Have you ever noticed that you started to act a different way because others were watching you? Did you change how you walked down a sidewalk? Changed directions to avoid passing someone? Or felt anxiety while in the gym?
An individual might act different and start to produce anxiety because they believe people are viewing them in a negative way. This is the main reason why people do not like working out. They believe everyone is judging them and critiquing their movements. Even though this is not true, it prevents the individual from having a fun, effective workout.
This could make or break a new athlete or an athlete that needs to work on additional skills outside of practice. Practicing on your own becomes just messing around and performing skills that you might really enjoy. Additionally, athletes tend to want to present the skills they are good at when people are around. This way, it shows others that they know what they are doing and are a talented athlete. Usually, they do not want to show any type of weakness, might not be the best at everything their sport entails, and have to practice on their own.
The truth is, all athletes need to work on improving their weaker skills as well. This is the only way to become a better athlete. No athlete is going to be perfect, but you can try to make a perfect athlete everyday. There is always room for improvement. It shouldn’t matter if there is other people around or not.
In fact, take people being around you as an advantage. Show off a little. Challenge them to a game and perform your weaker skills to help you practice. Someone that does not play your sport is perfect to get some easy reps in. Once you start to get good at these skills, start to practice on your teammates. Before you know it, you will be performing these skills during competition time!
Written by:
Sarah Grippi
Basketball Mindset