The Shooter’s Mindset for Basketball Players
Our readers are asking about what to do when their young athletes stop shooting after missing a shot.
Here are some of the questions:
“How to see missing shots as part of the game that everyone does. How do I instill and teach my son to trust his skills and his teammates?” asks a sports parent.
“How can I help my players stay focused and keep shooting even when missing the first one,” asks a coach.
Often, after missing a shot, young athletes feel their confidence wane.
That means they start playing tentatively, and avoid taking risks.
But you don’t want this to happen! Sports kids should go into the game feeling confident and keep their confidence up throughout the game.
Too often, sports kids’ confidence is based on their last play. If they just did well, they feel confident. If they made a mistake, their confidence drops.
Your young athletes should focus on long-term confidence—not play-by-play confidence. Their confidence shouldn’t sink so quickly.
They need to understand that confidence is based on trust in their skills, practice and abilities. Even if they miss shots, they still have that basic foundation.
Here’s the problem: They miss a shot, and tell themselves that their shot is “off” today.
Instead, they need to embrace a shooter’s mentality. Even if they goof up, they must continue to shoot.
To help them, you should encourage them to look at numbers and probabilities.
Let’s say they’re 50% shooters from the floor. They missed their first two shots. Be sure to point out that the probability the next one will go in has increased.
Help sports kids understand that they shouldn’t tell themselves they’re only as good as their last play. Help them strike from their minds the idea that missing an early shot means they’ll play badly for the whole game.
And help kids avoid worrying about what coaches, parents or teammates think when they miss shots.
Once again, your sports kids need to learn to hold their confidence past those first few misses—and keep shooting!
Related Articles on Youth Sports:
- Tips for Playing Under Pressure
- How This Sport Builds Confidence and Focus in Kids
- Helping Young Athletes Be Team Players
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The Composed Sports Kid
“The Composed Sports Kid” audio and workbook digital download program for young athletes and their parents or coach helps kids cope with frustration and anger in sports. Help your sports kids learn how to manage expectations and let go of mistakes so they can keep their head in the game.
The Composed Sports Kid system is really two programs in one–one program to train parents and coaches how to help their kids practice composure, and one program that teaches young athletes–ages 6 to 13–how to improve composure, let go of mistakes quickly, have more self-acceptance, and thus enjoy sports more!