Mental Toughness Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Building a Winning Mindset

How to become a Top Shooter in Basketball

Become a Shooter There are 5 key parts to becoming a consistent, successful shooter in the game of basketball. They are simple to understand but only the very best players actually put in the work to become great shooters.

The 5 keys to become an excellent shooter are…

Proper form
Strength
Repetition / Muscle Memory
Game-like Practice
Mental Preparation

1. Proper form can be developed using a progression of shots from close to the basket to further out. You want to get your form correct before you worry about the other aspects of shooting. Below is a video to show you how one of the best shooters does it (notice how many shots he misses, or doesn’t miss)…

2. Strength is required to add consistency and range to your shooting. In basketball, the key muscle groups include your arms (biceps/triceps), chest/back and core muscles. Coach Wheeler has a simple workout routine that hits these muscles quickly and effectively. The key to building strength is consistency. Working with weights once in a while is not going to build your strength. In addition, lifting weights that are easy to life won’t be much help either.

3. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. To get better as a shooter, you need to “put up shots”. This will build your muscle memory as well as the strength you need in your hands and your eye/hand coordination. How many shots are enough? 100 shots per day is over 36,000 in a year or 140,000 over 4 years of high school. That seems like a large number but there are players putting in 1000 shots per day, sometimes with the help of shooting machines like Dr. Dish or Shoot-a-way, which can add up to over 1 million shots in high school. What is right for you? It depends on how good you want to be. Check out this short video showing a 1000 shot workout…

4. Game-like Practice means taking shots in the style that you will be required to use most often in a game. Once an opposing team realizes you can shoot, they are unlikely to let you stand in one spot and shoot away. You are going to need to move to get open, perhaps make a move or two so you can get your shot off. This all needs to be part of your practice plan so that you are prepared for game situations. I like to see players incorporating either a move and one strong dribble before taking their shot or working on their catch&shoot as if they are coming off a pick. Whatever you are going to use in a game, you need to work on, and perfect, in practice.

5. Mental Preparation is one area that many shooters forget about. How are you going to perform when the pressure is on and you have to take the shot to win the game? Or more importantly, are you going to be able to hit every wide open shot you get? We see it all the time… someone is a good shooter but they are given too much time to shoot and they start thinking about how they “should” shoot. Their head gets in the way and they miss. Shooting, at least from a mental perspective, is all about trusting your training and just “pulling the trigger”.

Dr. Bob Rotella, an acclaimed sports psychologist, talks about the Trusting vs. Training mindset. The Training mindset is when you are practicing and perhaps fine tuning your mechanics or footwork. The Trusting mindset is what you need to use in a game since thinking about your form will only make it less smooth and less natural.

5 seconds left on the clock. You have the ball…

It is important to put as much pressure on yourself in practice as possible so that you can get used to high pressure game situations. The other mental trick when you get into a game is to fall back on all the work you put in and remember that you have proven to yourself, over and over again, that you can put the ball in the hoop. Just trust your training and make it happen.

Bottom Line if you want to become a shooter …

If you combine these five keys you will become an above-average shooter over time. The key is consistency of effort.

Here is BONUS idea # 1 which I picked up from Dave Hopla, former shooting coach for the Detroit Pistons. “Keep track of your results.” Dave tracks every practice and shooting demonstration that he does and it is a great way to see your progress both in your shooting percentage (Dave shot 98% the time I saw him give a demonstration) as well as the volume of shots you are putting up. It is also a great way to track your “streak” or number of consecutive days that you have done your shooting workout. Don’t break your streak and you will be amazed by how much you can improve over time!

BONUS idea #2 is from a player that scored over 2000 points in his high school career, Tom Brayshaw. He says that you must “Master the Mundane”. In other words, you have to do the little things that are sometimes boring or mundane, over and over again, if you want to become a good shooter. The way I like to think of this is you have to motivate yourself to get out on the court and put up the shots, even when you don’t feel like it. It is precisely those times that separate the OK or mediocre players from the shooting stars. If it helps, imagine that with each practice session you are passing one more player who didn’t put in the effort. You are one step closer to being the best. Will you be the best? You never know who you will encounter on the court so be sure to bring your best effort every day.

Mental Toughness – Value of Problems – Part II

If you have not seen my previous Mental Toughness post: “Challenges & Problems”, check it out by clicking here. Now let’s learn how to think differently so you can solve your problems and avoid some problems altogether.

Let’s understand Problems

Mark Manson points out in his book, that our personal values and the standards we set for ourselves “determine the nature of our problems and the nature of our problems determines the quality of our life.” In other words, good problems = good life (and the opposite). Add to this the fact that we get (in terms of problems & results) what we accept based on the standards we set for ourselves and those around us.

