Have you ever experienced pre-game jitters – when your excitement before or during competition bubbles over and makes you nervous and apprehensive? Sometimes your enthusiasm for the game and your desire to contribute to the team and perform well turns on you. That excitement converts to pressure and a fear of failing. Here’s the good news – YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Players at all levels, high school, college and even professional players get the jitters.      

And there’s more good news. There are ways to deal with the jitters. Just like focused work on your jump shot leads to improved shooting you can practice your mental preparation and get better at that as well. In fact your mental preparation for competition is just as important as your skill development and physical conditioning. But it’s often overlooked.

IT’S IMPORTANT

Why is it just as important as physical skill development? Research by Sian Beilock indicates that certain physical skills, such as shooting a jump shot, are best performed outside our conscious awareness – especially when we are under stress. This involves our procedural memory, or what many people refer to as, muscle memory. It is built by performing many repetitions over a long period of time. You can probably think of lots of examples of muscle memory – things you do repeatedly without thinking about how to do it. Brushing your teeth, tying your shoes, writing your name, walking, running – are all examples. It’s important to remember that you have to practice the skill the right way. Your brain doesn’t know if you are performing the right way or the wrong way. You don’t want to develop muscle memory that locks you into bad habits.

When players are stressed they tend to focus on mechanics and control their execution of the skills. This conscious performance of skills actually leads to less effective performance. So, to maximize the effort you put into physical skill development (shooting, dribbling, passing etc.) you have to also work on your mental skill development so you can perform “without thinking”.

WORKING ON IT

OK, so where do you begin? It all starts with establishing a mindset based on confidence – believing in yourself and your abilities.

It’s as simple as this – if you don’t believe you can do it… you won’t.

If you believe in yourself, you can overcome the jitters.

Carol Dweck talks about a growth mindset. A growth mindset is one which is marked by a drive to learn. With a growth mindset you don’t believe that you are limited by a lack of skills, intelligence or athletic ability. A growth mindset calls on our character, challenging us to see what we can be and to be better than we are now. Often we need to confront difficult problems in our effort to improve. This is where our character shows through. Dweck says “there are two ways to solve a problem that’s slightly too hard for us to solve –

We can believe we are not smart enough to solve it

OR

We can believe that we just have not solved it yet.”

This is where purposeful practice comes in. Practicing with a purpose challenges us to focus on things that we are not yet good at – believing that we can, and will, be better. When we approach challenges in this way we prepare ourselves to thrive in difficult times.

Our confidence grows with each successful experience. It is built with small, baby steps. If we can emphasize the effort we put in and focus on steady forward progress, rather than the outcome (winning or losing, scoring or not scoring) we can build confidence and overcome the jitters.

Confident players also manage the “self-talk” that goes on in our heads. We are still wired for the fight or flight responses we used back in the days of the cave man and sabre tooth tiger. Our mind looks for signs of threats and tends to protect us by forecasting negative outcomes, allowing us time to prepare and defend ourselves. Reframe these negative thoughts – like “I can’t do this”, or “I’m going to fail”, or “we’re going to get our butts kicked” with positive thoughts – like “It will be tough but I can do this”, or “I know I will give my best effort” or “When we play together we can play with anyone”.

Psychologist and performance coach Julia Eyre offers a three step process for purposeful confidence building. She says                              

“1^st - Ask: What does confidence look like to you? How do you define it? The confidence we desire as humans and require as athletes does not come by chance. Those who compete in sports know it's easy to be broken down by challenges and negativity in all shapes and sizes. Decide you're going to be confident. It sounds simple but don't make the mistake of undervaluing this step.

2^nd - Ask: How is your confidence? Are you confident, according to your definition? If not, this is where you decide to work on building your confidence. When you decide to become confident, it is like deciding you want to have big biceps or become a better shooter. You realize these improvements cannot come without practice, that they are skills to build and muscles to train. And, in order to improve, you have to put in reps.”

3^rd - Acknowledge the small victories. Give yourself credit. Recognize yourself and your efforts.”

So how can we approach the everyday difficulties that inevitably come up in sport?

Eyre says – “Practice them!

Do you dwell on your mistakes? Accept them, learn from them and let them pass.

Do you spend precious energy trying to avoid failing? Stop trying to control what you cannot change and place your trust in yourself and your training.

Do you constantly berate yourself? Encourage yourself like you would a friend and use "I will" statements.

Does your confidence or mood on any given day depend on your performance? Start acknowledging the little wins, the small successes you achieve each day instead of the mistakes.

Do you neglect your mental training? Bad idea! To make this a habit, like physical training, dedicate time within your schedule to build your confidence muscle.”

Just like with, free throws and learning how to shoot, building your confidence and breaking self-limiting beliefs takes lots of repetitions!”

Eyre suggests choosing three positive one-word descriptors you can use when your confidence wavers. She lists the following examples:

“Whenever a negative thought or self-talk gets in your head, say, "leader."

Whenever you make a mistake on the court, say, "resilient."

Whenever you try to over-control or over-compensate, say, "strong."

You can choose your own words. The idea is to replace the negative self-talk with positive statements.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Studies show that past success, consistency, and communication with significant others has positive impact on self-belief. (Chase et al., 2005)

The communication with significant others refers to support from coaches, teammates, friends and parents. It’s about affirmation. When we are young we tend to question ourselves and our abilities. Our confidence often depends on the feedback we get from others that confirms what we hope to hear - that we are competent and capable.

