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Sunday, June 21, 2026

Basketball - Under Pressure

"Pressure is playing a five dollar Nassau with two dollars in your pocket." - Golfer Lee Trevino

Everyone experiences pressure in their lives. Some cultivate the tools to manage it as well as possible. Pressure degrades performance.

Pressure forms in perception. Some people see pressure as opportunity and others see it as crisis.

Allistair McCaw described Olympic diver Greg Louganis' approach in Habits That Make a Champion. “When you walk into that arena, there’s an energy, it is palpable. If you interpret that energy as pressure, you’re more apt to implode. But if you interpret that pressure as energy and inspiration, it can catapult you to levels you never dreamed possible.”" 

Under pressure, we fall to the level of our training. Navy SEALs have "Hell Week" with severe physical challenges, sleep and calorie deprivation while trainers harass them, daring them to quit. "Ring the bell." 

Managing Pressure

Practice with constraints and using situational basketball. 

  • Advantage-disadvantage - e.g. 4 versus 5 halfcourt or 5 versus 7 fullcourt
  • Time pressure - e.g. trailing by four with two minutes left and your opponent with the ball; trailing by two with five seconds left executing a BOB, SLOB, or ATO
  • Rules constraint - scrimmage with scoring allowed only in the paint
Practice under adversity
  • Allow the opposition to play physical (not dirty) basketball 
  • Practice against a better team (e.g. women vs skilled men)
Develop Mental Skills

Mindfulness, self-talk, and visualization (e.g. "highlight reel") all have a role in restructuring a trainee's physical (brain MRI) and chemical (circulating stress hormones) makeup. Mindfulness training takes time but aids focus, mood, and sleep. 

Ancillary Techniques
  • Optimize 'arousal level' with music, either hype or relaxing depending on your baseline arousal level. 
  • "Celebrate small wins." Compete in practice. 
  • Mental practice has been shown to improve physical performance.

Figure created with ChatGPT Plus

Pressure is part of life. During severe stress caring for patients with life-threatening illness in the ICU, I used some of these techniques to reset. Visualizing another setting, a tropical beach or putting yourself in a calm picture (for 30-60 seconds), could change the world. 


"Portrait of the Artist's Mother" also known as "Whistler's Mother" 

Accept that pressure is unavoidable, that it degrades performance, and training with proven techniques can help us do better. Soft skills make tough competitors better. 

Lagniappe. Are we creating advantage? 

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