Control the meaning of your problems…

Mark goes on to say, “Problems may be inevitable but their meaning is not. We get to control what our problems mean based on how we choose to think about them [and] the standard by which we choose to measure them.”

One man’s problem is another man’s dream.

Going back to our rich and poor example. The rich person might lose a million dollars in a day… but it is such a small part of their overall wealth that it means nothing. The poor person might misplace a dollar bill and it means everything to them because it is all that they have.

Problems have meaning and the good news is
that we get to choose that meaning.

What if the rich person chose to think that losing a million dollars was not a simple fluctuating in the stock market and was the start of financial ruin? The meaning of the loss could be ominous or inconsequential. Which one is right? Neither. Or maybe both. The point is that we CHOOSE what things mean for ourselves and very often it has more to do with our habitual thinking than the “reality” of the situation.

5 Counter-intuitive ways of thinking

Mark Manson offers 5 new “ways of thinking” which can help you become better at solving your problems and recognizing opportunities for personal growth. The 5 Ways or “New Value”are…

Radical Responsibility
Empower Uncertainty
Embrace Failure
Leverage Rejections
Gain Perspective of Mortality

Radical Responsibility means taking responsibility for EVERYTHING in your life. It doesn’t mean that everything is your fault… just that you have the ability to respond to anything in your life. Everyone will encounter problems that are not their fault, but it is HOW you RESPOND that determines the quality of your life. What most people miss is the idea that we have much more control over our lives than we imagine. Unfortunately, most people just “go along” with whatever is expected and, as a result, they get mediocre (or worse) results. Bottom Line… Take Responsibility for your life. That’s a radical idea isn’t it?

Uncertainty is another opportunity for personal growth. If you already know all the answers, you won’t be searching for new ideas or new answers. If you adopt an uncertain approach, you are open to opportunities you would have missed. We should also keep in mind that there are things we don’t even know that we don’t know. Open the door to uncertainty.

Embrace Failure. We are all going to fail at one time or another. We can let it eat us up or we can see it as what it really is… a learning opportunity. Failure highlights our “blind spots” in ways that we rarely seek out. Think of failure as a gift… but don’t quit.

This might sound good, but what if you can’t even think of a potential plan of attack? What if the prospect of a HUGE failure is intimidating and you still don’t know where to start? What if it seems like you have already failed… before you are even “in the game”?

Lower the bar for failure… Do Something

Mark Manson explains a great way to lessen the anxiety associated with potential failure through the “Do Something” rule that he learned from one of his teachers. “If you are stuck on a problem, don’t sit there and think about it; Just start working on it. Even if you don’t know what you are doing, the simple act of working on it will eventually cause the right ideas to show up in your head.”

“Don’t just sit there.
Do Something.
The answers will follow.”

Mark adds, “Action isn’t just the effect of motivation; it’s also the cause of it.” Once you take action, you often find that the small successes provide motivation while the small failures provide ideas that point you into a productive direction. “If we follow the ‘Do Something’ principle, failure feels unimportant.”

So, start failing. Start small. Do Something. Do anything. As Nike says, “Just Do It.”

Leverage Rejection. Manson says, “We are defined by what we choose to reject.” For example, if we value something, we must reject what is not that something. To value X, we must reject non-X. What we reject defines our identity. If we don’t reject something we don’t stand for anything. Decide what you stand for. It will make your decisions clearer and keep your life aligned with your important values.

Gain Perspective from Mortality. We could all be hit by a bus tomorrow… but we rarely think about how short our life could be. In the timeline of the cosmos, we are a flash in the pan, a brief flicker in history so how much does it matter that someone cuts you off in traffic? Stoic philosophers would advocate to think about death at all times so we would appreciate our life more. Mark Twain once wrote, “The fear of death follows the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”

Your own mortality is the ultimate “Big Picture” view and it helps put everything into perspective. Don’t deny your mortality… use it !

Which Problem is worth a F&ck?

Bottom line, you get to choose how you respond to the problems in your life, how you solve problems and even which problem you choose to tackle. Problems are a blessing and each new one gives us an opportunity to grow. What do you give a f*ck about?

Mental Toughness – Challenges & Problems

This post is about Challenges (sometimes called “problems” by other people). It was inspired by some ideas I learned from a book I just finished called “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. I should warn you… the F-word is used throughout the book… ALOT. Not that it bothered me as I was reading. It seemed to come from the author’s authentic voice and probably added more “flavor” to the book than if he had used the word”care” instead.

Bottom Line?

