Courage balances fear and recklessness. How do we get there?
Get better. In his MasterClass, astronaut Chris Hadfield says, "the best antidote for fear is competence." Coach Bill Parcells believes, "confidence comes from proven success."
Change our hardware. Strengthen resilience with mindfulness - shrinking the brain's stress center, the amygdala. In Legacy, James Kerr writes about player response to pressure. "Switch from ‘Red head’ — tight-inhibited, result-oriented, anxious, aggressive, overcompensating, desperate; to ‘blue head’ — loose, expressive, at the moment, calm, clear, accurate, untasked."
From Tradingcomposure.com
Find personal tools. Tangible methods to reduce pressure, from Performing Under Pressure:
- Think of high-pressure moments as a (fun) challenge, not a life-or-death threat (Be excited, not nervous).
- Focus on the task, not the outcome. (Trust the process)
- Practice, practice, practice. (How do you get to Carnegie Hall?)
- Be positive before and during high-pressure moments. (Attitude matters)
- Listen to music — or make some. (Activating or calming music)
- Create a pre-performance routine. (Have your warmup)
- Squeeze a ball with your LEFT hand. (Stress ball)
Survey the list and pick two that attract you en route to building your COTE of armor (confidence, optimism, tenacity, enthusiasm).
There's no magic formula for stress-free play. As a player, control the time and effort input for your athleticism, skill, game knowledge, and resilience. Unless you change, it's unrealistic to expect change.
Points of emphasis:
- Decrease fear to enhance performance.
- Practice builds competence to degrade fear.
- Mindfulness changes brain structure and function.
- Choose simple tools like music or a stress ball to relax.
- If you don't change your habits, it's unrealistic to expect better results.
Lagniappe: Coaches, what's your share?
Ken George has a YouTube channel.
Lagniappe 2A: Adjust to changing defensive coverage.
Lagniappe 2B: Practice with purpose.Luka Doncic, the one and only, displaying his complete package in this one work of art.— NBEinstein (US) (@NBEinstein) November 24, 2018
Basketball IQ, passing skills, physical attributes, ball-handling, P&R science/magic, ability to manipulate defenses.
Primary ball-handler with solutions for any problem. Superstar archetype pic.twitter.com/5nZ9MpWFZd
During last night's "offensive development segment" we worked on pick-and-roll, including giving some post players opportunity to be PnR ballhandler. We also spent time on creating and identifying mismatches to get "Mouse in the House." Third, we continue to work on getting separation with staggered screens.
Lagniappe 3: Identity parallels behavioral change. Don't let selfishness become normal.
"The more deeply a thought or action is tied to your identity, the more difficult it is to change it. It can feel comfortable to believe what your culture believes (group identity) or what upholds your self-image (personal identity), even if it's wrong. The biggest barrier to positive change at any level - individual, team, society - is identity conflict." - James Clear, Atomic Habits
If a player believes that excellence is her identity, she commits to confirmatory behaviors (practice). Excellence reproduces itself.
Lagniappe 4: Newellesque (Big Man Moves) reverse turn into jumper via Don Kelbick