Slow The Game Down

"The great players see the game in slow motion, and you could see him doing that - not that he played in slow motion, but he thought in slow motion. I always thought he slowed that game down so much that he saw a shot opportunity before the defender saw the possibility that he would shoot it."

- Phil Martelli - 
Head basketball coach at St. Joseph's University  (Martelli was speaking about Creighton University basketball player Doug McDermott in an interview with Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mike Sielski for an article posted on 6/24/14.)

You will often hear coaches talk about a specific quality that great players possess when they are competing and playing in a game. It's the ability to slow the game down in their minds and thereby are able to see the game unfolding in slow motion. Coaches have stated that players who can do this are more effective and successful in any game-time situation.  

So, how does a player learn to "slow the game down"? Here are several mental skills drills that any coach could have his players practice and review throughout the season:

Be and play in the present moment.

Players who find their thoughts bouncing back and forth between what happened ten minutes ago and what is going to happen in about five minutes can not mentally slow the game down. In fact, the game will probably feel like it is actually moving faster. As a coach who wants to promote this mental skill, you could stop practices at various times and simply ask the players to identify what they are seeing and hearing at that exact moment.  

Take a deep breath and "check" in.

Players who experience any stress or anxiety in a game often take shallow and small breaths. By doing this, the player has less oxygen going into the lungs and to the brain. And with the stress, anxiety and now less oxygen for the body, the player will probably become more tired, think less clearly and be less focused. Have your players take a deep breath. When they inhale, have they say "check" to themselves as a reminder to mentally check back into the game. And as they exhale, have them say "ok" to themselves as an affirmation that they are present and aware of what is happening.

Focus only on what you control.

Players who get easily distracted by things that they don't control will feel as if the game is speeding up. And by focusing on what they can't control, these players will become frustrated, angry and begin losing track of themselves and what they can control. At various times in a practice, bring out a hula hoop and place it at the feet of the   player who is getting upset or frustrated about things that he can't control. As the player stands in the middle of the hula hoop, have the player review all the things that he doesn't control and the few things that he actually has control over - mainly himself.    

"Attaining and sustaining success in sports always comes down to a survival of those most mentally fit. A strong commitment to excellence in training intensity and time over the long haul is required to progress as an athlete and to achieve your personal best. If you want to succeed and to move through difficult times, it is crucial to make an ongoing commitment to achieving superiority in your sport through the daily practice of cultivating a champion body and mind."

Jim Afrenow

The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, And Thrive 

"When we lack the mental muscles we need to perform at our best - if we have too short an attention span, too pessimistic an outlook, or too rigid and narrow a perspective - we must build capacity by training systematically."
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal




Would you like to develop and carry out a daily mental conditioning program to build your mental muscles, cultivate a "champion's mind" and elevate your performance?

Anthony (Tone) Lanzillo

risson1954@gmail.com

The Mental Game of Rafa Nadal

For any athlete or coach who is looking for ideas and information on mental skills (especially if your sport is tennis), I would highly recommend RAFA by Rafael Nadal and John Carlin. Nadal does an excellent job of sharing his personal story about his development as a tennis player and athlete, and how he mentally prepared himself for every practice, game and tournament.

The following are some quotes from his book along with several questions that you can ask yourself in developing your own mental skills training and mental conditioning program. 

"...what I battle hardest to do in a tennis match is to quiet the voices in my head, to shut everything out of my mind but the contest itself and concentrate every atom of my being on the point I am playing. If I made a mistake on a previous point, forget it; should a thought of victory suggest itself, crush it."

How do I focus my mind, tune out distractions, and play in the present moment?

"...you had to think better than your rival to succeed. And to think straight, you had to keep your cool."

Do I know what mental or emotional triggers could force me to lose my cool? What can I do to be mentally prepared before and during the game or competition to keep my cool?

"Some players rage and despair when they are aced, or when they are the victims of a magnificent passing shot. That is the path to self-destruction. And it is crazy, because it means you believe yourself to be capable, in some kind of ideal tennis world, of subduing your opponent's game from start to finish. If you give your opponent more credit, if you accept that he played a shot you could do nothing about, if you play the part of the spectator for a moment and generously acknowledge a magnificent piece of play, there you win balance and inner calm. You take the pressure off yourself. In your head, you applaud; visibly, you shrug; and you move on to the next point, aware not that the tennis gods are ranged against you or that you are having a miserable day, but that there is every possibility next time that it will be you who hits the unplayable winner."

How do I mentally and emotionally respond to a good move, maneuver or play by my opponent? Do I overreact and therefore destroy my composure and confidence? What can I do to refocus on myself, what I control and concentrate on what I want to achieve and accomplish?