It is a book about what you care about and how to deal with things that you either don’t care about or should not care about. Obviously understanding the difference for each of those categories is critical for anyone who wants to lead a productive, successful and fulfilling life.
Bottom Line… good book. Read it.

Now let’s talk about Challenges…

Everyone has problems. I prefer to use the word “Challenges” (and it should be clear why by the end of this post) but Mark calls them problems so we will go with that… for now.

Picture two people.

The first one is the richest person in the world. Or maybe just the richest person you know or have heard of. For this example, NOT Donald Trump (his problems are in a completely different class). Getting back to the rich dude… Do you think they have problems? Think about it… Where are they going to invest all their money? Who can they trust with their money? Maybe they want to help people… which charity (out of the millions who might deserve help) should they donate to? Finally, how are they going to spend their money? If you have not seen the movie Brewster’s Millions with Richard Pryor, find a copy and watch it. Rich people definitely have problems.

On the other end of the spectrum, picture the poorest person in the world. Hopefully it is not someone you know. Maybe they have horrible clothes that don’t keep them warm enough. It is easy to imagine that they don’t know where their next meal will come from or where they will sleep. It is not hard to imagine their problems.

Why are we comparing these two people?

First they both have problems. In Life, you will always have problems. Get over it and move on.

Second, and this is a critical point, there are different types of problems. Some problems are better to have than others. What if the rich person was overweight and had terminal cancer? All of their “good problems” might be wiped out by a bad problem.

Where am I going with this?

You are going to have problems and you are going to have to deal with them. The Buddha put a different way, “Life is suffering.” Mark says “Life is a never-ending series of problems.”

Let’s Talk Happiness

It may seem like a hard right turn to go from “everyone has problems” and “Deal with it” to talking about Happiness but Mark brings up a good point in his book that explains how problems are related to your happiness. (And probably not in the way that you expect.)

One of the premises in Mark’s book is that “Happiness is solving problems.” Mark adds, “To be happy, we need something to solve. Happiness is therefore a form of action.”

I like this idea. Happiness is not a destination. It is something you do along the journey.

In other words, don’t bother saying “I will be happy when I get a raise” or “… when I get married” or “… when I have kids”. Solve the problems that are in front of you and keep moving in the direction of your dreams… knowing that happiness is a worthwhile journey.

Happiness is a process.

Part of that process is figuring out what you are willing to tackle, which problems you might LIKE to solve, while you are on the journey to your dreams.

There will be problems you would have never chosen… but they still need to be solved. The funny (?) thing is that everyone will run into a pile of sh*t along the way. The question is what (or how much) are you willing to push through to get a great life?

Mark says, “Struggles determine our successes. Our problems birth our happiness, along with slightly better, upgraded problems.”

In other words, the joy is in the struggle!

Quick Review:

Everyone has problems (both good and bad).
We will always have problems and the act of solving them brings happiness (“along with slightly better problems”.)
We get to choose how we approach our problems.
(Hint: we can call them challenges or opportunities.)
(More about how to approach challenges/problems in Part II of this post)

Defensive Tools – M2M

I am always surprised by how few players understand the tools that they have available to them as defensive players on a basketball court. Too often players rest on defense and don’t focus on what will help their team take the ball away from the opposition or make it more difficult for them to score. If a player applies the skills described below, they can go from reacting to the offense to taking control of their opposition’s offense and dictating what they do.

The top defensive skills that every player should use on defense are Position (distance, charge,steering), Jab Step, Face Guarding (the right way) and Weak Side Steals.

Position. This is the most basic form of defense and it us where most players stop. Why? Because it may be “good enough” to be considered “defense” but I would challenge you to go beyond just “good enough” and take your defense to a higher level.

Within “position defense” there are many aspects that players can apply. In particular, there are a number of ways to guard a post player (front, side or behind) and it depends on your relative size as well as the help that you can expect from your team mates on defense.

Relative distance from the dribbler. In terms of position, I often see players back away from their man when they think that they are not quick enough to stay with them. They hope that the added buffer will give them more time to react and prevent their player from scoring. What usually happens though is that they allow the offensive player to build up momentum and drive by them even faster. As Homer Simpson says… D’OH !

What’s the solution? This is going to sound counterintuitive but pay close attention. Instead of backing off, the answer is … Get closer. Much closer. It is almost like wrestling because the offensive player can’t dribble in front of themselves (because the defensive player is there and can steal the ball) and any move around the defensive player will require more effort than it would if the offensive player is given room to move.