An article in STACK magazine notes that research supports this –

A positive relationship with teammates and a coach and physical preparation, can help a player reduce pre-game and in-game jitters (Chase et al., 2005).

ESTABLISH A ROUTINE

Players can improve their ability to manage the jitters by following a pre-game routine, using techniques such as positive self-talk and relaxation methods. ( Nicholls, Holt, Polman, and Bloomfield (2006)

Drew Hanlin, a basketball skills instructor who works with many NBA players suggests a routine that includes –

     An energy meal 1.5 - 2 hours before the game 

     Stretching

     Positive visualization. An hour or two before the game, picture yourself making shots under pressure, making a good pass, pulling down a tough rebound, meeting your team’s expectations of you.**

Drew says you can make this visualization even more effective by actually doing these things before the game. Get to the court you are playing on as early as possible and start taking the shots you hope to make during the game. This on-site practice will make you feel more comfortable and confident when the game begins.

** Reinforce your visualization by creating a personal highlight film of things you have done well and watch it an hour or two before game time. See if you can access game tape from Hudl to use in creating your highlights.

Focusing on purposeful effort and personal improvement (rather than winning) can reduce a player’s stress and physical anxiety (Smith, Smoll, & Cumming 2007). 

Reframing negative thoughts and fears and increasing self-confidence can increase a player’s ability to perform. 

BREATHING

If your heart is racing before the game, this means that you are not breathing correctly. Clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Fraser recommends performing the following breathing exercise to bring your heart rate under control:

Breathe in through your nose for four seconds.

Breathe out through your mouth for four seconds.

Repeat until you feel calm.

Graham Betchart who has a Master's degree in sports psychology, is a mental skills coach who works with numerous NBA and WNBA layers. Betchart tells STACK there are three key concepts he works on with his clients.

1. Think 'What's Important Now?'

"What's important now?" or simply "WIN," is the foundation of Betchart's teachings. The concept is about staying in the present and being able to decipher what really matters amidst the incredible amount of noise that can surround an athlete.

“… the first thing we try to do is let go of the obsession of focusing on results and outcomes. Take that incredible drive you have and focus on the things you can control. Focus on attitude, focus on effort, focus on your focus. Train yourself to be in the moment and focus on the task at hand.

"That eliminates about 95 percent of what people are thinking about. So much of what gets people out of focus or derails their confidence is they're thinking about things they can't control—like other people's opinions, like winning and losing. That stuff is paralyzing to your confidence."

. It's also a team game, which further takes "winning" beyond your control. 

2. Engage in Positive Visualization

Worrying about making mistakes is often a big component of pre-game jitters. Players sometimes find themselves imagining scenarios where they drop the ball (both figuratively and literally) at crucial moments during the game. Confidence is an action. Instead of focusing on negative thoughts, visualize yourself acting confidently and prime your brain for success.

3. Strive For an Elite 'Next Play Speed' 

Next play speed is about how quickly you can flip your focus to the next play. Coach K of Duke University speaks about “next play” as well. Miss a shot? You can either sulk or sprint into the paint and grab your own rebound. Bad turnover? You can either hang your head or bust your butt back on defense. How quickly you're able to switch your focus to the next play is what determines your next play speed.

"How fast can I come back to the present?," Betchart says. "I just keep moving forward. I just keep coming. If I don't stop myself, I can't be stopped."

Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic works with Betchart. He says, "It's taught me to have a consistent mindset regardless of what's going on around me. Instead of caving in to the circumstances, you buy into the opportunities…the better you get at failing, the more you are going to succeed, ultimately."

SUMMARY

So, let’s organize all this to make it useful.

1.   Players at all levels of competition experience the jitters.

2.   Mental preparation is just as important as physical skills training because we perform best when we “just play”, using our muscle memory, not thinking about how to play.

3.   A confident mindset is essential to managing the jitters. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Define confidence, assess how confident you are and work to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Give yourself credit for improvements.

4.   Draw support from coaches, teammates, friends and parents.

5.   Establish a pre- game / pre-practice routine that includes nutrition, visualization, and positive self-talk. Create a highlight film.

6.   Focus on the process rather than outcomes. Look for and recognize small incremental improvements. Improve your “next play speed” – how quickly you recover from a missed shot, turnover, defensive lapse etc. and commit to being better on the “next play”.

7.   When your heart is racing and the jitters are kicking in use breathing techniques to steady your heart rate. Breathe through your nose for four seconds. Exhale through your mouth for four seconds. Repeat until calm.

If you want to gain access to the same mental skills training used by NBA athletes, take a look at the Lucid app. Graham Betchart serves as the Director of Mental Training at Lucid, and the app includes the same techniques (meditation, visualization and positive affirmations) he uses with the pros.

A couple of thoughts from the Lucid site -

Focus is a choice. Locking into the present moment and focusing on what you can control

unleashes your full potential when you need it the most.

Greatness is a decision. We all have a coach in our heads. Is that coach seeking greatness

or afraid to fail? Positive affirmations rewire your inner coach so you can unleash

the greatness that is already inside of you.

Bob Peterman