|Pump up your hoops confidence|
|Around the Academy:
In all sport you'll experience plenty of highs and loads of lows. It's fact.
Basketball is no different. One game you'll be scoring everything, and the next you'll be missing the free throws and then the coach drops you.
If you start suffering a lack of confidence, don't panic.
Firstly, ask yourself why you stopped playing well. Were you tired or injured or maybe you just lost concentration?
Look back at how you played before things started to get difficult and focus on that.
Forget the bad run you've had and think about the times you were playing better.
It's a vicious circle. Your confidence gets down because you think your coach no longer believes in you.
The coach then thinks you've lost your confidence and so he relies on you less which gets your confidence down, and so it drags on.
It's important you talk to your coach if it gets too bad.
If he's a good coach he'll reassure you he believes in you and as soon as you get back to where you were a month ago, your minutes will go up accordingly.
Coaches don't give up on players unless they give up on themselves. Your coach will play you if you can help your team win.
Next you need to focus on your own confidence and not what anybody else thinks.
You know what you are capable of so just relax and play your game.
No basketball God has taken your skills away. You've just stopped believing in yourself.
Take a look in the mirror and I'm sure you'll see the same face that started the season staring back.
Get onto the practice floor and play as hard and as well as you can.
You can only give your best so don't put pressure on yourself.
I bet you have worried so much about your scoring and playing time that you haven't spent any time actually enjoying yourself.
You'll play your best basketball by relaxing and enjoying the game again. And this will help your confidence.
And we both know what that will mean, don't we? More playing time!