Play smarter basketball.  Play better basketball.

10-steps to elevate your game and get in the zone

Step 6: mental imagery

Using mental imagery is a proven technique to help you play better basketball, and put yourself in a position to get in the zone.

Mental imagery is the process of using your imagination to picture yourself in various situations, performing well, and rehearsing those over and over.

The benefit to doing mental imagery is that you program your mind to see yourself performing well, and you program your mind to see and feel what it's like to be successful in various situations.  In short, you program your mind, and rehearse for success.

Have you ever woken up from a dream and thought that what happened was real?  You mind is a powerful tool, and you can use that tool to your advantage.  The world of sports has, for a long time, used the power of the mind to impact sports performance.  Many of the worlds top athletes (in team sports such as basketball, and in individual sports such as tennis and track and field) use mental imagery to enhance their performance levels.

Here are a few ways you can use mental imagery to positively impact your performance on the court:

Free throws
Sit in a comfortable, quiet spot and close your eyes. Picture yourself in a pressure situation (for example, the end of a big game, your team down by a point), and you are at the free throw line for two shots. Picture yourself being calm, and not stressed. Picture yourself dribbling the ball as you normally would, then shooting the free throw, using perfect form, and seeing it swish through the net.

Do this over and over again, each time picturing yourself handling a pressure situation well, making the shot.

Jump shots
In the same way you pictured yourself hitting big free throws, picture in your mind you taking a defender off the dribble, jumping high in the air, and knocking down a big jump shot. Do this from various spots on the court. Picture yourself using perfect form, not being bothered by the tough defense, and knocking down the shot over and over again.

Dribbling and passing
Picture in your mind you handling the ball under pressure, being calm, getting the ball up the court and hitting a teammate with a perfect pass. Imagine yourself handling pressure with ease, gettnig out of double teams before they happen, protecting the ball, moving the ball effectively up the court, and seeing the court with great vision that allows you to hit open teammates time and time again.

Usign mental imagery is one way to improve as a player, and set yourself apart from your competition.  By rehearsing success, by using your mind to practice performing well in pressure situations, you'll set the stage for it to happen in real life.  Mental imagery is a tool used by some of the worlds top athletes because it is so effective.  Use it to help you perform at peak levels and get yourself in the zone.

Click here to go back to the Zone section of the site and get more information, tips, tricks, and techniques to improve your level of play and get yourself playing in the zone.

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