Training Room
How Basketball Players Gain Confidence
If you want to be successful at anything in life, it is important you have a certain level of confidence. You must have confidence in yourself, in your ability, and your preparation. And please note there is a fine line between confidence and being cocky or arrogant. Confidence is crucial to success, cockiness and arrogance can ruin success. Ask any of the best players and they will agree. The best players in the world have a confident swagger about them. They know they can play because they have put in the work.
Confidence is especially critical when it comes to shooting the basketball. If you don't think the ball is going in every time you shoot, then why are you shooting? Ask any good shooter and they will tell you the "next shot is going in." They will tell you this even if they missed their last 10 shots.
How do you get confidence on the court? You prepare. You strength train and condition so fatigue is never a factor. You spend hours a day shooting hundreds of shots. But you don't just go out and shoot; you take game shots, from game spots, at game speed. Kobe Bryant told me he makes 1,000 shots a day (six days a week). It is not an accident he is the best player on the planet right now, and arguably, the most confident.
"You only feel pressure when you are not prepared."
If you are ever in a shooting slump, go back to the basics, and put in the work. Most shooting slumps are mental; they require a check up from the neck up. If you put in the work on a daily basis, you have to believe in yourself that it will pay off.
The iHoops Community
Latest Message Board Threads
- Making good decisions
- Who is your favorite NBA International player?
- Defense???
- What is your favorite basketball video game?
- Who buys you your basketball shoes?
iHoops Blogs
Duke's Diary
Duke Pryor is iHoops Assistant Director of Programs brings you a different page of his diary every month.
Sneakerblog
All the latest hoop fashion. It's got to be the shoes!
Money Blog
How to get into, and make it through, college.
iHoops Twitter Feed
- As you develop your shot fake, don't try to do too much. Less is more, and simple is best (w/ video): http://bit.ly/dd59Gxposted on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:12:26
- @CoachLok That's awesome!posted on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:27:12
- @YMCA_Elkhart Excellent. We hope the skill competition was a success!posted on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:26:11
- Awesome! Thanks. RT @kid_dynamite4 i'm lovin' these ihoops commercials.posted on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:25:40