experimented with. 

   Another veteran coach, Santa Clara’s Herb Sendek (ex North Carolina State and Arizona State) concurs, noting, “Sometimes I find that we go into a game and have to really simplify our offensive plan by using just a part of the whole – the part that we think will be most effective against our opponent – and really focusing on that part.  I think you have to go with certain reads on the game, instead of trying to cover every type of situation.  The idea is to ‘trim the fat’ and make it simple so that your guys aren’t compromising their highest level of play.”

   Jack Nicklaus, one of the greatest golfers of all time, offered similar advice with regard to getting the ideal swing off: “Boil down your swing thoughts to the simplest two or three that have worked for you in the past.” Nicklaus himself came up with two ideas – “Head still” and “Complete the backswing” – and sticking with those two thoughts in crunch time was how he got the job done.

   After speaking with the European coach of that men’s Under-20 team, he went into the next day’s game asking this player to concentrate chiefly on rebounding, and secondarily to look to score inside if the opportunity presented itself.  Giving the player a more narrow focus gave him a more manageable task… and helped him to feel MORE IN CONTROL.  He was no longer being asked to keep too many balls in the air.  And as a result, his game productivity returned to top form, and he had one of his best games in the tournament, helping his team advance to the medal round of play.

  

Post Script:  Here is what one player wrote me after I sent him the above article:

"I wanted to tell you, the idea you had of focusing on just one thing has been really useful for me. I have had three of my best games and two full weeks of great practices – and it’s all due to this idea of one thought! I just keep telling myself to be an animal.  That’s it… I just say 'Be aggressive and be an animal' and that thought is what makes me able to play with aggressiveness and energy.  Because of that I am able to not only play well but to instill confidence in myself and not only that but in my coaches and teammates as well! They want to get me the ball because I showed them what I can do once it is in my hands.  All this success is because of that one word. So thank you!! I really appreciate the ideas that you keep sharing with me.”

Shortly after writing to tell me this, this player had his first double-double, followed by his first 20-point game.

Another player wrote to say:  “I used your idea in a recent game to focus only on defense and nothing more and I played well. I didn’t allow my opponent to get the ball – or when he got it I defended his shots so he couldn’t get them off and even blocked some of them.  As it turned out, on offense and on rebounding things went well for me also because of the confidence this idea helped me to maintain. I will continue to use this strategy. Thanks!!"

© 2017 by Dr. Mitchell Smith.  All Rights Reserved.