What normally do you stress about? Do you notice that when you get stressed you end up a bit negative, then become excessively negative, start complaining, and become even more stressed from the additional stress you just put on yourself? This is called overthinking.

This type of thinking is going to kill how you perform. Not just in basketball but in all aspects of life, school, and even work! It might not seem like such a big deal in the beginning. It might not seem like an issue in the middle. It is going to start to weigh you down in the end. This is a slow process that is just going to throw you on the ground and keep you there. Now how do we avoid this? 

One way you can interpret this thinking as lazy thinking. It is easy to do because we are completely shutting down our brains. How do we wake it up? This is what I would do:

  1. Positive thinking: Have a team attitude and be grateful to be able to play!
  2. Find happiness on what you are doing: Reduces depression and makes you more thankful to be well.
  3. Acknowledge your surroundings: Don’t get too caught up in all the technology. Smell the roses!
  4. Reduce complaining: you complain once, write three positives about the situation.
  5. Be Thankful:write down three things you are thankful for before bed.

Written by:

Sarah Grippi

Basketball Mindset