Will you get beat when you are playing up-close, in-your-face defense? Probably, but you will make the offensive player work for it. You might even pick up a charge if the offensive player gets too physical. The key is how you (and your team mates) react on defense when you get beat…

What happens when you get beat? Two things. First you stop shuffling, turn your hips and RUN to catch up and, hopefully, pass the offensive player so you can stop them or at least control where they can move. Secondly, it is critically important to stay in contact with your offensive player and, ideally, steer them in a direction where your team mates (or a sideline) can provide help defense. This means that if they drive by you on the right side, you don’t let them come back to the left side. It is a common mistake for defensive players to give up once they are “beaten” by the offensive player and basically let the offensive player continue toward the basket.

Why do I have to stay with the ball handler? Aside from preventing them from returning to their strong hand, you want to be ready to trap them when your team mate comes over to help. This is a great time to steal the ball since the offensive player’s options are limited and it should be easy to anticipate what they will do.

Take the Charge. This is related to playing position and can be done by either the primary defender or someone helping stop a drive. If the primary defender is doing their job and “steering” the ball handler, the help defender can often set up and take a charge. The key for a help defender in this situation is to remain active and ready to prevent a pass to your man.

Jab step. By making a move at the offensive player, you are seeing how they will react. Most players have a preferred hand that they like to dribble with and once you know which one it is, you can anticipate where they might like to go and either get in the way (play position) or fake like you are going to get in their way (using a jab step) to force the offensive player to react. This is an important way for a defensive player to take control of the offensive player and limit their effectiveness.

Face Guarding. This is a defensive skill that relies on using your eyes as well as the eyes of the offensive player. In short, most offensive player’s eyes follow the ball when it is being passed to them. This can give a defensive player an insight into where the ball is coming.

Why would someone pass the ball when you are there as a defender? Because when you are face-guarding, you have your back to the ball and they think that you can’t see it… but you can see where it will go based on the eyes of the offensive player.

Can the offensive player beat someone who is face guarding? Sure, but it requires an offensive player to recognize what you are doing (which they might do after a steal or two) and then they would have to consciously look somewhere else while following the ball with their peripheral vision. It can be done… but in many cases, in the heat of competition, face-guarding is not recognized and the defense has the advantage.

Weak side defense – set up the steal. This is another area of Man-to-man defense that is often overlooked. The weak side is the side of the court AWAY from the ball handler and most coaches teach players that they should split the court and “build a wall” so that the ball can’t come over to their side. This is good in theory but too many players forget that a long pass is one that should be intercepted. The longer the pass, the more time you have to get to the ball.

Why aren’t more long passes intercepted? Because weak side defenders lose sight of what the ball handler is doing and they don’t see the pass until it is well on it’s way. How can this be changed? By knowing 1) when you expect the ball handler to pass and 2) seeing the clues that they are going to pass in your direction. If a ball handler is about to dribble into a trap and they are a good offensive player, they will be looking for someone to pass to BEFORE they get to the trap. If the ball handler looks toward your man, it is likely they will pass to them. If it is a long pass, the throwing motion will be bigger than a short pass (depending on the strength of the ball handler) and if you are watching the ball handler, you should be able to see it start so you can get a jump on the pass and intercept it. This same approach can be used on the strong side even when the pass might be shorter. By anticipating the pass, you gain a huge advantage over the offense and can force more turnovers.

Conclusions re: M2M Defensive Tools:

Coach Wheeler on M2M Defense…

“Defense should never be passive and reactive. It should challenge the offense and make it difficult for them to do what they want to do. If someone can call a play, your defense is not working hard enough. A successful defensive team drives the offense more than a little crazy and pushes them out of their comfort zone.”

Will you get beat? Probably, especially if the other team is very good. But you will get beat more often if your defense is passive and reactive. As a player, won’t you get beat by your man? Certainly. This is one thing that many coaches don’t want to address. They tell players to “work harder” and get in front of their man. This is great if you are faster/quicker than the offense, but what happens when a player can’t stay in front of their man? Shouldn’t there be a plan for this situation? Especially since there is almost always a mismatch somewhere on the floor and a good offense will figure out how to exploit it. That is where TEAM Man-to-man defense comes in along with the skills mentioned above.

What do you think? Are there other M2M defensive tools that you find are highly successful with your teams? I would love to hear your ideas and opinions. Would you like to see a video showing how Coach Wheeler implements / teaches these ideas with a team? Please leave a comment below.

Dave Hopla – Basketball Shooting Expert

Today I had the pleasure of hearing Dave Hopla, Basketball Shooting Expert, speak at the Pure Shot Basketball Camp in Jaffrey, NH. Special thanks to Dave & Nancy Springfield who run the camp and arranged the event. The event was also sponsored by Dennis Wright and if anyone has more background on the sponsor, please be sure to add it as a comment so we can all thank him as well.

One of the points that Dave Hopla made was that players who were serious about improving should be taking notes. I did not have my notebook with me but I wrote down everything I could remember soon after the event. There was a lot of great information and I’m hoping that by posting my notes, it will help reinforce some of the ideas presented by Dave AND anyone who can “fill in the blanks” will add a comment below so that we can all benefit as much as possible from Dave Hopla’s speech and amazing basketball shooting demonstration.

Here are my notes from the event (in no particular order)…

How Dave starts out…
– He warms up with rollers to get his muscles moving and loosened up. (He told me this prior to the speech when he was just warming up.)
– He goes through a “shooting progression” which involves shooting one handed from 3 spots (left, right & center) near the basket and then moving out. He then added his “guide hand” as he shot from further out.

Tips on your Basketball Shooting Technique:

(notice the alliteration or use of similar letters at the start of many words)
– Toe(s) toward Target
– Form an L with your Elbow
– Wrinkle at the Wrist
– Follow Thru – “put your hand in the basket”

“Words Matter” – Don’t call it a “foul shot”. Foul things stink.
“Only one shot matters… the one you are taking.”
[The past is over and the future isn’t here yet. – DW]
Mindset 1st ! Get your head right before anything. “Good is the enemy of Great. Feel GREAT!”
Visualize what you want to happen. [Track your progress.]
Catch the basketball with your EYES and your HANDS.
Get a journal and take notes! Players who write down the good ideas they hear become better.
Play “Beat The Pro”. It starts with a “free shot” and the pro scores with every miss.
Dave mentioned a handout called the “Maravich Practice Drills” that someone gave him when he was young which helped him improve as a player. Here is a link to a YouTube video with 10 “Maravich Drills“. I don’t know if these are the drills that Dave was referring to but I am sure they will help you improve.
Practice your basketball shooting EVERY DAY. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be dedicated.

I spoke with Dave after the event and he said that he has a website but did not mention it because he has not been active with it recently. He also has a book that comes with a DVD (Amazon link).

– Below is a YouTube video featuring an interview about basketball shooting with Dave Hopla.

I welcome your feedback in the comments and please feel free to say what you got out of the event. When it comes to basketball shooting, Dave Hopla is a highly skilled individual and, personally, I found it facinating to see what it looks like when someone makes 98% of the shots that he takes. (He had someone keep track during the event and that was the actual % he made! Amazing!)

Mental Toughness – Control Your Story

Narrative is the story you are telling yourself.

You have a voice in your head that is narrating or explaining what everything in your life means. Picture Morgan Freeman’s voice doing a play-by-play as your coach tells you that you won’t be starting the next game. Maybe the voice says “The coach hates me.” or “The coach has his favorite players and there is nothing I can do to change his mind.” With this thinking (and the story it implies), are you likely to do the things which will get you into the starting lineup any time soon? Probably not.

On the other hand, what if Morgan Freeman said, “The team we are playing is very tall and obviously coach thinks we need our taller players in there.” or “I wonder what I need to do to get into the starting lineup?” or “Coach has always treated me fairly so he must have a good reason for not starting me. I will need to ask him to explain it to me so I can find a way to contribute to the team’s success.”

Where do these stories in my head come from?

The story we tell ourselves is built on the beliefs we have accumulated over the years and it can be hard to change our thinking… or it can be as easy as considering a different (more effective) story to explain the situation. This is the difference of being controlled by your past or developing the mental toughness skill of actively CHOOSING how you interpret events in your life.

How do I change the Narrative or Story I tell myself?

Get some alternatives. Ask someone else how they would explain the situation, preferably someone who does not have an interest in the outcome. Often your family’s beliefs are the same or at least very similar to our own beliefs. This means that they may not offer stories or narratives that are substantially different from our own and their stories may not give you a better course of action.

Find an “objective 3rd party”, i.e. someone who is not part of the “problem”, and see what types of explanations they can find for you.

What if the new story is not true?

Living in denial of the truth will certainly bring poor results but the reality is that there are a multitude of ways that events in your life can be interpreted. Clearly you need to recognize the facts of the case, like in our example the fact that the coach said you are not starting in the next game.

The key is how you react to the facts… and the sooner you realize that while you might initially think a particular circumstance is “good” or “bad” it is often how we react that makes it good or bad for us. Choose to be mentally tough and create your own story.

You can change your story…

… and this can open up all kinds of opportunities that you would have missed.

“Problems are not solved at the same level of thinking that created them.” – Albert Einstein

Comments on Changing Your Narrative and Creating Your own Story are welcome and encouraged…